Anyone willing to test a SNES game for me?

I think I posted about this about 5 years ago but never got to the bottom of it.

My PAL SNES copy of Earthworm Jim 2 seems to have a sound problem. The sound effects play but sound choppy. I've given it a good clean with isopropyl alcohol swabs (the contacts look pristine) but it's still the same. The only video I can find online which seems to be on the real hardware is here. The accordion sounds on the Nintendo splash screen are perfect in this video but on my SNES it sounds scratchy or choppy.

I know the sound in this game was very hard to emulate due to timing issues so I'm wondering if there might be an issue with my SNES that's only apparent with this game? Would anyone be willing to let me test it on their PAL SNES? I'm in the Dublin 3 area but could travel a reasonable distance. I just want to know if it's a bad cart or console.

Problem solved, it was the console.

Brought my cart into The RAGE, who very kindly tested it for me. Worked perfectly on their system. So I just got another SNES from them. Strange that it wasn't affecting any other games but I suppose EWJ2 is particularly sensitive to timing issues.

Hmm, the plot thickens. It may not be a faulty system after all.

I immediately noticed that the picture quality on the SNES I got today wasn't as good as the one I always had; it was softer. Turns out my original SNES (from 1996) has a newer board revision, with the CPU and PPU chips integrated into one chip. It delivers a sharper picture but also has accuracy issues, according to here.

CiDeRmAn

All the more reason to buy a US or Jap machine and get a switchless mod done and reshape the cart slot, if Jap.
Then you can play anything you want and play it the way it's supposed to be.

o1s1n

Your 1996 SNES has the best video processor - I'd definitely be sticking with that!

Unfortunately the decision to go 60Hz isn't as straight-forward as it was with the NES. With the NES I only had three games (one of which was PAL exclusive anyway) so going with a US NES was a no-brainer. I'd find it much harder to get a US SNES and 14 games again though. In any case, I think the US SNES looks terrible.

I won't be dumping anything, will keep the two of them.

Retr0gamer

You can just mod a PAL system. Will work the same and you can play PAL games at the proper speed.

EWJ2 is better on the megadrive anyway (and its not very good to boot).

STG.Otaku

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

reshape the cart slot

CiDeRmAn

Well it means I can play all regions on my modified Pal machine, no adapters needed.
And with an RGB cable it's perfect.
Looks sweet on the PVM as well.

Tomo.Murphy

Is there much to modifying a Pal SNES to play games from all regions?

I wouldn't mind picking up a 2nd one cheap to play around with.

Retr0gamer

It depends if you want to play Super Mario RPG. If you don't it's fine, if you do you need to do the Super CIC mod which isn't too bad but requires a bit of effort.

STG.Otaku

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Well it means I can play all regions on my modified Pal machine, no adapters needed.
And with an RGB cable it's perfect.
Looks sweet on the PVM as well.

o1s1n

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Well it means I can play all regions on my modified Pal machine, no adapters needed.
And with an RGB cable it's perfect.
Looks sweet on the PVM as well.

I use an action replay adapter to get around the physical shape difference, but it sure is one ugly solution. It's basically a cart standing on top of a cart.

There must be a Snes pass through adapter that has a lower profile?

Oooh check this out, a 'super adapter'. I don't think you'd see very much of this cart at all as most of it will be in the cart slot.

STG.Otaku

o1s1n wrote: »

I use an action replay adapter to get around the physical shape difference

Tomo.Murphy

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It depends if you want to play Super Mario RPG. If you don't it's fine, if you do you need to do the Super CIC mod which isn't too bad but requires a bit of effort.

Yep, no interest in Mario RPG, ha.

Do you just have to reshape the cart slot to accept the carts/play through an adapter of some sort or do you have to mod it for 50/60hz ?

Why specifically Mario RPG?

o1s1n

Tomo.Murphy wrote: »

Yep, no interest in Mario RPG, ha.

Do you just have to reshape the cart slot to accept the carts/play through an adapter of some sort or do you have to mod it for 50/60hz ?

Why specifically Mario RPG?

If you want to play a US cart on a PAL or Japanese Super Nintendo then you either need to reshape the cart slot or get a pass through adapter as it won't fit the standard slot.

I have both the 50/60hz switch and CIC mod, still need the pass through adapter due to the physical shape of the carts.

I don't have too many US snes games mind you. Usually collect PAL carts and just run them at 60hz

Hank Scorpio

Tomo.Murphy wrote: »

Yep, no interest in Mario RPG, ha.

Do you just have to reshape the cart slot to accept the carts/play through an adapter of some sort or do you have to mod it for 50/60hz ?

Why specifically Mario RPG?

Super Famicom use the same cart shape as Pal carts, to play American carts on a pal snes you`ll need to widen the slot or use some kind of adapter. Both American and Japenese super famicom games are designed for 60hz, alot won't run at all in 50hz on a pal snes without a modded 60hz switch. Myridden the mod on this forum can do this mod if you pm him, its really worth doing

Super mario RPG has a internal lockout chip which is pretty unique. There's a couple of work arounds though, easiest being is to cover the pin on the bottom of the cart that communicates with the lockout chip in the snes with abit of black tape. Surprisingly it works fine, I've done it in the past

Tomo.Murphy

Thanks for the info!

I'll definitely look into it. I had thought about buying a Super Famicom to play imports, but modding a PAL console sounds like a much better idea.

Retr0gamer

Mario RPG has some weird copy protection that is tough to get around. You should be interested in playing it, it's great and laugh out loud funny

o1s1n

A way around that would be to buy a Super Famicom and mod it.

You'll retain the 'PAL look' of the console, be able to insert all your PAL carts and get around the CIC lockout of Mario RPG if you really want to play it.

Yep, the US snes would be another option, but it's so hideous that customs might not let it into the country :pac:

Tomo.Murphy

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Mario RPG has some weird copy protection that is tough to get around. You should be interested in playing it, it's great and laugh out loud funny

I'll have to look in to it so. With the exception of Pokemon, I've never really had an interest in RPGs (well, until recently anyway), so I just completely passed over it.

Retr0gamer

Super Paper Mario was the only RPG I got into, and it's debatable whether it even counts as one! :pac: So I wouldn't be overly pushed about Super Mario RPG.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

EWJ2 is better on the megadrive anyway (and its not very good to boot).

Ah I love it. Stupidly funny.

Retr0gamer

Tomo.Murphy wrote: »

I'll have to look in to it so. With the exception of Pokemon, I've never really had an interest in RPGs (well, until recently anyway), so I just completely passed over it.

Super Mario RPG is a good one to get into. It's quite short, and the battle system isn't too complicated, mostly relying on the player timing button presses. It's well worth trying even if you aren't into RPGs normally.

Myrddin

Don't reshape the cart slot on a PAL/JAP machine, if you do, all arguments about console ugliness go out the window. I know the US Snes isn't to everyone's liking, but it sure looks better than a butchered PAL/JAP machine imo. Use a passthrough on a JAP SFC for the best all round results.

Andrew76

Myrddin wrote: »

Don't reshape the cart slot on a PAL/JAP machine, if you do, all arguments about console ugliness go out the window. I know the US Snes isn't to everyone's liking, but it sure looks better than a butchered PAL/JAP machine imo. Use a passthrough on a JAP SFC for the best all round results.

Agreed.