Weird problems with Slap Shot Super Pro Hockey

[+thegoldenband]

I recently won an auction that included a loose cart of Slap Shot Super Pro Hockey. When I tried it in my Inty II, it didn't work. I checked in with the seller, who confirmed that he hadn't tested the carts before the auction.

 

Normally I'd assume it was just a dead cart. But I noticed that the color pattern on startup was exactly the same as when I try starting up with a Coleco cartridge that's locked out by the Inty II, like Donkey Kong. That made me wonder whether the Inty II was the problem, and I had a Tandyvision coming which is basically identical to the original Intellivision, so I thought I'd wait until the Tandyvision arrived and test the cart on it.

 

I was pleasantly surprised when it worked! It booted up just fine, all the menus were there, and so forth. However, here's the weird part: there's no puck. Everything else seems to work, but I can't see the puck, and there's no sound to indicate that the players have it. When the computer plays against itself, it just flails around aimlessly, for want of a puck.

 

I'm guessing my cart has succumbed to very mild bitrot, and that the data that gets validated by the EXEC in the Inty II (it looks for a valid copyright date at a certain spot in the code) is somehow connected to the code that controls the moving object for the puck. That would explain, at least, why it won't boot on the Inty II.

 

What do you all think? And, has anyone seen anything else like this? I have to say, Intellivision carts malfunction in some strange ways!

[+thegoldenband]

Turns out the Tandyvision itself is defective, and is failing to draw one of the moving objects (or MOBs). This led to some bizarre results in other games like Shark! Shark!, in which the shark lost his back half! I guess that just makes it "Shark!"

 

Anyway, I'm talking to the seller about a full or partial refund for the Tandyvision, since in addition to this problem, the manuals he sent had mold damage.

[IntellivisionDude]

Not sure if this is any help, but i just now tried Super Pro Hockey in both my Itellivision II's and it wouldn't come on. And i know for a fact that the game came on when i got it about a month ago because i remembered when i got it the mail, i cleaned it, put it in my model II and i noticed that when i turned it on, the game didn't come on right away, i hit reset and then the game came on. I tested it twice just to make sure and it did the same thing again. That was the only game i tested on that system that did that.

 

I have no clue why it won't come on this time. I tested a few other games just now and they all came on. I did have a little trouble with Auto Racing but it also came on eventually.

 

I also just tested Super Pro Hockey in my Intellivision I and it came on first try, no problems. So now i don't know if it's the cart or my model II. Very interesting. It shouldn't be a compatibility issue because i owned this game and a model II when i was a kid, plus the fact it worked a month ago.

 

One last thing i'll add. The Cart and the Cartridge Port are clean so that isn't an issue.

[+thegoldenband]

Actually, that's a big help. I'm starting to wonder whether there is some sort of issue between Super Pro Hockey and the Inty II, but like you said, it worked when you were a kid. Maybe the Inty II is less forgiving with some sort of bitrot, with its EXEC check and all (the thing that locks out the Coleco games). Does the cart play 100% normally on your Intellivision I?

[cparsley]

That does sound about right, as Mattel did do a re-write with the EXEC file for the INTV 2 series. But the 2 wasn't the only console that could go insane, I have an original system that actually doubles the sprites on screen, split about 50% down the display (and the kicker, both are in play)

[IntellivisionDude]

Does the cart play 100% normally on your Intellivision I?

 

Well i just bought this game and the Intellivision I not long ago and only played it once so far since buying it. I just haven't had time with all these other games i also bought. I'll give you an update later and i'll play a whole game of it.

[+thegoldenband]

Update: I bought an Intellivision I today at a yard sale, and my Slap Shot cart works perfectly in it. There's definitely something up with SSSPH and my Inty II, but what?

Edited August 7, 2010 by thegoldenband

[+thegoldenband]

Mystery solved: Joe Z. (also known as intvnut on Atariage) has confirmed there's a known Slap Shot variant that fails the EXEC check on the Inty II. He also mentioned that there's another difference in the ROM, but hasn't analyzed it to see what the change does.

 

It's kind of bizarre that INTV quality control should let such a major problem slip through the cracks! Presumably they fixed it on a subsequent release, but there must have been quite a few unhappy Inty II owners...

Edited August 8, 2010 by thegoldenband

[SoulBlazer]

Mystery solved: Joe Z. (also known as intvnut on Atariage) has confirmed there's a known Slap Shot variant that fails the EXEC check on the Inty II. He also mentioned that there's another difference in the ROM, but hasn't analyzed it to see what the change does.

 

It's kind of bizarre that INTV quality control should let such a major problem slip through the cracks! Presumably they fixed it on a subsequent release, but there must have been quite a few unhappy Inty II owners...

 

If you take a read on the Blue Sky Rangers, you'll see there were a number of INTV problems with the Inty II. It was due to INTV being a small company and not having major resources, and the fact they just took over all the stock and product from Matell when the Intelivsion division was shut down. The most famous problem with INTV and the Inty II was this one:

 

"The change in the Intellivision II EXEC also introduced a slight timing error in the system. Minor problems with sound effects started cropping up. Once aware of this, the programmers were able to get around it, but two already released games, Space Spartans and Shark! Shark!, were effected. The biggest timing problem appeared years later, with INTV's release of Super Pro Football. The cartridges were manufactured before anyone tried the game in an Intellivision II -- and discovered that the quarterback didn't appear on the screen until after the ball was hiked. An errata slip had to be included with the (already-printed) instructions."

 

(taken from http://intellivisiongames.com/bluesky/hardware/intelli2_tech.html)

 

First time I've heard about your issue, though.

[+thegoldenband]

I'd read about the sound problems with Shark! Shark! and the Super Pro Football glitch; those are easier to overlook, but shipping a game that literally won't boot? I guess they just forgot to pop a copy into an Inty II, or maybe some Inty IIs are more tolerant (since there are some board variants in those). Without knowing the bits and bytes, I can't say, but that story about Super Pro Football makes it sound like they just didn't get around to it.

 

BTW, thanks for indirectly reminding me to try Shark! Shark! on my new Inty I! I'm curious to hear the difference in sounds...

Edited August 8, 2010 by thegoldenband