- This review is an archive article that I originally wrote for Retrogarden a few years ago. The original article can still be found there.
Today we delve into the 8-bit world with the retro computer game classic The Sacred Armour Of Antiriad
The Sacred Armour Of Antiriad is a 1986 game by Palace Software – a British games company who were noted for their releases which usually featured something a little different, such as Cauldron and the brilliantly pervy box of Barbarian.
The game is a side scrolling adventure/performer in which you play as Tal, a savage member of a post-apocalyptic tribe of humans who is sent to find an ancient suit armour in order to defeat the hoards of 
aliens who have appeared out of a volcano. The armour is actually a radiation suit built by humans in the past, but has passed into myth after the horror of nuclear war and the destruction of technological documents. The name “Antiriad” being a mis-reading of Anti-Rad or Anti-Radiation by the tribesmen elders.
The story may sound like standard video game pap, but the guys at Palace really managed to put this one on steroids, and the result is a mega-polished and very fleshed out product.
The Amstrad always had slightly better graphical capabilities than other home computers of the time, and it really shows here. The colours are rich and vibrant, and the Animation on Tal is actually gob smacking smooth for the time, with many frames of animation going into his movements and actions (with the added immature chuckle of the graphic artists giving him a subtle but rather visible willy when he faces the screen). Everything has a mystical and ancient feel to it which is crossed with a healthy dose of sci-fi sheen. Some of the enemy design is a bit baffling though, with monkeys and ghost like monsters appearing when it’s supposed to be aliens, and there is also some minor slowdown when the screen gets crowded, but really, these are minor flaws.
The sound begins with what is probably one of the most brilliant pieces of computer game music ever composed. The iconic title theme written by the late, great Richard Joseph, (a jazz musician and sound designer for many other amazing games who sadly died of lung cancer in 2007) smacks you in the face with it’s epic opening melody and beats which conjure up images of ancient worlds and forgotten technological achievements. If you are a musician like me 
you will appreciate the song even more for it’s odd off beat basslines and percussion. Sadly, there is no in game music, but instead of taking away from the game it simply add more to the creepy atmosphere. In saying that, it’s maybe a little too sparse in the audio department, and some sort of low pulse could have elevated the proceedings a touch. The sound effects are well done and are more than just bleeps and blips, with recognisable footsteps on leaves, stones smashing, and lasers blasting.
As a game though, Antiriad is immense fun to play, but it does have it’s flaws. The over floaty jumping of Tal can land you in some bad situations, and some of the enemy placement and movements are lazily programmed in that sometimes they are pretty much impossible to avoid colliding with, which takes some of the skill out of the play. I would liked to have seen Tal possess the ability to throw his rocks while crouching or in mid-air, as well as the ability to change direction when jumping. The enemy re-spawn if you happen to go off screen then back again is a little frustrating, and combined with the previously mentioned “impossible to avoid collision”, it can feel a bit unfair at times. I also think that you find the actual armour itself a touch too quickly. Even though you have to collect more items to mobilise and arm the device, it’s still a bit of an easy find. Some of the level design isn’t greatly thought out either, but again these are small gripes as it IS great fun to play, and you do get a little further every time. The feature of radiation/energy belts that only Tal can pass through but not the suit is a fantastic inclusion. When you need an item that is blocked by one of these belts, and when the radiation level is high, it’s a mad scramble to leave the armour, pass through the belt, get what you need, and get back into the suit before you die. Deliciously stress inducing stuff!
Antiriad is a one-shot game, and by that I mean that there are no ‘Levels’ to complete. You just keep going from the second you appear until you reach the end, which is a bit frustrating when you die, but it fully maintains the adventure side of the game.
The more I play Antiriad the more it seems like a forerunner to Psygnosis’ Shadow Of The Beast. Both were adventure/platform game which had stunning cosmetics, but a few gameplay flaws let them down. Where Antiriad really shines is not really the game itself but the lore and the story. Palace actually commissioned a rather great 16 page comic (which can be found readily online in PDF
format) to accompany the game depicting the run up to the manufacture of the suit and the nuclear war. This was all packed in with some delicious box art and great logos. Interestingly, the comics mention two suits of Armour which were constructed, and this would have made a fascinating addition, but sadly it is not included or even mentioned within the game.
I was blown away by The Sacred Armour Of Antiriad when I got it in 1986 at the age of nine. It was brand new, slick, original, and full of atmosphere.
I still love it to this day. So much so that I have my own personal Antiriad T-shirt featuring the box art, and I still get tremendous joy out of playing it for both nostalgia and the fun playability.
Flawed? Yes, but just get sucked up in the story and enjoy this glorious release!
Prototron 