Partially working Breakout game

I wanted to make a game for my computer but writing it in assembler would be a real pain to maintain properly. Instead it opted for a less efficient method but an easier one which is to write it in C.
The plan is to progam a full rpg but it is not yet possible because of my 16kB ROM. To give you an idea, Dragon Quest I was 256kB and Final Fantasy I was 512kB.
In comparison, the Breakout game I wrote is already over 4kB in size with only three levels. It works on the emulator but not yet on the real computer. I am still figuring out where the problem lies.
Here is a comparison of the real one on the left, and the working emulated one on the right.

The video chip on the breadboard still works only half of the time but when I fiddle a bit with the wires it usually works. I have also added a small composite amplifier circuit, so now the signal is better and works on my TV and portable DVD-player input as seen below.