I recently managed to find my old SNES console in my parents' basement and brought it home. Everything has been working nicely, save for the odd time when I have to power it on 2-3 times before it boots up. Today I bought two SNES games: Super Mario All-Stars and Super Star Wars. I got them really cheap, so naturally I was pretty stoked.

Problem is they both refuse to work. I've cleaned them both rather thoroughly with a Q-tip and alcohol. All-Stars never gives me any signs of life (TV just says "No signal"), but Star Wars will occasionally make the screen flash for a second before giving me a blank screen. I took a look at the connectors on the carts and they look discolored, kinda white and faded compared to my other games. So, I wonder if I can do anything about it? Should I open up the carts and try to clean them further? Or should I just track down new copies? This is on a PAL system, if that makes any difference.

Yo, did you try blowing on them?

Nope, because that would probably make things worse.

Maybe you should clean the connectors of your SNES. I did the same with my NES and it works fine, I used a soft toothbrush and windex.

You have to believe.

I guess you could try to open them up and maybe attempt a deeper clean. Otherwise, just get some new carts and maybe verify they work before you get them, if you can?

I used to buy old carts at a swap meet/flea market and thankfully, sellers (the good ones anyway) had a system there to verify their stuff worked.

Hmm. I guess I could try, but the other carts work fine. Their connectors still look clean and shiny, unlike the All-Stars and Star Wars carts.

I bought them from a customer who thought we accepted trade-ins on SNES stuff. Like I said, he didn't demand much for them, so it's not a big loss. Just a bummer. I'll try opening them up and see if I can clean them further.

I'd recommend against using Windex because it can mess up the contacts you're cleaning. Isopropyl alcohol is what I'd use. Some helpful reading here: http://retrowaretv.com/the-dos-and-donts-of-game-cartridge-cleaning/