Mega drive flicker means busted cartridge?

[Verm3]

A couple of mega drive games I purchased recently don't display properly on my mega drive model 2; the screen is in black and white and flickers up and down, with both of them. Is this a sign of busted cartridges?

The games are G-Loc Air Battle and Empire of Steel, both from the same person.

I tried one of my other games and that one displayed fine.

[Verm3]

Empire of steel stopped flickering once I was through the main menu's and in the game. But G-loc continues to flicker even once in the game.

[VideoGameCritic]

Could this be a PAL vs NTSC format thing? I have an American Genesis, and would not expect European games to run very well on it.

[Stalvern]

Maybe they need cleaning?

[Verm3]

The games are Pal versions on a Pal mega drive.

I've tried cleaning the contacts and they still flicker, display in black and white etc. The strange thing is that the cut scenes in Gloc don't flicker, but the title screen, game it'self do.

It's kind of the opposite with Steel empire; the game it'self doesn't appear to flicker, but the cut scenes and other stuff do.

None of my other games exhibit this flickering and appear to be fine. So maybe I've got a couple of faulty cartridges?

[Atariboy]

Unlikely.

What sort if display are you playing on? Sounds more like they're doing something strange with their resolution or refresh rate that your television doesn't like.

Could you try a different tv?

[VideoGameCritic]

I find it hard to believe it would be the cartridges. Do you have another system you can try them on?
If anything, it sounds like the faulty pin might be in the system, and only manifests itself in certain games.
Is there a way to clean the pins of a system?

[Verm3]

I was able to try my mega drive on another tv. Unfortunately, that one displayed everything in grey scale, including a game that my main tv displays in colour with no issues, but the flickering was completely gone.

So it may well be the games doing something funny with the resolution that my main tv doesn't like?

[Matchstick]

Very interesting.

I have had a few Genesis / Mega Drive cartridges go dead on me over the years, namely the original Sonic the Hedgehog and Burning Force. I hear this is a common problem with a specific type of ROM chip used in those particular games and it is not a widespread issue. What you describe here sounds very different from that.

Do you own a Game Genie? Some games that have issues playing on the main console work better when played connected through a Game Genie. Might be worth a try if you have a Game Genie lying around.

[VideoGameCritic]

What kind of TV are you using? I think you're onto something with that. I heard newer TVs just can't handle many of the resolutions of old-school games. Also, it's quite possible the cut-scenes and actual game are using different graphic modes. Try another TV.