Oh Grind Stormer, why must you hate me?

[aeon]

Just needed to vent here quickly before I continue my overnight shift-

I absolutely love Grind Stormer, but recently I absolutely hate it. For those of you unfamiliar with this Sega Genesis Toaplan shooter (ported from the arcade of course) it is a standard vert shooter that plays much like a futuristic Fire Shark, or perhaps like a more showy Tatsujin/Truxton. Anyway...

I have been trying to track down a CIB of this game for awhile now, and recently won it on ebay for $10. After it arrived I excitedly plugged it into my Genesis and settled in with my cup of coffee (caffeine being the lifeblood of any shmup fan) to power it up and break some faces.

...Black screen? Okay I'll give the cartridge a lil lovin-
...More black screen? Okay, one more time-
...Black screen.

After trying that for a bit I decided to clean the contacts, so after a through scrub down I plugged it in again.

...Black screen.
...Black screen, etc...

I contacted the seller, and it turns out he didn't test the game. But even though his auction said no refunds he sent the monies back to me- even let me keep the game. After that I checked online to see if anyone had comparable trouble, and it turns out that there is a defect in a bunch of Grind Stormer cartridges that cause the game to either freeze or refuse to play at all. Sigh...

A few days later I went to a local retro game shop (you know, the one that has a 20 year old tag on Splatterhouse 2 that says $10, but marks Super Mario World up to $30? Yeah that one) and searched their dusty Genesis shelf for some sweat deals.

Ooooo... Grind Stormer, $10.

You know where this is going. When I got home I plugged it in and guess what...
#@%*ing BLACK SCREEN.

Even after another scrub down, eternal black. Worst part is, I called not even an hour after I left the store to report the broken cartridge and they offer no cash refunds, only store credit. Of course. I guess I'm off to amazon for more punishment.

Sigh... Why does Grind Stormer hate me?

[Hobie-wan]

That sucks. I was worried when I went after the game as I head heard the same thing. My copy has locked up on me a few times, but otherwise works. I wish you good luck finding a working one.

That being said, interested in selling a box and manual to fund your continued search?

[aeon]

Haha, I think I'll keep it in case I can find a loose cartridge that works. The fact that the box has numerous rental stickers on it (which was probably a good indicator it would fail on me) makes it an ugly collectors item anyway, but your prayers for my cartridge-quest are extremely apprecitated.

[Hobie-wan]

Eh, I'm good at removing stickers. If you end up with a boxed one, keep me in mind.