Populous on the Genesis

[JerryGreenwood]

Clearly, I'm missing something....I can't get Populous on the Sega Genesis to work.

I bought a copy and tried to take it apart to clean it. It's an EA game with the yellow tab, so I assumed I broke something while trying to get at it. My fault.

I bought another copy. This time, I didn't take it apart and I lightly cleaned it with the shell still on. No dice. Now I'm thinking that Brasso damages Populous carts, as crazy as that sounds.

I bought a THIRD copy. Didn't do anything to it, just popped it in. Nope, this one doesn't work either.

All 3 copies were in "working condition" according to the sellers. My Genesis works perfectly with every other game.

Theories remaining:

- A working Populous is actually the rarest game on earth.
- I have bad luck.
- There is something on the Populous PCB that is dead and needs to be replaced.

I'd like to think that I didn't buy 3 "working" carts that didn't actually work. In my life, I've only bought 2 other video games that were claimed to work, but didn't...the odds that I got THAT unlucky with the 3 Populous carts are very slim.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

PS - I know this isn't the trading section, but if anyone has an extra working copy, please PM me before I end up in an institution muttering to myself.

[tactical_nuke]

Which Genesis model are you using? I know Model 3 is unable to play Virtua Racer. Maybe it can't do Populous as well but nobody ever found out???

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Genesis Model please?
EDIT: Flee asked first. There are limitations with the Model 3, and we've been finding other limitations with other combinations. I suspect this is one of them. I think I documented NBA Jam TE's limitation...

EDIT: Nope, we never "officially" signed off on the cause. Here's that thread:
http://www.rfgeneration.c...um/index.php?topic=8987.0

Also, please note whether or not your Genesis is TMSS or not.

[Duke.Togo]

Also, please note whether or not your Genesis is TMSS or not.

^ This

[JerryGreenwood]

Sorry, my Genesis is Model 1. How do I tell if it's TMSS?

EDIT - Nevermind, my Genesis displays the "Produced by or under license of Sega Enterprises Ltd." so I guess it's TMSS

EDIT - Just found this in a post on AtariAge "The US-released games that don't work on TMSS models are Budokan, Ishido, Onslaught, Populous, and Zany Golf."

So there you go. Damn.

Thanks guys for the responses.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Thanks. I'll add that information to the Game Info pages.