If you love playing on original hardware, or you want an original copy of a game to use with cartridge-based emulators, then you had better be wary of these important factors when you buy video game carts for retro systems.
Thanks to the resurgence of retro gaming, and the fact that people will pay a bundle for original carts, there's a whole market of counterfeit reproductions of classic games. Especially if a game is rare and hard to find. The more rare the game, the more skeptical you should be that it's real.
The tricky bit is that signs of a cart being a counterfeit are specific to the platform, and in many cases the specific game in question. So you'll need to read up on how to tell a counterfeit cart for that console apart from a real one, or what the tells are for that specific game that you're looking at a reproduction.
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2 Physical Condition Issues
It's normal for older game cartridges to show some wear and tear, but there are limits to how much. You don't want the cartridge to be cracked or deformed. Likewise, the pins on the cart should be free of corrosion or heavy wear. Even if the cart works normally when you test it, the pins may fail if they are too worn or corroded.
3 Common Label Problems
If you only care about getting your hands on the game, and that it's in a good functional condition, then the state of the label doesn't matter much. However, if you're also collecting games as aesthetic objects in their own right, then having a nice original label is important. You can reprint new labels, but a game's collectibility and resale value will be influenced by the condition of the label.
If it's torn, faded, or otherwise in much worse condition than mere age can explain, that can also be a sign that the cart itself hasn't been treated well or kept in a cool, dry place.
Whether you're buying from a retro game store or from a private seller, always insist on opening the cart up and looking at the PCB. This can't hurt the cart, and it's the fastest way to know if you're being scammed or that the cart might be in worse shape than the shell suggests.
First, check that the PCB looks the way it's supposed to. You can look up photos of the genuine article and then compare them. If it's the wrong shape, color, or the component layout is different, then it's not the real deal. Some carts may have different variants in re-releases or regions.
If the cart is old enough, its battery may have been replaced, which is normal, but if that's the case, make sure the job has been done professionally. The PCB should not be cracked or show any burn marks. Look for official branding on chips in the cart, such as from Nintendo or SEGA.
5 Is the Battery OK?
I just mentioned checking the physical look and condition of the battery, but battery issues with carts that use them are an important factor to investigate as a whole. Some cartridges allow players to save their game to memory, but this memory is volatile and needs battery power to sustain the data. Over time these batteries wear out, and if the battery goes, so do the save games.
While you may not care about any saves that are on the cart already, if you want to make saves of your own and have them last, you'll need to ask whether the battery still works, how old it is, and do some internet sleuthing to figure out if that particular cart can have its battery changed.