A question about getting certain games to work in MaLa/MAME

[ArcadeSeeker962]

I've been using MaLa and MAME so far to test it out to see if it'll work well with the cabinet that I'm assembling with my father. I noticed that some games aren't compatible with the latest version of the basic MAME. The games I noticed that aren't compatible are the following:

Crazy Kong
Dragon Buster
Galaga

How do I get these games to work in basic MAME in conjunction with MaLa? Would I have to install multiple revisions/sets of the games and merge them into one file for each game, or would I have to download an older version of MAME to make the games compatible? To prevent anymore confusion on what version of MAME to use, here's the complete list of games in my folder:

Centipede(Revision 3)
Crazy Kong
Donkey Kong(US Set 1)
Donkey Kong(US Set 2)
Dragon Buster
Frogger
Galaga(Midway Set 1)
Galaga(Midway Set 2)
Galaga(Namco rev. B)
Galaga(Namco)
Galaxian(Namco Set 1)
Gaplus(rev. B)
Gaplus(Rev. D)
Gyruss(Konami)
Jump Bug
Millipede
Ms. Pacman
Pac-Man(Midway)
Puck-Man(Japan Set 1)
Scramble
Super Breakout(Rev 04)
Super Glob
Super Pac-Man
The Glob
The Glob (earlier)
The Glob(Set 3)
Time Pilot
Xevious(Namco)

Why I have different versions of Galaga in my folder is because of the fact I was testing to see which version would work with the latest version of MAME. As for Donkey Kong, it was because of the fact that I was trouble getting certain sound effects to play in Donkey Kong in Mame32. For Centipede, it was because of the fact that it was the only version that was compatible in the plain MAME. NOTE: I am not asking for ROM's, I just would like to know how I can fix a few glitches in MaLa in conjunction with the plain MAME. I can look for the ROM's myself.  
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[Wade007]

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by "basic MAME" but all the games you have listed including those that "aren't compatible" (not working) do in fact work with MAME.

Short Answer:
You must have a matching ROM for the matching version of MAME you are using. Otherwise some games considered "working"...won't.

Long(er) Answer:
MAME is in constant development. New versions of MAME come out almost weekly sometimes. IE: MAME .145, then MAME .145u1, then MAME .145u7..., MAME .146, etc.
Sometimes, as the core of MAME is developed and altered, the ROMs of older versions won't work with the new coding. You would then need to get the updated ROM for the updated version of MAME. Other times, there is a re-dump of the ROM circuit board for some games. A "better" dump which makes older ROMs obsolete and are coded out. In this case you might have an up-to-date ROM but and out of date MAME.

Just be sure to get the newest ROM with the newest version of MAME and you will be fine.

Also be careful that not all ROMs work in MAME. There are tons of games that are still in "preliminary" development and don't work. Its not a matter of having the right ROM or the right MAME, its just the the MAME developers haven't yet figured out all the bugs in the emulation...yet.

The 3 games you mentioned are solidly emulated. All three of them work fine on my MAME version .145 cabinet with my matching (up to date) Roms.

What errors do you get when you try and run these games. Likely you will have missing rom elements right?

Be sure you are using the correct MAME version for the correct ROM version and you should be fine. I hope this helps.

[ArcadeSeeker962]

The 3 games you mentioned are solidly emulated. All three of them work fine on my MAME version .145 cabinet with my matching (up to date) Roms.

What errors do you get when you try and run these games. Likely you will have missing rom elements right?

Yeah, that's the problem I was experiencing(missing ROM elements). I'm currently not using MaLa, but I'll seek out newer versions of the ROM'S. Thank you for your help, it helped clear some things up for me. As for the basic version of MAME, I meant the one programmed by Nicola Salmoria. 

[Gray_Area]

You might spend some time at MAMEDEV.org reading.