GET!! Colonies Freezes at Boot on NTSC-U Dreamcast

[Nz17]

Using an NTSC-U Dreamcast, I can't get the Japanese GET!! Colonies puzzle game (GD-ROM) to correctly boot. The game freezes at its very start (past the Dreamcast boot screens) with the Codebreaker demo disk (CD-R) with or without accessories (such as controller, VMU, or rumble pack). At that point, the screen is white with a thin gray vertical bar across the leftmost side of the screen. The game also freezes the Dreamcast at the 94% mark at the Utopia screen when using the Utopia Boot Disk (CD-R) with or without accessories even though Utopia correctly shows the disk's included disk art from the GD-ROM's files. The Dreamcast must then be cold-booted (power-cycled) to get it to work again. All other Japanese-region games work with this Dreamcast and either boot disk.

Please help. Any pertinent advice is appreciated. Any information about the GET!! Colonies game could be helpful as I want to see if it is "the game's fault" or if it is due to bit rot (even though the GD-ROM appears to be pristine with no noticeable damage on either side of the disk).

[Nz17]

Has anyone here even played "GET!! Colonies?"

[deluxux]

No its a WinCE game so making a CDI without CDDA should be easy
1. Get a GDI
2. Use GDI Explorer to extract all to a new folder
3. Use BootDreams to make a new CDI
4. You can try and make an Alcohol image with CDDA

[Nz17]

Thanks, Deluxux. However, wouldn't a CDI CD-R still not boot if the original GD-ROM won't boot this way? Then again, trying to run a CDI burnt to a CD-R is something that would help to make sure that it is not damage to the GD-ROM that is causing the problem with running the game.

That being said, has anyone here successfully booted and played a Japanese "GET!! Colonies" GD-ROM with a North American Dreamcast? What is the snag preventing the game from running? What's the key to success here? Are using a Dreamcast with GDEMU, or a Dreamcast with a switchable BIOS, or a patched GDI / CDI the only solutions? I would like to use my original, unmodified game disc with my original, unmodified North American Dreamcast if at all possible.

PCWzrd, I sent an original copy of "GET!! Colonies" to you last year - were you able to boot it with a North American Dreamcast?