Razing Core

Genre: Shmup Developer: badcomputer Publisher: badcomputer Players: 1 Released: 2026

Within the realm of Sega consoles, the Master System isn’t particularly known for its shmups. That crown sits firmly on the head of the Genesis (though the Saturn sits proudly to its right), and most fans know the 8-bit machine primarily for its action and platformer games. It’s unfortunate that despite awesome titles like Power Strike and R-Type, the genre kind of flew under most gamers’ radars. The shmup genre kind of just looms quietly in the background, desperately trying to make its way past Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Phantasy Star.

Thankfully, indie game developer badcomputer has been working damn hard for the past few years to change that perception. After a pair of incredible releases with Frontier Force and Astro Climber in 2025, he’s returned to Master System space with the amazing Razing Core, a vertically-scrolling shmup that does an incredible job of showing what the console can do. It’s action-packed and visually stunning, and it should quell any doubts about what Sega’s little wonder is capable of. This effort isn’t badcomputer’s first space romp on the machine, either. He previously designed the short-but-very-fun Blast Arena. That game was limited to a single screen of play, but this time, he’s upped the ante by bringing the action into scrolling stages over several different environments.

Razing Core’s plot follows a scout piloting the “Horizon” spacecraft whose navigational systems are hijacked by a pulsing alien sphere designated as “the Core.” The strange device takes over and shoots the Horizon into hyperspace and back to Earth. Upon arrival, you find the planet under assault by an alien armada. Now, with the power of the Horizon craft and the strange Core at your disposal, you must free the Earth from the aliens and save humanity. It’s not the most original plot, to be sure, but that’s not what most shmup fans look for anyway. All we need to know is that someone or something is attacking somewhere. Just point us in the right direction, give us a ship, and let us do the rest.

Razing Core makes such wanton destruction any easy task. The control mapping is tailored for whatever classic hardware platform you’re used to, supporting both standard Master System inputs and Genesis setups. While only using two buttons, the game offers a decent variety of attacks that are pretty strong as your default firepower. The Horizon comes armed with basic rapid fire (just hold down button 1) that’s upgradable, a rotating attack using the Core that takes out nearby enemies and protects from incoming fire but has a cool-down period (button 2), and a powerful burst charge that can make you invincible while active (hold down both buttons). If you’re using a Genesis controller, the burst charge is mapped to button A, making things a bit easier. There are also secondary weapons labeled A through D that can be found and subsequently upgraded. They range from wide circular spreads to penetrating laser streams, and collecting an “S” icon powers them up a maximum of five times. Need your weapon powered up faster? Just grab the Super Upgrade pick-up that instantly maximizes your current loadout. Just be sure to avoid the “X” icon, as it will strip you completely of any secondary weapon you have, no matter what level it is. Dying doesn’t cost you your power-ups, thankfully; you’ll just be dropped a level.

Razing Core retains that old school Master System feature of tracking your score, something the console did well beyond the age of people really being interested in scoring, but the game at least brought the “points for lives” mechanic with it. Destroying Carrier Cubes or certain hidden areas in the environment yields other goodies, including extra lives and medals that score points (needed for obtaining those valuable extra lives). There’s a continue option for when all those extra ships are gone, and badcomputer was pretty fair in the way he implemented it. Continuing allows players to restart the active stage or spawn right before an encountered boss battle, though failure before reaching the first boss forces a fresh run. I remember being frustrated back in the day at games that would send you all the way back to the beginning of a stage even when you died fighting the boss. Razing Core at least lets you pick up the action right where you left off, rewarding you for making it that far and spurring you to press on.

And you’ll absolutely want to continue! Across the game’s seven stages (six full and the final boss fight), there are mini-bosses and some of the biggest final foes you’ll see in a Master System shmup. The presentation of each boss is excellent, and one thing that really stood out to me overall was how little slowdown and flicker there was during gameplay. The game tosses a lot of ships at you, and I expected there to be at least some intense framerate drop and flicker during the more intense moments. I was impressed to see virtually none. To be fair, I did play using a flash cart on my Analogue Mega SG via the Terraonion Mega SD flash cart. I wasn’t able to play on an actual Master System, but I don’t think the game would react much differently on the original hardware. Razing Core is solidly designed, and it’s a real testament to both badcomputer’s skill with the architecture and the overall power of the system. Everything runs smoothly, and you’ll never feel taken out of the action at all. Prepare for some intense boss fights, my friends!

I mentioned Razing Core’s presentation earlier, and it’s definitely worth bringing up again. The multiple stages are bright and colorful, with varied environments that are nicely detailed. I would have liked a bit of parallax scrolling somewhere in there, but that’s mostly because I want parallax scrolling in everything. I guess I can’t really fault the game for not having any, though. The bosses are huge and look great, and the whole affair is wrapped up in tremendous artwork by digital artist danmakuman and an excellent soundtrack by Lovepenguin, a talented chiptune musician who also did the soundtrack for Astro Climber. The musical themes are catchy and sound really clear, with none of that scratching percussion that plagued so many western Master System releases. The stage themes each run for over two minutes before looping, too, giving Razing Core one of the more robust soundtracks on the console.

I have only some minor observations with Razing Core, and they’re purely subjective. I didn’t find the burst charge to be too useful since it takes so long to build up. Assuming you survive long enough, you really only get to use it once per level. I know it was designed to not be overpowered and cause players to resort to spamming, but it would have worked better as a finite option, like a bomb attack, or with a shorter power up sequence. Additionally, some of the standard enemies take far too many hits to destroy. Initially, I thought a few of them were mid-tier foes that were meant to compliment the standard ones, but they weren’t. As more swarm in to attack, I found myself just avoiding them to focus on the incoming ships because it took so long to bring them down.

As with all of his releases, badcomputer made Razing Core with the original Master System and Mark III hardware in mind. The game is optimized to operate at 60Hz, though compatible FPGA setups and emulators are supported with disabled BIOS settings. As of this writing, badcomputer hasn’t tried the game on the dozens of clone systems available, so your mileage will vary regarding compatibility. I played on the SuperStation One FPGA console, as well as on my Mega SG, and both ran fine. I don’t think there could be any major issues though, but I would stick to original consoles and FPGA just to be safe.

Overall, Razing Core is a stellar product that shows how even a small team of dedicated and talented fans can produce something that rivals even the major releases. Badcomputers work just keeps getting better and better with each new release, and he continues to show the potential the Master System still has to offer. Razing Core is a shmup you have to play, especially for the meager $7.99 asking price. If you love the genre and are looking for something new to throw at your Master System, this is the game for you. There’s a planned physical release for next year, which I will definitely be buying. I have the physical edition of Frontier Force, and it’s quality work, so I am eagerly anticipating adding Razing Core to my shelf. The game is a tremendous love letter to 8-bit shmup fans, and you owe it to yourself to experience it.