Finally got my wonky copy of Dragon Warrior working, several pins were very worn. This is the copy I played as a kid so it was sentimental.
Found a YouTube video where a guy repaired an edge connector on an arcade board by melting solder on the pin and the wiping it off with his bare finger. Yeah, don't do that. I feel like I was trolled.
Anyway, I did his solder wipe (with rag) and got it from a red or white screen to booting kinda sorta. So then I took a sharp pocket knife and scraped each pin from top to bottom. Several times, trying to get them smooth and uniform.
Then some alcohol wipes.
Now, with a firm insertion, it's working fine on my top loader and 2 clones.