Multicarts - Recent Experiences
So I decided it would be better to make one all-purpose Multicart topic than to make a new one for each one I find. Right now I have six of the things--three for NES, two for SNES, and one for the Genesis.
I unfortunately have had a bad experience recently.
The first two such carts I ever owned--one which cobbled together a bunch of Mega Man games and rom hacks, and the other which was all four Dragon Warrior games--both went kaput. The Mega Man one went glitchy and now only some games will load (even then they usually glitch out). The Dragon Warrior one just plain doesn't work anymore.
I opened them both up and interestingly, they're actually Famicom PCBs but running through a converter. They also both seem to have the same date on them, so its possible both were from a bad batch. EDIT: Forgot to mention, the DW one outright had corrosion on it like something leaked out of one of the chips. I more recently picked up a third NES multicart--143 games in 1--which thankfully is just a single PCB.
Not that I'm sure the converter is the problem. On the Dragon Warrior one there was corrosion on one of the leads, and on the Mega Man one I see nothing whatsoever wrong with it. And yes I tried switching out the converters.
Thankfully, other carts I got around the same time --a 4x1 RPG cart for the SNES and a 196-in-1 Genesis cart--both work fine.
While I still like these things for the most part (especially as something I can let the niece and nephew borrow or play without fear), that two went bad and don't work kinda bums me out. I was just about to try out Rockman 4 Minus Infinity....
Also, I should quickly review some more I've gotten to try lately:
Super Games 143-in-1 for the NES--single PCB, and every game on it is an English-language version, which means it does have fan translations (as it features Adventure Island 4, Earthbound, Sweet Home, all three Final Fantasies, and Time Diver Eon Man... and also Palcom's Parodius, which runs fine but I can't see the power-up bar on my CRT). The Earthbound on this cart is the original Prototype, no "Zero" or "Beginnings" or "40th Anniversary." Yes, there is a save battery, but it can only save for one game at a time--if you save on one game you absolutely CAN NOT load up another game that uses saves unless you're willing to start fresh on the game you were playing. I personally do not mind this too much but it does make me want to get a stand-alone Earthbound NES cart.
Only one oddity: This cart has a "Double Dragon IV." I think this is just Renegade with a different title screen, but its the only such game on this cart. The rest are either official releases, fan translations, or in one case a finished-but-never-released prototype.
(BTW Earthbound Beginnings... why did I never play this game before? It is joy, it is life. If you say anything bad about it, you're working for Giegue)
Super 110-in-1 for the SNES--this also seems to be for RPG fans as its menu front-loads a lot of popular ones (although Chrono Trigger is way in the back for some reason), though it also has stuff like Contra III and Sunset Riders. With SNES games usually each individual game can hold saves and this seems to be no exception. Of note, its copy of Earthbound is NOT the one with remapped controls, so it plays like a real cart. I think every game on this is an English-language version, but they all seem to be games that were officially released.
Also... I don't know if the sound sounding muffled in Ogre Battle is just this cart or if the SNES version always sounded like that. I do think I prefer the PS1 version, which is one of the few times I would prefer an updated port over an original. Not just for the sound but also because the PS1 lets you see a flat view of the map if you need to.
..... Well, I hope these carts won't go bad on me in the future.
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