{{Short description|1986 video game}} {{more footnotes|date=April 2013}} {{Infobox video game | title = The Sacred Armour of Antiriad | image = Antiriad.jpg | developer = Palace Software | publisher = {{vgrelease|EU|Palace Software}}{{vgrelease|NA|Epyx}} | programmer = Stanley Schembri | writer = Daniel Malone | artist = Daniel Malone | composer = Richard Joseph | released = '''1986:''' CPC, C64, MSX, Spectrum<br>'''1987:''' Apple, IBM PC<br>'''1988:''' CoCo | genre = Action-adventure | modes = Single-player | platforms = {{cslist | Amstrad CPC | Commodore 64 |MSX | ZX Spectrum | Apple II | MS-DOS | TRS-80 Color Computer}} }}

'''''The Sacred Armour of Antiriad''''' is an action-adventure game published by Palace Software in 1986 for the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, TRS-80, and ZX Spectrum. In North America, the game was published by Epyx as '''''Rad Warrior'''''. The original game came with a 16-page comic book created by graphic artist Daniel Malone. The game is an early example of the Metroidvania genre, being developed without knowledge of and concurrently with ''Metroid''.<ref name="Szczepaniak 148–53">{{cite news|last=Szczepaniak |first=John |title=Backtracking: The History of Metroidvania|work=GamesTM|issue=116|publisher=Imagine Publishing|pages=148–53}}</ref>

== Plot == {{Unreferenced|section|date=September 2019}} 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 pre-war 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 pre-war 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, a particle negator, a pulsar beam, and an 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 a 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 contains dangerous creatures and the minions of the overlords. Tal can defend himself from these hostile beings by throwing rocks at them when out of the suit and by using the suit's beam-weapon capabilities once he has located and installed the necessary equipment to the Antiriad armour.

Tal must also 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 rechargers for the suit, should it come under too much attack (the suit cannot be destroyed but its power can be depleted).

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == * {{WoS game|id=0004300}} * {{lemon64 game|id=121|name=The Sacred Armour of Antiriad}} * [http://www.c64sets.com/set.html?id=88 Images of Commodore 64 box and manual] at C64Sets.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sacred Armour of Antiriad, The}} Category:1986 video games Category:Action-adventure games Category:Amstrad CPC games Category:Apple II games Category:Commodore 64 games Category:DOS games Category:Epyx games Category:Metroidvania games Category:MSX games Category:Palace Software games Category:Post-apocalyptic video games Category:Single-player video games Category:TRS-80 Color Computer games Category:Video games about alien invasions Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom Category:Video games scored by Richard Joseph Category:Video games set in the 2080s Category:ZX Spectrum games