CP System


The CP System is an arcade system board developed by Capcom that ran game software stored on removable ROM cartridges. More than two dozen arcade titles were released for CPS-1, before Capcom shifted game development over to its successor, the CP System II.
Out of all 33 released arcade games, titles such as Capcom's Street Fighter II, Street Fighter II', Street Fighter II Turbo as well as their previous 1989 spin-off Final Fight were perhaps the most popular and successful installments within the CPS library that would later be converted to various home consoles and handheld ports such as the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Portable, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, ZX Spectrum, X68000, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Super NES, Virtual Console, Nintendo Switch, Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, iOS, etc.

History

After a number of arcade game boards designed to run only one game, Capcom embarked upon a project to produce a system board that could be used to run multiple games, in order to reduce hardware costs and make the system more appealing to arcade operators.
The system was plagued by many bootleg versions of its games. In particular, there were so many bootleg versions of Street Fighter II that they were more common in some countries than the official version. This problem was virtually eliminated by Capcom in the later CP System II.
The CP System hardware was also utilized in Capcom's unsuccessful attempt at home console market penetration, the CPS Changer, a domestic version of the CP System similar to the Neo-Geo AES.

Technical specifications

English titleRelease dateDeveloperJapanese titleGenreArcade System
Forgotten Worlds1988-07-29CapcomLost Worlds
Shoot 'em upCP System
Ghouls'n Ghosts1988-12CapcomDaimakaimura
PlatformerCP System
Strider1989-03CapcomStrider Hiryū
PlatformerCP System
Dynasty Wars1989-04CapcomTenchi o Kurau
Beat 'em upCP System
Willow1989-06CapcomWillow
PlatformerCP System
U.N. Squadron1989-08CapcomArea 88
Shoot 'em upCP System
Final Fight1989-12-01CapcomFinal Fight
Beat 'em upCP System
Pang1989-12-31Capcom/Mitchell CorporationPang
, also known as Pomping World 		ActionCapcom Mitchell Hardware
'1990-02Capcom1941
Shoot 'em upCP System
Mercs1990-03-02CapcomSenjō no Ōkami II
Run and gunCP System
Mega Twins1990-06-19CapcomChiki Chiki Boys
PlatformerCP System
Magic Sword - Heroic Fantasy1990-06-23CapcomMagic Sword
PlatformerCP System
Super Pang1990-09-19Capcom/Mitchell CorporationSuper Pang

Super Buster Bros. 		ShooterCapcom Mitchell Hardware
Carrier Air Wing1990-10-09CapcomU.S. Navy
Shoot 'em upCP System
Nemo1990-11-20CapcomNemo
PlatformerCP System
'1991-02-06CapcomStreet Fighter II: The World Warrior
Head-to-Head Fighting GameCP System
Three Wonders1991-05-20CapcomWonder 3
MultigameCP System
The King of Dragons1991-07-11CapcomThe King of Dragons
Beat 'em upCP System
Block Block1991-09-10CapcomBlock Block
PuzzleCapcom Mitchell Hardware
Captain Commando1991-09-28CapcomCaptain Commando
Beat 'em upCP System
Knights of the Round1991-11-27CapcomKnights of the Round
Beat 'em upCP System
'1992-03-13CapcomStreet Fighter II′ : Champion Edition
Head-to-Head Fighting GameCP System
Adventure Quiz: Capcom World 21992-06-11CapcomAdventure Quiz Capcom World 2
Quiz gameCP System
'1992-06-12CapcomVarth: Operation Thunderstorm
Shoot 'em upCP System
'1992-07-01CapcomQuiz & Dragons
Quiz gameCP System
'1992-12-09CapcomStreet Fighter II′ Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Head-to-Head Fighting GameCP System
Ken Sei Mogura: Street Fighter II1994-04-18Capcom/Togo/SigmaKen Sei Mogura
Whack a moleCP System
Pnickies1994-06-08Capcom/CompilePnickies
Puzzle gameCP System
Quiz Tonosama no Yabō 2: Zenkoku-ban1995-01-23CapcomQuiz Tonosama no Yabō 2: Zenkoku-ban
Quiz gameCP System
Pang! 31995-05-11Capcom/Mitchell CorporationPlatformerCP System

CP System Dash

A year before releasing the CP System II, Capcom released an enhanced version of the original CP System dubbed the CP System Dash, which had some features that would later be used in the CP System II, such as the QSound chips.
The CP System Dash boards have four interlocking PCBs and are contained in gray plastic boxes. To combat piracy, "suicide batteries" were implemented, which power the volatile RAM which contained the manual configuration of the display hardware registers, as well as the priorities registers. The CPS-1 Dash 68000 code is not encrypted at all. If the batteries' voltage should drop below +2V, the registers manually defined in factory by Capcom in RAM would be lost, and the PPU would no longer have access to the hardware specific register set on the game used, rendering the game inoperable, and necessitating the operator sending the board to Capcom to be fixed, at his own expense. Unlike the CP System II, CP System Dash sound ROMs were encrypted using "Kabuki" Z80s.

List of games

English titleRelease dateDeveloperJapanese titleGenre
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs1992-02-01CapcomCadillacs Kyōryū Shinseiki
Beat 'em up
Warriors of Fate
Sangokushi II 		1992-10-02CapcomTenchi o Kurau II: Sekiheki no Tatakai
Beat 'em up
The Punisher1993-04-22CapcomThe Punisher
Beat 'em up
Saturday Night Slam Masters1993-07-13CapcomMuscle Bomber: The Body Explosion
Sports game
Muscle Bomber Duo: Ultimate Team Battle1993-12-06CapcomMuscle Bomber Duo: Heat Up Warriors
Sports game

Capcom Power System Changer

A home version of the CP System, the Capcom Power System Changer or CPS Changer was released in late 1994 in Japan to compete against SNK's Neo Geo. Capcom released the CPS Changer as an attempt to sell their arcade games in a home-friendly format. The CPS Changer adapter was basically an encased SuperGun, and was compatible with most JAMMA standard PCBs. Capcom's "protection" against people using the CPS Changer on other arcade boards was the physical shape of the device. On a normal JAMMA PCB it would not attach firmly and tended to lean at odd angles, but it would work. The CPS Changer has outputs for composite video, S-video and line-level mono audio.
The CPS Changer featured Super Famicom controller ports, allowing the use of all Super NES controllers, including their six-button joystick, the "CPS Fighter".
All of the CPS Changer games used the CPS arcade hardware. The CPS Changer games were simply arcade PCBs in a special plastic shell suitable for home use. This concept was later re-used in the CP System II hardware. Some CPS1 games were changed slightly for home release, sometimes including debugging features or other easter eggs.
The CPS Changer was sold as a package deal of the console itself, one CPS Fighter joystick controller, and the Street Fighter II ′ Turbo game for 39,800 yen. Additional games were sold for about 20,000 yen.
The final game for the CPS Changer was a back-ported version of Street Fighter Zero. Originally released on the CP System II hardware, this special CPS Changer version, released at a premium 35,000 yen, was degraded slightly for the older hardware: it had fewer frames of animation for the game characters, fewer onscreen colors, and the sound and music effects were sampled at a lower rate.

List of games

Release dateDeveloperEnglish titleJapanese titleGenre
1994CapcomWarriors of Fate
Sangokushi II 		Tenchi o Kurau II: Sekiheki no Tatakai
Beat 'em up
1994Capcom'Adventure Quiz Capcom World 2
Quiz game
1995CapcomCaptain CommandoCaptain Commando
Beat 'em up
1994CapcomFinal FightFinal Fight
Beat 'em up
1995CapcomKnights of the RoundKnights of the Round
Beat 'em up
1995Capcom'Muscle Bomber Duo: Heat Up Warriors
Sports game
1994CapcomSaturday Night Slam MastersMuscle Bomber: The Body Explosion
Sports game
1994Capcom'Street Fighter II Dash: Champion Edition
Versus Fighting
1994, pack-inCapcom'Street Fighter II Dash Turbo: Hyper Fighting
Versus Fighting
1995CapcomStreet Fighter AlphaStreet Fighter Zero
Versus Fighting
1995CapcomThe King of DragonsThe King of Dragons
Beat 'em up