What's wrong with my SNES?

V

VicRH

CAG Veteran
Sorry if this comes out messed up as I'm using my Wii to type this.

So one day I decided to play Super Mario RPG. I hook up my SNES and put the game in. It starts up fine, until it gets to the video. Once it shows the battle scene it gets messed up. There's a lot of oddly colored blotches everywhere. I take it out to see if there's anything in the game and blow into it for good measure. Put it back in and turn it on and it goes to a black screen after it shows Bowser. I reset and try again but I skip the video this time. At the File Select screen Mario is blacked out. I go to start a new file anyway, but the naming screen gets glitched. I reset and try again and the name screen works fine. I'm in the castle and it looks fine until I go through the first door. It froze. I do this for about 30 more minutes then give up.

I then go to play Mortal Kombat II. Put it in and it starts without a problem. I get to the character screen and their all messed up! Parts of their bodies are black and white, and their torsos are jetting out. It kind of hard to explain. I decide to play anyway. After a few matches it freezes. I reset it and play again(the bodies are still messed up). So around my sixth match I jump over Johnny Cage and fall of the screen. Cage then slides off the left side of the TV. My brother and I laugh and I turn it off.

Now frustrated, I play Super Mario World. Start a new file and get to the yellow brick switch and it's all fine. Until I get to Yoshi's Island 3. I start off the level and get to the first spinny wood platform and jump on it. If falls below me and I die. Now back on the Overworld I try to save but the screen won't come up. I continue though and get past the level with fast jumps. I get to Iggy's Castle with no other problems. Get to the red door and press up. I die. I died right away. Somehow I fell into the lava BEHIND Iggy! Ticked, I turn it off.

Now I put in Super Punch Out. Video plays fine and I get to the Press Start screen. I press start and it freezes. Reset and try again. Skip the video and it freezes again.

Later, I get some Isopropyl alcohol and a few Q-tips. I clean both Mortal Kombat II and Super Punch Out. The characters in Mortal Kombat are still messed up and Super Punch Out still freezes.

Now, I come to you guys to see if you know what the problem is. I've checked some sites and found nothing. Someone did say to clean my SNES with the alcohol, but I wasn't sure if I should. I just hope it's easily fixable without having to open it up.

Thank you for your time and sorry for any spelling mistakes I didn't catch.
 
Honestly, I would say that the SNES is shot, considering you cleaned the connections; although the symptoms you described certainly sound like dirty connections. My suggestion: Garage Sales, $5 SNES.
 
It could possibly be the connector, but since you cleaned them, I think you're in for some bad news:

I had something very similar to this happen years ago to my original SNES. Took it to one of those shops that had a test cart, and it was diagnosed as having a bad GPU.

It wasn't fixable. :(
 
It might be the Mode 7 chipset. It has been happen all over the place. In general there is a limit of use with the SNES if kept in poor conidtions.

Try a non-mode 7 game like Yoshi Island or Starfox that uses the FX 3d. My original SNES has been everywhere and has a big hole with Koolade and other stuff all over it exposing the chipset.

In general any game that uses advance mathimatical claculations is going to have messed up graphics in various areas since these calculations is being done by Mode 7.

Yes your SNES can't do math anymore:roll: however it can still play fine with games that do not use advance mathimatical claculations or Mode 7. Do not use alcohol or high amounts of water in a SNES. It is not simple like a NES or Genesis at all. Most SNES games just need a good wiping with a paper towel and some damp water.
 
[quote name='Redie']It might be the Mode 7 chipset. It has been happen all over the place. In general there is a limit of use with the SNES if kept in poor conidtions.

Try a non-mode 7 game like Yoshi Island or Starfox that uses the FX 3d. My original SNES has been everywhere and has a big hole with Koolade and other stuff all over it exposing the chipset.

In general any game that uses advance mathimatical claculations is going to have messed up graphics in various areas since these calculations is being done by Mode 7.

Yes your SNES can't do math anymore:roll: however it can still play fine with games that do not use advance mathimatical claculations or Mode 7. Do not use alcohol or high amounts of water in a SNES. It is not simple like a NES or Genesis at all. Most SNES games just need a good wiping with a paper towel and some damp water.[/quote]



Huh?
 
Like Redie said its possible that there is a problem with mode 7 chip it affects special effects within the game like scaling, rotation games like Castlevania IV are a good example.

I also found that you should never and I repeat NEVER blow on your cartridge connector. If you think about its simple when you eat, your saliva helps break down food, if you blow in cartridge connectors it does the same thing it wears down the connecting pins until they are no longer working properly as a result you get tiles, scrambled images, blank screens and so forth when trying to play your game.

It is better to take Q-tips and apply a liquid solution, something as simple as water can do the trick, alcohol works too. If you keep getting the same problem then it is recommended you switch your system.:)
 
I would try cleaing the connectors on the SNES with alcohol. I have never heard of anything like this though and I have cartridge systems dating back to the Atari 2600.
 
[quote name='niceguyshawne']I would try cleaing the connectors on the SNES with alcohol. I have never heard of anything like this though and I have cartridge systems dating back to the Atari 2600.[/quote]

So do I, I learned a long time ago when my NES stopped working that blowing into it only causes corrosion the repair man nearly took my head off. For the NES its as simple as changing the 72 pin connector with a new one, the snes from what I understand is soldered on so changing it is nearly impossible.
 
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