Genesis game freezing? is it a sign of a bad game or bad system?

[Urzu402]

because the mega turrican i have keeps freezing.

[BetaWolf47]

Freezing is often caused by, ironically, overheating. If it keeps happening, make sure your system isn't in a tight space or sitting on top of any sort of fabric. Also, the connection could be bad, so try cleaning the game while you're at it.

[Urzu402]

well no other game freezes on my genesis except castlevania bloodlines did a few times but it stopped doing it.

[jb143]

Try cleaning the carts electrical contacts with rubbing alchohol and a q-tip.

[Urzu402]

i just did and it still froze, this time the game got further but it still froze at level 2, and its not me hitting pause because the music glitches too and everything stays fine graphically

[buzz_n64]

I used to use alcohol with q-tips, but it only kind of worked. Try glass cleaner on q-tips, this is way more effective.

[Urzu402]

the only glass cleaner i have is with vinegar and i heard vinegar is bad for games.

[Gameguy]

The contacts in your system are probably dirty, not just the games. Get a cleaning kit for the Genesis and clean the system contacts. I'm not sure how hard it would be to find a cleaning kit now, but they're available online. I personally use a Gemini cleaning kit that's really meant for the SNES, the cleaning card is just not as wide as the Genesis connector so I have to move it over a few times to clean it.

I just clean my games with a few drops of water on a q-tip, I thoroughly dry them before using them and I haven't had any problems so far.

[Urzu402]

other games work fine though, castlevania bloodlines and shinobi iii both work without freezing.

[buzz_n64]

the only glass cleaner i have is with vinegar and i heard vinegar is bad for games.

Yes, vinegar is bad, so is rubbing alcohol. regular blue windex, or regular generic brand should work. I use this all the time. To dry, use a dry q-tip, then if possible, used a compressed air can to completly dry it out. Try not to blow into the cart. Do this, and it will work, if not, the cart has a problem.

[Gameguy]

It really depends on how clean the games are too. Games that are totally clean will work on a slightly dirty console, but games that are slightly dirty/worn might only work on a system that's really clean. Sometimes the connectors on some games are worn so they won't make contact as well with the system, it's not that the games can be cleaned any better.

I've had the same thing happen with some systems of mine, that only certain games would glitch while others were fine. The problems went away after cleaning the system and the games too. If you don't clean the games before using in recently cleaned system, it could just get dirty again. I cleaned my system, and then made sure to clean any game I got before using it in my system. With a Genesis it should be fine for years before needing another cleaning, depending on how often you play it.

If you can't find a cleaning kit, try inserting and removing a clean game a dozen times or so. It might clean the system connectors enough so the games would play properly. This isn't a full solution, if the system is still dirty the problem would come back again pretty quickly.

[jb143]

Rubbing alchohol is fine to use. It's used in the electronics indusrty all the time to clean electronics. Sure if you use really cheap watered down stuff it won't work as well but 70% and up should work fine in most circumstances. And Windex has rubbing alchohol in it anyways...as well as ammonia, dyes, and fragrances which aren't an industry standard for cleaning electronics.

Clean your games and clean your system and you should be good to go.

[Urzu402]

i tried it in my nomad, it doesnt freeze in my nomad unless i played it on the times it doesnt freeze....

[Gameguy]

If it doesn't freeze in your Nomad then the games are fine. Clean your system's connector and they'll work fine in that too. You might as well clean it to find out if that's the problem.

[Urzu402]

the weirdest thing happened, all the enemies, elevators, fire spouts weapon upgrade boxes just dissappeared basically everything but the character you play as and the background with a few graphical glitches. is that bad connection with the system? or is there a problem with the game? i was also still able to move around and the sound was still playing

[Gameguy]

Something similar happened to me with Sonic 3, in my case the system and game was just dirty. This was back in the 90's before I knew about cleaning them. The controls stopped working correctly, no matter what I pushed Sonic just jumped. Then he froze in mid air and the graphics got screwed up. The cart and system work fine for me now.

It could be a problem with the game though. Do the connectors in the game look clean? Did it just glitch up on you with your Nomad or in your Genesis system?

[Urzu402]

it only freezes in my model 1 genesis my nomad and genesis 2 it works okay in.
the glitch i explained happened in my model 1. also the model 1 is the one it has been freezing in.

[Gameguy]

it only freezes in my model 1 genesis my nomad and genesis 2 it works okay in.
the glitch i explained happened in my model 1. also the model 1 is the one it has been freezing in.

If it doesn't freeze in your Nomad then the games are fine. Clean your system's connector and they'll work fine in that too. You might as well clean it to find out if that's the problem.

Just clean it already.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Insanity: Asking the same thing multiple times and expecting a different response.

Urzu, he kindly told you 3 different times to clean your system and cartridge. We can't help you figure out the problem if you don't try a solution. That's how Technical Support works, right?

Clean the contacts in the system and cartridge and get back to us with the result. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

[Urzu402]

i tried the soaking the connectors of a cart in rubbing alcohol and putting it in and out and it still froze, thats about the only means i have to clean it, i cleaned the game quite a bit the qtips dont change color.