diff --git a/src/mame/machine/xavix.cpp b/src/mame/machine/xavix.cpp
index 89ba1683440..7228c8f7ddf 100644
--- a/src/mame/machine/xavix.cpp
+++ b/src/mame/machine/xavix.cpp
@@ -409,7 +409,9 @@ WRITE8_MEMBER(xavix_state::irq_source_w)
 
 void xavix_state::machine_start()
 {
-
+	// card night expects RAM to be initialized to 0xff or it will show the pause menu over the startup graphics?!
+	// don't do this every reset or it breaks the baseball 2 secret mode toggle which flips a bit in RAM
+	std::fill_n(&m_mainram[0], 0x4000, 0xff);
 }
 
 void xavix_state::machine_reset()
@@ -448,40 +450,13 @@ void xavix_state::machine_reset()
 	m_soundregs[12] = 0;
 	m_soundregs[13] = 0;
 
-	for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
-		m_multparams[i] = 0;
-
-	for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
-		m_multresults[i] = 0;
-
-	for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++)
-	{
-		m_spritefragment_dmaparam1[i] = 0;
-		m_spritefragment_dmaparam2[i] = 0;
-	}
-
-	for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++)
-	{
-		m_tmap1_regs[i] = 0;
-		m_tmap2_regs[i] = 0;
-	}
-
-	for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
-	{
-		m_txarray[i] = 0x00;
-	}
-
-	for (int i = 0; i < 0x800; i++)
-	{
-		// taito nostalgia 1 never initializes the ram at 0x6400 but there's no condition on using it at present?
-		m_fragment_sprite[i] = 0x00;
-	}
-
-	for (int i = 0; i < 0x4000; i++)
-	{
-		// card night expects RAM to be initialized to 0xff or it will show the pause menu over the startup graphics?!
-		m_mainram[i] = 0xff;
-	}
+	std::fill(std::begin(m_multparams), std::end(m_multparams), 0x00);
+	std::fill(std::begin(m_multresults), std::end(m_multresults), 0x00);
+	std::fill(std::begin(m_spritefragment_dmaparam1), std::end(m_spritefragment_dmaparam1), 0x00);
+	std::fill(std::begin(m_tmap1_regs), std::end(m_tmap1_regs), 0x00);
+	std::fill(std::begin(m_tmap2_regs), std::end(m_tmap2_regs), 0x00);
+	std::fill(std::begin(m_txarray), std::end(m_txarray), 0x00);
+	std::fill_n(&m_fragment_sprite[0], 0x800, 0x00); // taito nostalgia 1 never initializes the ram at 0x6400 but there's no condition on using it at present?
 
 	m_lowbus->set_bank(0);
 }
diff --git a/src/mame/video/xavix.cpp b/src/mame/video/xavix.cpp
index f246100e249..f00f5ec701f 100644
--- a/src/mame/video/xavix.cpp
+++ b/src/mame/video/xavix.cpp
@@ -674,15 +674,19 @@ uint32_t xavix_state::screen_update(screen_device &screen, bitmap_ind16 &bitmap,
 
 	if (m_arena_control & 0x01)
 	{
-		// some games enable it with both regs as 00, which causes a problem
-		if (m_arena_start > m_arena_end)
+		/* Controls the clipping area (for all layers?) used for effect at start of Slap Fight and to add black borders in other cases
+		   based on Slap Fight Tiger lives display (and reference videos) this is slightly offset as all status bar gfx must display
+		   Monster Truck black bars are wider on the right hand side, but this matches with the area in which the tilemap is incorrectly rendered so seems to be intentional
+		   Snowboard hides garbage sprites on the right hand side with this, confirming the right hand side offset
+		   Taito Nostalgia 1 'Gladiator' portraits in demo mode are cut slightly due to the area specified, again the cut-off points for left and right are confirmed as correct on hardware
+
+		   some games enable it with both regs as 00, which causes a problem, likewise ping pong sets both to 0xff
+		   but Slap Fight Tiger has both set to 0x82 at a time when everything should be clipped
+		*/
+		if (((m_arena_start != 0x00) && (m_arena_end != 0x00)) && ((m_arena_start != 0xff) && (m_arena_end != 0xff)))
 		{
-			// controls the clipping area (for all layers?) used for effect at start of Slap Fight and to add black borders in other cases
-			// based on Slap Fight Tiger lives display (and reference videos) this is slightly offset as all gfx must display
-			// other games don't correct the offset so will display a tiny bit of extra space at times?
-			// (there is some tilemap draw-in on Monster Truck)
-			clip.max_x = m_arena_start + 1;
-			clip.min_x = m_arena_end - 2;
+			clip.max_x = m_arena_start - 3;
+			clip.min_x = m_arena_end - 1;
 
 			if (clip.min_x < cliprect.min_x)
 				clip.min_x = cliprect.min_x;