In the summer of 2025, the 8-bit machine is getting hot again: Badcomputer & 2Minds have teamed up to release Frontier Force. Here is the review of this impressive game! (This article is also available in german, please click here if you like to read it.)

Facts

Developer/Publisher: Badcomputer, 2Minds
Platform: Sega Master System
Release: June 16th, 2025
Genre: Shoot'em Up
Number of players: 1
 

Frontier Force by Badcomputer & 2Minds for the Sega Master System

Development

On February 14th 2024, Adam aka Badcomputer presented his game in development at SMS Power!, titled Frontier Force. Frontier Force is a fixed-screen shoot'em up that focuses on one location per level, where the player must protect and defend his base against an army of enemies. During the development, Badcomputer kept the thread up-to-date with regular updates of his game, reporting which elements he has added. He programmed the game with devkitSMS and did the graphic design as well, while also experimenting with a program called Python. Members of the SMS Power! forum gave him valuable advice on the development of the game, including Maxim, Toxa and Sverx. For the music, he got help from Crisps Crispulent, who presents his chiptune pieces on YouTube. As for the font, Badcomputer got support by the experienced Damien Guard, who has been developing programs since 1983. After the release of a demo by Badcomputer, the response was highly positive and also very helpful, as many bugs have been discovered and fixed and the overall quality was improved once again. The good quality of the game brought Fabrice Dumas aka IchigoBankai to the scene, who produced a first edition batch for the player´s gaming shelves at home. However, as he will no longer act as a publisher for other developers at the end of 2025 and will concentrate on his own projects in the future, Frontier Force will only get this single batch, with the first games being sent to early buyers in mid-June 2025. After a pre-order period from May 1st until the end of July, the other games will be shipped from mid-July 2025 to the other gamers. The game comes in the usual top-notch quality, which could even be described as much better than the quality of the Sega games in the heyday of the Master System, and even includes a poster and a reversible cover with two different color schemes and a matching 90s-style artwork. Like all 2Minds covers, this one was created by the talented Yeti Bomar. For the new PCBs, 2Minds has used a new ARM processor that has been tested on some models of the Master System, Game Gear, Mark III, MK-2000 and Mega Drive I and II models. Among other things, these processors are known for their low power consumption and are used in mobile devices as well as embedded systems. The early buyers got their games in time in mid-June 2025.

Story & Gameplay

I a distant corner of the galaxy, humanity´s last hope for survival hangs by a thread. The earth now lies in ruins under alien occupation, a stark reminder of our lost home. With the new fragile outpost on the brink of collapse, a hero must rise to defend it against relentless alien invaders. The fate of humanity rests on your actions, and the outcome is far from certain. Can you protect the settlement and pave the way for a new beginning?
Frontier Force has 5 levels, in which 40 enemies, called Kraelion, are going to attack. They are accompanied by smaller intermediate bosses and gigantic bosses that lie in wait for the hero at the end of each stage, with the level of difficulty adapting to the player's ability. There are also two bonus levels in which you can earn an extra life each. The hero called Guy has to protect his outpost, which are getting attacked by certain enemies. Not all of them, though, because many enemies are focusing on Guy. The good thing is that the outposts don´t get destroyed immediately after being damaged, since they have their own small life bars.
You play Frontier Force this way: Use the directional pad to move the hero to the left or right. If you press twice in quick succession in either direction, Guy does a dash to dodge attacks more quickly. If you press up or down on the directional pad, you can change your primary weapon. An alternative method for changing the primary weapon is offered in the options. Button 1 fires the primary weapon of the Vindicator rifle, allowing you to choose between four different types of ammo, some of which are better suited to certain enemies than others. Switching weapons regularly is the recipe for winning the game. The primary weapon has 4 ammunition types: Plasma (unlimited), Flame, Rockets and Chain Gun. By tapping button 2, Guy throws a bomb and if you hold down button 2, he shoots the laser, which is also limited but can be recharged by using other weapons. The rest can be refilled with ammo pickups.

The bomb is a one-shot explosion and is also very limited. In the options menu, you can select the “Bomb/Laser” option under “Bomb Ammo”. This automatically refills the laser ammo when the hero has a bomb in stock. The impact sound allows the player to recognize which enemies are more vulnerable to certain weapons and which are not. In addition to extra lives and ammunition boxes, there are other power-ups such as a temporary shield, additional bombs and extra points. If you defeat three identical enemies in a row, your score increases. Enemies drop medals after being destroyed and the better you play, the more medals drop. However, an increasing number of medals and thus the medal rank also increases the difficulty of the game. The golden stars at the top right of the screen indicate your current rank. Using the laser gives you twice as many medals from the opponents, but there are also other ways to score. The rank can rise and fall during the level, but if it´s higher, more points are awarded. You have three continues at the beginning of the game, and if you beat the game without using a continue, a secret will be revealed.
The graphics offer a special color palette that makes use of pastel tones and sets interesting accents of purple, green, light blue and pink. From the enemies and the depiction of the weapons to the foregrounds and backgrounds, everything is exceptionally detailed. The sky often changes it´s color and passing clouds also offer a lot of variety for the eyes. In addition to the very impressive graphics, there is the soundtrack, which comes up with really cool 90s Master System beats and the music of the Desert Sky stage never gets boring, for example. On the title screen, the music adapts to the shots that Guy fires with his Vindicator rifle, and that alone creates a “Wow!” effect. I didn´t noticed any bugs while I was playing the game.

Gordman's opinion

I don't even know where to start, except with: Awesome! Unfortunately, my problem is that I have super bad shmup skills and I really struggle with a game as difficult as Frontier Force. I haven't been able to play through it yet, impossible on this challenging difficulty level, although I have played on normal and at least managed to reach the middle of stage 2, which also allowed me to see the first bonus level. What doesn´t sound as much is a real achievement, because the player has to learn which enemies appear in which order to shoot them up in time. This takes quite a bit of time and I will definitely be playing Frontier Force more often, because the bombastic graphics alone simply blow me away. The color palette is very impressive, as is the detailed presentation of the overall appearance. You simply have to see it, because it's really powerful for an 8-bit game. The intro sequence alone offers a wealth of detail that immediately makes you want to play it. Crisps has contributed a really good soundtrack and needs to compose more music for the Master System in the future (yes, that's a friendly broad hint!^^). The awesome 90s beats he magically implemented into the game sound like a really good soundtrack by Sega from the heyday of the Master System. Damien Guard has done a great job as well and the font fits perfectly into the game. Fortunately, Frontier Force offers automatic rapid fire for the weapons, because otherwise, no control pad would last long. You really need a very reliable controller without any quirks if you wanna be successful here. It takes a while to get used to the game, but once you get into it, you'll get better and learn how to switch weapons. The levels remind me a bit of the Defensive Half levels from Global Defense, a legendary and underrated game. The 2Minds version is fantastic and highly professionally produced in all aspects, and I am completely impressed and grateful for it as always. Happily, 2Minds will not be closing down entirely: Fabrice Dumas will merely no longer act as a publisher for others. He will continue to publish his own projects, which have a lot of potential, under the 2Minds banner. I can understand why he took this step and I still think it's good that he's not giving up 2Minds completely. The cover artwork alone, created by Yeti Bomar, is so thrilling 90s. I can only recommend everyone to get the game from 2Minds while it's still available. Honestly: 1993 and Frontier Force would have gone through the roof. It has everything a really good Master System game needs.

Availability

Frontier Force is available on itch.io or as a collector's item for your home shelves from 2Minds, as long as the game is available there. 2Minds will not produce another batch of the game after that, but in September 2025, there could be some last copies available at the shop. It is possible that Frontier Force could be re-released by another publisher in the future.

Links

- Thread on SMS Power!: Frontier Force (another fixed screen shoot-em-up)
- Crisps Youtube channel: youtube.com/@CrispsCrispulent
- Website of Damien Guard: damieng.com
- Website of 2Minds: 2minds.fr
- Website of Yeti Bomar: yeti-bomar.blogspot.com/2025/04/frontier-force
- Frontier Force on itch.io: badcomputer0.itch.io/frontier-force


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