I found out not long after making this video that the side shields actually protect you from touching the sides of the road, which is why they don't appear on easy difficulty, since the sides of the roads don't hurt in that mode. Not a lot of mouse driven 2D shooters out there so while this one is very basic, at least it's very simple to play. Come to think of it... not a lot of 2D shooters where you DRIVE down roads either. Quite to mix of features going on here!