A downloadable game

Frontier Force is a fixed-screen shoot-em-up in development for the SEGA Master System.

This is a demo of the game's full first stage. As this is a work in progress it may not represent the final game, and may contain bugs.

Please provide feedback in the comments or elsewhere, this will help me improve the game! And thanks for playing!


Controls

  • D-Pad: move left and right.
  • Double tap D-Pad left or right: Dashing allows you to move through enemies and enemy bullets for a short period.
  • Button 1: shoot primary weapon
  • Tap Button 2: release bomb
  • Hold Button 2: shoot laser

Weapon Switching (can be changed in options):

  • Hold D-Pad Down Button 1 or Button 2 to switch primary weapon.
  • OR Tap D-Pad Up or Down to switch primary weapon.


Gameplay

Certain weapons are more powerful against certain enemies and this should be a focus to succeed in the game.

Your character has access to 6 weapons. The primary weapon has 4 options, plasma, flame, missiles, and chain gun. The plasma has unlimited ammo, the rest can be replenished with ammo pickups.

The two other weapons are the laser and the bomb. The laser has limited ammo but can be charged by damaging enemies with the other weapons. The bomb is a one-shot explosion and also has limited ammo.

Side note: In the options menu under "Bomb Ammo" if you select "Bomb/Laser" the laser ammo will be automatically refilled if you have a bomb in stock.

  • Flame: high damage against ALL enemies but limited to close range.
  • Missiles: high damage against MEDIUM-sized enemies.
  • Chain: high damage against SMALL-sized enemies.
  • Laser: high damage against MINI-BOSS and BOSS enemies.
  • Plasma and bomb deal normal damage against all enemies.


Scoring

Killing 3 enemies of the same size in a row produces a score pickup.

Medals are dropped when killing enemies, and drop more frequently the better you play. Using the laser to kill enemies will produce medals twice as fast as any other weapon. However, the game will also get more difficult the higher your medal rank (yellow stars in top right).

There are many other ways to score to be discovered.



Credits

Programming and Graphics - https://twitter.com/badcomputer0

Music by Crisps - https://www.youtube.com/@CrispsCrispulent

Font by Damien Guard - https://damieng.com/ 

Made using devkitSMS by sverx - https://github.com/sverx/devkitSMS

SMS Power development thread:

https://www.smspower.org/forums/19992-FrontierForceAnotherFixedScreenShootEmUp


StatusIn development
Rating
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
(2 total ratings)
Authorhelpcomputer0
GenreShooter, Action
Tags2D, 8-Bit, Arcade, chiptune, mastersystem, Pixel Art, sega, Shoot 'Em Up, Singleplayer
Average sessionA few minutes
LanguagesEnglish

Download

Download
Frontier Force (Alpha Demo V0.1.2.3).zip 83 kB

Install instructions

This is distributed as a Sega Master System ROM; you will need a Sega Master System emulator (I recommend Emulicious) or real hardware to run it. The game should be run at 60hz.

Development log

Comments

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( 1)

Nice game !

( 1)

I love your game, the color palette and gameplay is perfect, it reminds me of pang, I did a little post about it on my site.

Novo jogo para Sega Master System

( 1)

nice game!

Do you plan to release the final version also for free?

No.

(1 edit) ( 1)

Just so everyone knows this game runs wonderfully with the Mesen emulator. In Mesen you can use a thumb or joystick to emulate what it would feel like if played in an actual arcade.

I would only suggest adding additional graphics modes such as mono and modes for people with visual impairments and color blindness. Things like adding darker boarders/better contrast in the background scenes especially in the buildings as they would appear washed out to someone with low vision.

Any recommended emulator?

I use Emulicious, I believe it's the most accurate.

( 1)

It also runs wonderfully with Mesen.

( 1)

Very fun! Also very hard!
Would be nice if dashing could be disabled, lots of accidental dashing into bullets

( 1)

Thanks for playing! Dashing will be important to other parts of the game later so ideally I don't want to make it entirely optional. It does get easier to use with practice.

( 1)

Fair enough. I guess it's because of console limits it can't be a separate button.
I'll do my best with getting used to it!

( 1)

Yeah exactly, it's tough to find a good input for it. I've toned down the sensitivity so I'll see what the broad feedback is.

( 2)

wow, what a fun game!!!

( 2)

:)