The Sacred Armour of Antiriad
Encyclopedia
The Sacred Armour of Antiriad is an action game published by Palace Software
in 1986 for the Amstrad CPC
, Commodore 64
and ZX Spectrum
home computers. In the USA, the game was published by Epyx
as Rad Warrior. The original game came with a 16-page comic book created by graphic artist Dan Malone
.
One day, mysterious alien forces emerge from an old volcano containing a prewar military base and attack, quickly conquering and enslaving the new breed of humans, and forcing the populace to work in mines. Many rebel against the mysterious overlords and one of these rebels, Tal, is instructed by his elders to seek-out a legendary armoured suit - the Sacred Armour of Antiriad (the last word being a corruption of "anti-radiation"), which is in fact one of the prewar battlesuits whose development originally instigated the diplomatic crisis that started the nuclear war. This armour is rumoured to render the wearer impervious to attack and, with its help, Tal hopes to defeat and overthrow the alien rulers of Earth.
However, the armour requires other equipment to be added to it in order to make it function fully. These include anti-gravity
boots, particle negator, pulsar beam, and implosion mine. The last add-on is the most important as it is the one needed to destroy the volcano the enemy uses as its base.
The game-environment is full of dangerous creatures and the minions of the mysterious overlords. Tal can defend himself from these hostile beings by throwing rocks at them when out of the suit and by using the suits beam-weapon capabilities once he has located and installed the necessary equipment to the Antiriad armour.
Tal also needs to find and collect additions to the armour in order to allow it to fly, shoot etc. Tal can use the suit to explore the game area but will occasionally need to leave it to collect power re-charges for the suit, should it come under too-much attack (the suit cannot be destroyed but its power can be depleted).
Antiriad demonstrates a number of characteristic elements of the game Metroid
, including a robotic armour suit, enemies that are similar in appearance to metroids and a non-linear structure made possible by unlocking new abilities. Metroid was released approximately a month earlier in Japan (and considerably later in the West). Due to the long development cycle of both games and the culture gap between the regions (The ZX Spectrum was not available in Japan, and the NES
was only released in Europe about two weeks at the time of Antiriad's release), this is most likely an interesting case of parallel thought and not a direct influence.
Palace Software
Palace Software was a British video game publisher and developer during the 1980s based in London, England. It was notable for the Barbarian and Cauldron series of games for 8-bit home computer platforms, in particular the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64...
in 1986 for the Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
home computers. In the USA, the game was published by Epyx
Epyx
Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983...
as Rad Warrior. The original game came with a 16-page comic book created by graphic artist Dan Malone
Dan Malone
Danny Frank Malone is a United States journalist and a Pulitzer Prize winner for investigative reporting. Malone currently works for the Fort Worth Weekly, an alternative newspaper....
.
Plot
In 2086, civilization destroys itself in a nuclear Armageddon, as two factions who both develop an anti-radiation battlesuit completely immune to conventional weapons go to war against each other when diplomatic peace talks break down. In the following millennia, the survivors develop into a hardy but peaceful race, living a quiet agricultural existence.One day, mysterious alien forces emerge from an old volcano containing a prewar military base and attack, quickly conquering and enslaving the new breed of humans, and forcing the populace to work in mines. Many rebel against the mysterious overlords and one of these rebels, Tal, is instructed by his elders to seek-out a legendary armoured suit - the Sacred Armour of Antiriad (the last word being a corruption of "anti-radiation"), which is in fact one of the prewar battlesuits whose development originally instigated the diplomatic crisis that started the nuclear war. This armour is rumoured to render the wearer impervious to attack and, with its help, Tal hopes to defeat and overthrow the alien rulers of Earth.
However, the armour requires other equipment to be added to it in order to make it function fully. These include anti-gravity
Anti-gravity
Anti-gravity is the idea of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity. It does not refer to the lack of weight under gravity experienced in free fall or orbit, or to balancing the force of gravity with some other force, such as electromagnetism or aerodynamic lift...
boots, particle negator, pulsar beam, and implosion mine. The last add-on is the most important as it is the one needed to destroy the volcano the enemy uses as its base.
Gameplay
The Sacred Armour of Antiriad is a mixture of platform and maze game. The player controls Tal who, at the start, is simply a man dressed in a loincloth with thrown rocks as his only weapon. Later, he can find the legendary "Antiriad" armour and wear it to activate his status panel at the bottom of the screen which shows both Tal and the suit's strength, his remaining lives and in-game messages among other things.The game-environment is full of dangerous creatures and the minions of the mysterious overlords. Tal can defend himself from these hostile beings by throwing rocks at them when out of the suit and by using the suits beam-weapon capabilities once he has located and installed the necessary equipment to the Antiriad armour.
Tal also needs to find and collect additions to the armour in order to allow it to fly, shoot etc. Tal can use the suit to explore the game area but will occasionally need to leave it to collect power re-charges for the suit, should it come under too-much attack (the suit cannot be destroyed but its power can be depleted).
Antiriad demonstrates a number of characteristic elements of the game Metroid
Metroid
is an action-adventure video game, and the first entry in the Metroid series. It was co-developed by Nintendo's Research and Development 1 division and Intelligent Systems, and was released in Japan in August 1986, in North America in August 1987, and in Europe in January 1988...
, including a robotic armour suit, enemies that are similar in appearance to metroids and a non-linear structure made possible by unlocking new abilities. Metroid was released approximately a month earlier in Japan (and considerably later in the West). Due to the long development cycle of both games and the culture gap between the regions (The ZX Spectrum was not available in Japan, and the NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
was only released in Europe about two weeks at the time of Antiriad's release), this is most likely an interesting case of parallel thought and not a direct influence.