Pal Snes games won't work on an NTSC console? Help.

[vintagegamecrazy]

A friend of mine bought four SNES Pal games from a garage sale and I have finally gotten around to trying them out to see if they work or not. I have broken the tabs out of my NTSC console and the games won't boot up. The console doesn't even recognize them. I have taken the boards out of them and inserted them straight into the system without the case and they still don't work. Is this normal or could they be dead? The carts are kind of worn out looking and discolored and yellowed. Any ideas?

[Mayhem]

PAL games used a different lockout chip inside to US and Japanese carts. You'll need a region converter cartridge or Action Replay such as this to test them firstly. After that, there may still be problems; many PAL games later on were optimised for the greater number of display lines that are displayed, and sped up to compensate for the 17% slower refresh rate.

I've tried Super Tennis PAL on my US SNES and it goes at a hyper rate! Definitely an amusing and "fun" challenge playing that

[vintagegamecrazy]

So not having a converter causes the SNES to not recognize them at all? I just get a black screen as if I turned the power on without a cart inserted.

[nensondubois]

You need an Action Replay and to put a NTSC game cart in the back of the Action Replay cart, with the PAL game in the top slot, and PAL your game should work.

[Pikkon]

Or just mod your snes and you can play evey pal snes game.

If your handy with a soldering iron its a easy mod.

[Brianvgplayer]

Or just mod your snes and you can play evey pal snes game.

If your handy with a soldering iron its a easy mod.

That mod, without a switch to turn the lockout chip on/off, can prevent some JP/US games from working.

[SparTonberry]

Or just mod your snes and you can play evey pal snes game.

If your handy with a soldering iron its a easy mod.

Eh, I wouldn't mod an NTSC console. There's few PAL exclusives, fewer good PAL exclusives (Sailor Moon brawler? No thanks. :P ).

[Parodius Duh!]

PAL (europe) and NTSC (Japan/USA/Canada) are completly different broadcast formats, thats why your games wont work. Only way is to mod or get the correct convertor (as some convertors wont even do the job...later Action replay carts (version 3), and AD-29 are the only ones with good compatibility, but only with older games, as newer stuff will not work at all without a region mod switch.

[Parodius Duh!]

Eh, I wouldn't mod an NTSC console. There's few PAL exclusives, fewer good PAL exclusives (Sailor Moon brawler? No thanks. :P ).

Theres quite a few great PAL exclusives. Daze before Christmas, The Humans, Terranigma, Castlevania: Vampires Kiss is cool to see cause of its watered down-ness.....those 4 alone are worth modding for!

[SparTonberry]

Vampire's Kiss is Dracula X/Akumajo Dracula XX. Both the NA and Japanese versions are common (especially compared to the PAL version, or so I hear), although the NA version sells for inflated prices.
I'd like to play Terranigma, but I think at the price the English version goes for, I'm better off trying to play the Japanese version with an FAQ. Though I can see that might not be an option for others.
The Humans sounds interesting. I suppose Daze Before Christmas is fun if you want to see a fire-breathing Santa smack reindeer with his toy sack.

[Parodius Duh!]

Vampire's Kiss is Dracula X/Akumajo Dracula XX. Both the NA and Japanese versions are common (especially compared to the PAL version, or so I hear), although the NA version sells for inflated prices.
I'd like to play Terranigma, but I think at the price the English version goes for, I'm better off trying to play the Japanese version with an FAQ. Though I can see that might not be an option for others.
The Humans sounds interesting. I suppose Daze Before Christmas is fun if you want to see a fire-breathing Santa smack reindeer with his toy sack.

Vampires kiss is edited and slightly different with some violence/religious imagery removed and weird stuff added in its place. The Humans is a lemmings type of game.

.....and that is the exact reason why Daze before X-Mas is awesome!!!!!


theres a couple others that Ive never played that seem interesting, Turbo Toons, Micro Machines 2......