It shouldn't be too serious. It sounds like the disc may be damaged, if you got it second hand etc...
If it's new, I'd take it back, and try again. CD-R games aren't going to work without a chip, so that's gonna go to read screen.
If it still doesn't work, the drive may need the slightest tweak. Different discs have different reflectivity rates, which will explain why Audio CD's work but your game doesn't...
