there are 14 characters in the "view characters" list but when i press "go to town" there are no characters there and no way to progress further
anyone know how to fix this?

Which game?

I vaguely remember something like this with MM1, misunderstanding the instructions - I thought there was a "go to town" when in fact it is "go to town number [whatever]" and to find the characters we have to enter number 1.

MM2 also is this way. The directions can be mis-interpreted as having to press the number sign key ('#'), when actually you need to press a specific number key from 1 to 5, depending on which town the characters are in.

Edit: Also, I second the "Which game?" question. Please specify which game you're talking about when making a topic here.