Having many issues with Zoda's Revenge Star Tropics 2
N8 Pro v2.10
NT Mini Noir Jailbreak v6.5
v2.0 headers
Seems related to using save states, but not sure.
(edit, I'm leaning heavily towards a copy protection issue now)
1st issue... after completing Star Tropics 1 I used N8 Pro menu to load Star Tropics 2 only to find grey screen and game "resetting" over and over similar to when an old NES would flash its power button on a bad connection.
Only thing that worked was powering off NT Mini Noir and then trying again and then I was able to load Star Tropics 2... I was then able to play to the end of Chapter 3 (collecting 2nd tetrad). The game then played the cutscene transition to chapter 4... only right after it completed I got booted to title screen of game as if I had hit reset. Loading my save state back to just before collecting the 3rd tetrad played out the same except instead of title screen I was back to grey screen with "resetting" behavior again. Powering off NT mini noir and load state again and same issues.... either title screen or resetting grey screen.
Next step is I'll attempt to load from regular save and not use save states after a power cycle.
if that fails I'll try and provide files and video, but hoping this is a know issue with a fix??... because at this point I'm literally stuck with no way to continue.
Edit...
***Found this in the Star Tropics 2 wiki... Seems extremely similar to what's happening with me... Thoughts?
Copy Protection
This game has a couple of copy protection checks preventing the game from being modified. First, when the game boots, the copy protection code calculates a checksum for two title and intro data blocks, as well as some CHR data. If these tests fail, instead of seeing the title screen, you'll see the screen flicker back and forth from black to white, once per second, accompanied by a sound effect. After about 5.5 minutes, the title screen will appear, and the game will start as usual. To force this screen to appear, use the Game Genie code EYOVSZEI. The blinking effect may have been intended to simulate the effects of a bad cartridge connection, where the console's lockout chip continuously resets the game, though the reason for the sound effect is unknown.
Another integrity test for one of 16 predefined data/code chunks is selected randomly and performed when switching to the next chapter of the game, starting from chapter 5. If this fails, instead of the next chapter, you'll be returned to chapter 2.