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During the 1980s and 1990s, the MSX was swamped with poor Spectrum ports, same as the Amstrad CPC, affecting the reputation of each computer. When a developer invested the time and care into their games, the result was often an amazing achievement. Shoulder Blade: Overdrive is a game that was not developed... No, the word I would use is "crafted". Carefully crafted by the expert hands at GW's Workshop. Though not without its faults, this game really is something special. I look forward to seeing how the judges view it at the #MSXDev early in 2019.

The accompanying documentation appears to have been written in another language and put through Google Translate. From what I can determine, a society purchased unknown technology that bought about a war for some reason. The 'armoured while dragon', Shoulder Blade, is the weapon of choice for you, the pilot. Your superior officers have planned a surprise attack on an enemy base in an attempt to cripple their forces. However, this information had already reached their lines, and they were already waiting when your team arrived.

Thankfully your heavy armour saved you from becoming one more casualty in this war. After recovering you decide to head back out in your Shoulder Blade. Why? I'm not sure to be honest, there is no reason given [Maybe war makes people do crazy things? - Ed]. Perhaps, you might be completing the operation on your own, you might be trying to escape the battlefield, or it might even be revenge. I know people tend to say 'you don't play these games for the story', but it is nice to have an understanding of the context behind your actions in the game. This story is an example of world building which the game continues to expand upon.

You control your mech with the keyboard or MSX controller. Your only actions are to move and fire, so buttons 1 and 2 will do the same thing. Pushing up twice will boost your mech into the air for a short jump. I found this to be rather fiddly and feel that the second button on the controller should have been used for this action.

Initially the controls feel a little awkward as you appear to control the crosshair more so than the robot itself. The manual explains AI controls, and as your robots darts left and right across the screen I imagine that is what's taking control. If you find yourself in trouble you can dash to the left or right, though you are unable to fire while doing this. After a few plays most of the controls feel natural, though, as I mentioned before, a button to jump would have been a better option than tapping up twice.

The manual shows the stats of each enemy vehicle, displaying their levels of power and defence. It is worth keeping this in mind as you may find yourself surrounded by enemies, and if you can manage to pick off the weakest vehicles first then that's less firepower headed your way. While this is a fast moving action game there is an element of strategy needed if you're going to survive.

Space Harrier is the elephant in the room here, and it appears to have been an influence for the developers. I started this game expecting it to be a full clone of the Sega classic, but I could not have been more wrong. While the forward scrolling and approaching enemies appear to have been moulded from Space Harrier clay, the way in which you manage these enemies and the way you control your mech are very different.

The game only gives you a single life, though you can continue if you die. The bottom of the screen has meters for shield and thrust. The shield decreases as you get hit and the thrust will go down each time you jump or dash. They will build back up, though only while you are not using your guns. This leaves you in an uncomfortable position as enemies arrive in lots of two's and three's, with attack choppers supporting the ground units. You simply have to avoid them as best you can while these meters fill back up. Thankfully this doesn't take too long and you are able to resume blasting the bad guys.

The graphics are gorgeous and the scrolling is fast paced, giving a feeling of urgency as the enemies make their way towards you. The colours are bright and vibrant, making full use of the enhanced palette of the MSX2. You can clearly identify what is approaching you well before it is within firing range. There aren't too many frames of animation used for each of the elements in the game, though the action is so fast paced you barely notice this.

The title screen music is quite a moody piece with a slight techno feel, which is perfect for this game. The in game track is also quite fitting, though I found myself ignoring it and focusing on the action. The sound effects do let things down somewhat. Explosions are standard fare, though shooting at an enemy (which you obviously do a lot makes your MSX sound like it's blowing a raspberry at you.

The graphics are gorgeous and fast paced. This is a really enjoyable game to play with a great soundtrack and, for the most part, decent controls...

...though they are let down somewhat by using double up to jump. I don't know why this doesn't bother me as much with the double left or right for a side dash. Maybe using button B and a direction to dash or jump might have been a better way to go about it. The gun sound effect is also quite grating.

Overall Shoulder Blade: Overdrive is a great example of what the MSX hardware can do when a developer decides to take advantage of it [I think the entry into the #MSXDev also may have helped - Ed]. If you like Space Harrier, or 3D shooters in general then plug this into the cartridge port and get ready for a wild ride!