Was the World's First Home CD-ROM Game Really a "Kusoge"?

"Fighting Street" (the original "Street Fighter") and the day that home console video game history changed forever

🔓 Limited-Time Access: As a welcome to the global retro community, we have temporarily unlocked this premium underground Japanese market report for all to see.

In-game voiceovers, which are taken for granted today.

Music, in CD-quality.

High presentation value, leveraging large-capacity data.

Yet year by year, the number of people who witnessed the exact moments these innovations came to home consoles only decreases.

NEC Home Electronics released the “CD-ROM² System” in December 1988 as an add-on for the PC Engine.

And launching right alongside that system was Fighting Street.

Today, this title is known as a port of the arcade game Street Fighter. But what I want to highlight here is that it was really the “world’s first home video game software to use a CD-ROM.”

In other words, the history of home CD-ROM games began with this very game.

Looking at it from a modern perspective, the critical reception of Fighting Street is by no means high.

Since its release, opinions such as “the special moves are too difficult” and “bad operability” proliferated, and in some circles, the title came to be seen as a kusoge (Japanese for “trash game”).

However, years later, I came to form a different viewpoint.

Compared to the current series, the arcade version of Street Fighter is vastly different.

It used a dedicated cabinet, with only one button each for “punch” and “kick.”

Only those two buttons existed.

Furthermore, it was a very unique specification where the strength of the attack changed depending on how much force the player used when pressing the button.

The PC Engine version, on the other hand, was similarly a two-button game.

However, for this version, the strength of the attack changed depending on how long the player pressed the button.

Because of that, the controls were certainly unique.

However, looking at it from a different perspective, one can argue that it still faithfully ported even the quirks and difficulty of the arcade version.

At the time, I remember reading a submission published in a gaming magazine that said, “In this game, defending is more fun than attacking.”

The concept of guarding is a given today, but back then, it must have felt incredibly fresh to players.

Personally, it was from the later Street Fighter II that I fully understood how truly fun defending can be. But looking back now, I do feel that it was also faithfully ported to the original Fighting Street as well.

Considering that Street Fighter II later transitioned to a six-button layout and established the standard for fighting games, one can say that Fighting Street was a transitional title.

The first time I played Fighting Street was after I purchased a PC Engine DUO-R.

Thanks to some gaming magazines revealing secret cheat codes at the time, it was relatively easy to pull off those special moves and was common knowledge to those ‘in the know’.

Therefore, I did not particularly struggle with the “special moves are too difficult” criticism at the time.

However, what surprised me was something else altogether.

The music.

The voiceovers.

The sound effects.

The moment the game booted up, I immediately found that the sounds flowing out of the home console were completely different from the electronic beeps I had become accustomed to.

The characters actually spoke.

At the same time, the music retained what was in the arcade version.

“Can a game console really do this much?“

That old me was purely amazed.

Now, it might be difficult for today’s young game fans to imagine this.

However, at the time, cassettes were still the mainstream for home console video games.

The word “CD-ROM” itself had this image of ‘technology from the future.’

Therefore, I cannot look at Fighting Street today as a mere ported title.

I view it as an archival material that recorded the moment home video games advanced from the “era of electronic sounds” to the “era of CD-ROMs.”

And that brings me to this unopened copy I found on Mercari.

At the time of its release, this game was by no means a premium title.

There were many users who parted with it due to its unique operability and high difficulty level, and there was a period when it could be found in the secondhand market relatively frequently.

However, considering its historical value as the world’s first home CD-ROM game, an unopened item is extremely precious.

This unopened item is not a mere game title.

It is a time capsule that encapsulated the very moment the history of home CD-ROM games began.

Ys I & II as well.

Tengai Makyo as well.

Tokimeki Memorial as well.

And the numerous masterpieces that followed.

Everything started from this single CD.

If I were to face an unopened copy in good condition right now, I would want to keep it on hand not just as a mere retro game, but as “proof that the future of home video games had begun.”

[Regarding Authenticity]

It is impossible to conclusively determine an unopened item with 100% certainty from images alone. However, as far as looking at how the entire film is stretched and how the folded portions are handled, I did not feel any major red flags. I never judge authenticity based solely on a specific shrink-wrap shape. I make a judgment by comprehensively looking at the condition of the case, the fading of the jacket, and the overall vibe of the film, but at the very least, this specific unit did not give off an unnatural impression for an unopened item.

[Regarding Condition]

The blue color of the obi strip remains vividly in place, and the coloration of the jacket also looks excellent. Cases for PC Engine CD-ROM software are highly prone to cracks and fractures, but within the scope of the listing images, no major cracks can be confirmed. Considering that it is a title from about 37 years ago, its storage condition falls into the fairly well-preserved tier.

[Regarding the Listing Price of 54,000 Yen]

Looking only at the price of 54,000 yen, it might feel expensive. However, this software is not a mere retro game, but a work holding immense historical value as the “world’s first home CD-ROM game.” Moreover, when it comes to unopened items, the number of surviving copies is by no means large. It is expensive if the purpose is purely for playing, but if you consider it as “archival material that preserved the moment of the birth of home CD-ROM games,” I felt it is a price well worth considering.

Written by Keida | Translated by Jacob

[Market Reality Note] The artifacts featured in our reports are live, highly volatile listings sourced directly from the Japanese domestic secondary market. Due to the underground nature of these collector ecosystems, items may sell out or be removed by the seller at any given moment. Consider each report a real-time window into a vanishing opportunity.

---

The artifacts exist. The mud is deep.

If you seek a specific Holy Grail and demand our uncompromising vetting process in the Japanese underground market, this private dispatch is available.