Zelda Link's Awakening Problem

[Hippytipper]

Hey all,
I got a copy of Link's Awakening and the thing just won't start up.
When you turn a Game Boy on, the logo that says "Nintendo" is all glitched and nothing happens from there. At first I thought it just needed a cleaning. However after a few tries I would still get the same result.

I figured what the hell, smacked it a few times and tried again. I got the Nintendo logo to show up and the game loaded! Though it immediately froze giving me the same glitched logo when I re-try.

Would a dead battery do this, or is the thing just screwed?

Peace

[old_skoolin_jim]

I think the thing's just screwed... I remember one of my friends had his Link's Awakening cart do the same exact thing— the "Nintendo" logo was just a solid block, and it wouldn't boot. Last I knew he traded it in to Toys R Us (it was like, '96 or '97 I think) for a few dollars that he likely put towards a Saturn game...
At any rate, sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[Gameguy]

Maybe it's a cracked solder joint.

I had a weird problem with the DX version of this game, I had a copy where Link was invisible. You started out on the mountain which was the last area accessible in the game, and you couldn't see where you were on screen unless you got hit. The menu screens were screwed up too. I don't have it anymore but it was just weird.

[Drixxel]

A few second hand Game Boy games I've picked up will frequently give me problems like this despite thorough cleaning of both carts & portable (a GBA SP, in this case). When the games do eventually boot up, they're highly unstable and will usually glitch/freeze if the cart gets jostled even in the slightest. Playing through my GBC, on the other hand, tends to be a lot more reliable for these particular problem carts. This could be because of how much more securely these carts with potentially shoddy contacts sit in the GBC, or, alternately, my SP is mildly pooched. At any rate, do you have another model of Game Boy to test your copy of Link's Awakening on? Maybe you'll get better contact with a different cartridge slot.

[Callin]

I got a gray cart of Link's Awakening, and when I got to the file select screen, everything was glitchy, but it still responded to controls.

I loaded up my DX version on a different game boy, and mimicked the button presses needed to delete all the files. When they were all deleted, the glitchiness stopped. I guess the name data got corrupted or something.

On another broken game, the logo shows up fine but the screen fades to black immediately afterward. Not sure what to tell you...

[Hippytipper]

At any rate, do you have another model of Game Boy to test your copy of Link's Awakening on? Maybe you'll get better contact with a different cartridge slot.

On three different systems.
I'm gonna attempt to reset some of the soldering, see if that helps. Waiting on replacing the battery, as I don't have any of those lying about. Plus I have a feeling that's not this issue.

[OldSchoolGamer]

I know this may seem odd but this worked for me with a certain cart. Put the cart in but not ALL THE WAY, pull it up just a tiny bit now try again to power on.