Yuku free message boards

These CD-based systems can pull little tricks like that off. While it is unusual for a game to stall like that without the clam-shell being opened, the results sound precisely like that is what happened.

Many CD-based games install some of their code into the RAM, where the more fundemental portions of the game play out. Engine, character sprites, etc. Then, some of the eye candy and more complex sounds will be called directly off of the disc when they are needed. (I consider this a cheat that makes Cd-based systems look and sound more powerful than they really are. An N64 has to process everything. Whereas a Sony or Sega can mix processing power with movie projector and CD player.)

So, it doesn't surprise me that your game kept going, even though the CD stopped. The RAM-based program kept running like it should, despite the CD having either a read error or directory location failure.

One of the best examples I have seen of how seamless this trick works is in Sony's Road Rash. I was racing down the roadway when I accidentally opened the clam-shell. Suddenly, the CD stopped rotating, the music stopped, and over half the graphics (the better half) disappeared. However, the game still went on with what it had in RAM.

Who knows what kind of graphics might have been possible on an NES, had the American version of that Disc Drive been released.