Jan 10, 2022
I finally got the necessary proprietary drill bit to open NES cartridges, so I spent most of my day cleaning the contacts on a bunch of NES games that had been giving me grief.
Pictured here is Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse, which had been buggy lately. Check out the oxidization on the before pic. 95% alcohol, q-tips, an eraser, and some contact cleaner managed to clear most of the debris. There’s still a bit to go, but the cartridge is now working really well.
There are lots of game cartridge cleaning videos on YouTube but I found this guide to be really helpful.
The good news: I can finally play shitty games like Rambo and WWF: Steel Cage Challenge.