Palace Software

Antiriad

Antiriad

Enterprise - Released - 1986

As Tal, your job is to single-handedly clear out the aliens who have invaded a desolate and destroyed post-nuclear earth. To have any chance of this, he must locate a sacred suit of armor. Not only will this protect him from radiation, and allow him to withstand some enemy contact, it also heals him, and enables him to float. This means that the game has two distinct styles, with your character limited to jumping, and with only rocks (located around the screens) to throw. Once he finds the suit he can fly around the ledges, shoot the inbuilt Pulsar beam, and survive within the volcanic hideout the aliens have based themselves. You will need to recharge the suit at times, and also take it off to pass through tight caverns.

Axe of Rage

Axe of Rage

Commodore Amiga - Released - 1989

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a video game first published in 1988 for various home computers. It was also released as Axe of Rage in North America. The game is the sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (Death Sword in North America), which was published in 1987. The Wizard Drax is back after previous your defeat of him. But this time, you're not alone. The princess you saved back then has taken up a sword and joined your cause! Now, it's more than a death match. You have to explore into the many tunnels in his dungeon, defeat the dangerous monsters that come between you and cold steel to Drax's throat. The game has similar game play to the original, but with a different challenge. Various monsters will come and attack you, but each have different approaches in order to defeat them. For example, You can't overhead chop a monster that's shorter than your axe. There are 4 levels of dungeons to explore before you reach Drax at the final stage.

Axe of Rage

Axe of Rage

Commodore 64 - Released - July 1, 1988

In the sequel to Death Sword (aka Barbarian), the Wizard Drax is back after your previous defeat of him. But this time, you're not alone. The princess you saved back then has taken up a sword and joined your cause! Now, it's more than a death match. You have to explore the many tunnels in his dungeon, defeat the dangerous monsters that come between you and put cold steel to Drax's throat. The game has similar game play to the original, but with a different challenge. Various monsters will come and attack you, but you'll need to use different approaches in order to defeat each of them. For example, you can't overhead chop a monster that's shorter than your axe. There are 4 dungeon levels to explore before you reach Drax at the final stage.

Axe of Rage

Axe of Rage

MS-DOS - Released - 1989

In the sequel to Barbarian / Death Sword, the Wizard Drax is back after your previous defeat of him. But this time, you're not alone. The princess you saved back then has taken up a sword and joined your cause! Now, it's more than a death match. You have to explore the many tunnels in his dungeon, defeat the dangerous monsters that come between you and put cold steel to Drax's throat. The game has similar game play to the original, but with a different challenge. Various monsters will come and attack you, but you'll need to use different approaches in order to defeat each of them. For example, you can't overhead chop a monster that's shorter than your axe. There are 4 dungeon levels to explore before you reach Drax at the final stage.

Barbarian II (Palace Software)

Barbarian II (Palace Software)

Atari ST - Released - 1989

In the sequel to Barbarian / Death Sword, the Wizard Drax is back after your previous defeat of him. But this time, you're not alone. The princess you saved back then has taken up a sword and joined your cause! Now, it's more than a death match. You have to explore the many tunnels in his dungeon, defeat the dangerous monsters that come between you and put cold steel to Drax's throat. The game has similar game play to the original, but with a different challenge. Various monsters will come and attack you, but you'll need to use different approaches in order to defeat each of them. For example, you can't overhead chop a monster that's shorter than your axe. There are 4 dungeon levels to explore before you reach Drax at the final stage.

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax

Acorn Electron - Released - 1988

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a video game first published in 1988 for various home computers. It was also released as Axe of Rage in North America. The game is the sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (Death Sword in North America), which was published in 1987. In Barbarian II, the player controls a princess or barbarian character, exploring the game world to locate and defeat an evil wizard. The game's plot is an extension of its predecessor, although the gameplay is different. While the first game offers two players the opportunity for virtual head-to-head combat, the second is solely a single-player adventure with fewer fighting moves.

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax

Amstrad GX4000 - Released - 1990

At the finale of BARBARIAN - THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR, the Barbarian defeated the warriors of Drax and thus saved Princess Mariana from his evil spell. Drax fled to the dungeons beneath his black castle, vowing to wreak disaster on the Jewelled Kingdom. There is only one way to stop Drax - the Barbarian and Mariana are the only two warriors skilled enough to survive the perilous journey to Drax's lair. Can you stop him? You must stop him!

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax

BBC Microcomputer System - Released - 1988

Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax is a video game first published in 1988 for various home computers. It was also released as Axe of Rage in North America. The game is the sequel to Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior (Death Sword in North America), which was published in 1987. In Barbarian II, the player controls a princess or barbarian character, exploring the game world to locate and defeat an evil wizard. The game's plot is an extension of its predecessor, although the gameplay is different. While the first game offers two players the opportunity for virtual head-to-head combat, the second is solely a single-player adventure with fewer fighting moves.

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior

BBC Microcomputer System - Released - 1987

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior is a video game first released for Commodore 64 personal computers in 1987; the title was developed and published by Palace Software, and ported to other computers including the BBC Micro in the following months. The developers licensed the game to Epyx, who published it as Death Sword in the United States. Barbarian is a fighting game that gives players control over sword-wielding barbarians. In the game's two-player mode, players pit their characters against each other. Barbarian also has a single-player mode, in which the player's barbarian braves a series of challenges set by an evil wizard to rescue a princess.

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior

Amstrad CPC - Released - January 1, 1987

The evil magician Drax is terrorizing the jeweled city and cast a spell over the beautiful princess Marina who is forced to obey him. From the lands to the north, a hero is sent to help the city and free the princess. He is Gorth, the strongest of the barbarian warriors. With his sword in hand, he has to beat eight of Drax's best warriors and at last the magician himself. He will fight them in the woods, on the mountaintop, in the dungeon... finally reaching Drax's palace itself. This is essentially a one- or two-player fighting game where you control a big barbarian and fight another player or a computer AI. There are several kinds of hits, and some hits take off half a point while others take off a whole point. Each player has six of these "power points". They also have a special hard to perform "death sword" which decapitates your opponent, killing him with one fell swoop.

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior

Acorn Electron - Released - 1987

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior is a video game first released for Commodore 64 personal computers in 1987; the title was developed and published by Palace Software, and ported to other computers including the Acorn Electron in the following months. The developers licensed the game to Epyx, who published it as Death Sword in the United States. Barbarian is a fighting game that gives players control over sword-wielding barbarians. In the game's two-player mode, players pit their characters against each other. Barbarian also has a single-player mode, in which the player's barbarian braves a series of challenges set by an evil wizard to rescue a princess.

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Released - 1987

Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior is a video game first released for Commodore 64 personal computers in 1987; the title was developed and published by Palace Software, and ported to other computers in the following months. The developers licensed the game to Epyx, who published it as Death Sword in the United States. Barbarian is a fighting game that gives players control over sword-wielding barbarians. In the game's two-player mode, players pit their characters against each other. Barbarian also has a single-player mode, in which the player's barbarian braves a series of challenges set by an evil wizard to rescue a princess. Instead of using painted artwork for the game's box, Palace Software used photos of hired models. The photos, also used in advertising campaigns, featured Michael Van Wijk (who would later become famous as 'Wolf' in the TV series Gladiators) as the hero and bikini-clad Maria Whittaker, a model who was then associated with The Sun tabloid's Page Three topless photo shoots. Palace Software's marketing strategy provoked controversy in the United Kingdom, with protests focused on the sexual aspects of the packaging rather than decapitations and other violence within the game. The ensuing controversy boosted Barbarian's profile, helping to make it a commercial success. Game critics were impressed with its fast and furious combat, and dashes of humour. The game was Palace Software's critical hit; boosted by Barbarian's success, Palace Software expanded its operations and started publishing other developers' work. In 1988, the company released a sequel, Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax.

Cauldron

Cauldron

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1985

Cauldron is a two-dimensional (2D) shoot 'em up / platformer computer game developed and published by British developer Palace Software (Palace). Players navigate the witch protagonist through the 2D game world from a side-view perspective. Cauldron is divided into two modes of play: shooting while flying and jumping along platforms. Areas of the game world set on the surface feature the witch flying on a broom stick, while underground segments require the witch to run and jump in caverns. In the flying segments, players must search for four randomly scattered coloured keys to access underground areas that contain six ingredients. The objective is to collect the ingredients and return them to the witch's cottage to complete a spell that can defeat the Pumpking. While traversing the game world, the witch encounters Halloween-themed enemies such as pumpkins, ghosts, skulls, and bats, as well as other creatures like sharks and seagulls. A collision with an enemy causes the witch's magic meter (which is also used to fire offensive projectiles at enemies) to decrease. The character dies once the meter is depleted. After dying, the character reappears on the screen and the meter is refilled. Players are given limited opportunities for this to occur, and the game ends once the number of lives reaches zero

Cauldron

Cauldron

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Released - December 4, 1985

Cauldron is a two-dimensional (2D) shoot 'em up / platformer computer game developed and published by British developer Palace Software (Palace). Players navigate the witch protagonist through the 2D game world from a side-view perspective. Cauldron is divided into two modes of play: shooting while flying and jumping along platforms. Areas of the game world set on the surface feature the witch flying on a broom stick, while underground segments require the witch to run and jump in caverns. In the flying segments, players must search for four randomly scattered coloured keys to access underground areas that contain six ingredients. The objective is to collect the ingredients and return them to the witch's cottage to complete a spell that can defeat the Pumpking. While traversing the game world, the witch encounters Halloween-themed enemies such as pumpkins, ghosts, skulls, and bats, as well as other creatures like sharks and seagulls. A collision with an enemy causes the witch's magic meter (which is also used to fire offensive projectiles at enemies) to decrease. The character dies once the meter is depleted. After dying, the character reappears on the screen and the meter is refilled. Players are given limited opportunities for this to occur, and the game ends once the number of lives reaches zero

Cauldron

Cauldron

Commodore 64 - Released - April 1, 1985

Playing a witch, you must assemble the six ingredients required to kill off your arch-rival, an evil pumpkin. The ingredients are all located in underground buildings, each of which can only be entered once you've found the appropriate key. The keys are located overground, and you must fly around on your broom to collect them. The overground sections play like standard shoot 'em ups, as your broom is not affected by gravity and can fire bullets using your magic energy. Bats, fireballs and even seagulls are among the many creatures trying to stop you - contact will cost you more energy than shooting at them would. There are energy recharges on offer. Once you go underground, the gameplay becomes a test of precision platform jumping, including some Manic Miner-esque blind jumps. The six underground sections can be completed in a variety of orders, but you will sometimes reach points that can't be completed without objects from other sections, so a lot of back-tracking is required. Although you start with nine lives, they won't last all that long at first.

Cauldron II: The Pumpkin Strikes Back

Cauldron II: The Pumpkin Strikes Back

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Released - 1986

Playing a witch, you must assemble the six ingredients required to kill off your arch-rival, an evil pumpkin. The ingredients are all located in underground buildings, each of which can only be entered once you've found the appropriate key. The keys are located overground, and you must fly around on your broom to collect them. The overground sections play like standard shoot 'em ups, as your broom is not affected by gravity and can fire bullets using your magic energy. Bats, fireballs and even seagulls are among the many creatures trying to stop you - contact will cost you more energy than shooting at them would. There are energy recharges on offer. Once you go underground, the gameplay becomes a test of precision platform jumping, including some Manic Miner-esque blind jumps. The six underground sections can be completed in a variety of orders, but you will sometimes reach points that can't be completed without objects from other sections, so a lot of back-tracking is required. Although you start with nine lives, they won't last all that long at first.

Cauldron II: The Pumpkin Strikes Back

Cauldron II: The Pumpkin Strikes Back

Amstrad CPC - Released - 1986

An evil witch has brought evil and darkness to the enchanted wood, wiping out all but one of the innocent pumpkins. As the poem in the instructions sheet explains, the only way to put things right is to capture a lock of her hair, then take it to the cauldron and cast a spell to undo things. Controlling the pumpkin is difficult at first, as it has a very high bounce, the exact level of which can be toggled. Direction can only be changed when the ball is on the ground. Ricocheting into enemies costs energy, and you only gain weaponry by landing into magic pools. The starting positions are random, making mapping advisable and increasing the initial challenge. Even then, enemies respawn quickly, so all you're doing is buying a little time to pass them. Others can't be shot, and must be passed by possessing the right object - possibly one of the five you will ultimately need to vanquish the witch. Cauldron II: The Pumpkin Strikes Back is a computer game developed and published by British developer Palace Software (Palace) as a sequel to their 1985 title Cauldron. The two-dimensional (2D) platform game was released in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC home computers. Players control a bouncing pumpkin that is on a quest of vengeance against the "Witch Queen". The roles of the two were reversed from the first game, in which the witch defeated a monster pumpkin. Following the success of Cauldron, Palace employee Steve Brown began work on a sequel. To provide fans of the original title with a new experience, a very different gameplay was implemented for the sequel, although several minor features retained connections to the first. Inspired by the bouncing pumpkin character in Cauldron, Brown designed the game around the character's movement. The bouncing mechanic proved problematic for the programmers who were unable to perfect its implementation. Technical limitations also prevented them from implementing certain animations, such as turning pages of a book. Cauldron II was first released on the Commodore 64. It was released in the following years on other systems and as re-releases. The game received praise, mainly for its audio-visuals, in video game magazines. Difficulty in handling the bouncing pumpkin's movement was a common complaint, although reviewers felt the overall package was of good value.

Cosmic Pirate

Cosmic Pirate

Commodore 64 - Released - 1989

In Cosmic Pirate the player takes the role of a criminal who works for The Council, a space pirate organization. It offers several missions to the player, all with the goal to hijack a space truck. During the course of the game the player will undertake increasingly more dangerous and difficult missions. This game is a multi-directional shooter. For each mission the player gets transported to the estimated destination of the truck. However, the correct space sector has to be found first through the means of elimination. The player uses warp beacons to go to the next sector and when the correct one is found, the radar shows the way to the truck. However, every usage of a beacon costs money which is earned by shooting alien ships in the current sector, which can be freely explored in all directions. Every killed enemy gives credits and probably leaves an extra behind which gives advantages if picked up, e.g. bonus credits, a protection shield or a smart bomb. Money left after finishing a mission can be reinvested into ship upgrades.

Death Sword

Death Sword

MS-DOS - Released - 1988

The evil magician Drax is terrorizing the jeweled city and cast a spell over the beautiful princess Marina who is forced to obey him. From the lands to the north, a hero is sent to help the city and free the princess. He is Gorth, the strongest of the barbarian warriors. With his sword in hand, he has to beat eight of Drax's best warriors and at last the magician himself. He will fight them in the woods, on the mountaintop, in the dungeon... finally reaching Drax's palace itself. This is essentially a one- or two-player fighting game where you control a big barbarian and fight another player or a computer AI. There are several kinds of hits, and some hits take off half a point while others take off a whole point. Each player has six of these "power points". They also have a special hard to perform "death sword" which decapitates your opponent, killing him with one fell swoop.

Death Sword

Death Sword

Atari ST - Released - May 17, 1988

The evil magician Drax is terrorizing the jeweled city and cast a spell over the beautiful princess Marina who is forced to obey him. From the lands to the north, a hero is sent to help the city and free the princess. He is Gorth, the strongest of the barbarian warriors. With his sword in hand, he has to beat eight of Drax's best warriors and at last the magician himself. He will fight them in the woods, on the mountaintop, in the dungeon... finally reaching Drax's palace itself. This is essentially a one- or two-player fighting game where you control a big barbarian and fight another player or a computer AI. There are several kinds of hits, and some hits take off half a point while others take off a whole point. Each player has six of these "power points". They also have a special hard-to-perform "death sword" which decapitates your opponent, killing him with one fell swoop.

Death Sword

Death Sword

Commodore Amiga - Released - 1988

The evil magician Drax is terrorizing the jeweled city and cast a spell over the beautiful princess Marina who is forced to obey him. From the lands to the north, a hero is sent to help the city and free the princess. He is Gorth, the strongest of the barbarian warriors. With his sword in hand, he has to beat eight of Drax's best warriors and at last the magician himself. He will fight them in the woods, on the mountaintop, in the dungeon... finally reaching Drax's palace itself. This is essentially a one- or two-player fighting game where you control a big barbarian and fight another player or a computer AI. There are several kinds of hits, and some hits take off half a point while others take off a whole point. Each player has six of these "power points". They also have a special hard to perform "death sword" which decapitates your opponent, killing him with one fell swoop.

Death Sword

Death Sword

Commodore 64 - Released - 1988

The evil magician Drax is terrorizing the jeweled city and cast a spell over the beautiful princess Marina who is forced to obey him. From the lands to the north, a hero is sent to help the city and free the princess. He is Gorth, the strongest of the barbarian warriors. With his sword in hand, he has to beat eight of Drax's best warriors and at last the magician himself. He will fight them in the woods, on the mountaintop, in the dungeon... finally reaching Drax's palace itself. This is essentially a one- or two-player fighting game where you control a big barbarian and fight another player or a computer AI. There are several kinds of hits, and some hits take off half a point while others take off a whole point. Each player has six of these "power points". They also have a special hard to perform "death sword" which decapitates your opponent, killing him with one fell swoop.

Demoniak

Demoniak

MS-DOS - Released - 1991

Demoniak is an interactive fiction adventure in which the player guides four superheroes in an attempt to stop the evil Demoniak entering our dimension and doing dastardly things by sealing his gateway. The player may 'become' another character at any time and give that character instructions, objects, such as weapons, may be passed from one character to another.

Hostile Breed

Commodore Amiga - Unreleased - 1992

Following the success of Apidya and Sim Ant, insect-related games are back in vogue, or so it would seem. And Palace’s release is no exception, pitching you against hordes of insect-nasties in a deep-space moonbase, but it has a few other elements which make it something more than just another blast-em-up. Hostile Breed combines all the excitement and action of a shoot-em-up with the strategy elements you’d expect to find in a simulation. The chief element of strategy centres on the base complex where you find yourself on the receiving end of a massive invasion. The eight-legged moonbase has just been through an earthquake which has cracked the walls. Insect aliens are pouring through these breaches by the dozen, heading towards the control room. If they get there, all hell will break loose, and your game will be over. In short, Hostile Breed is an eight level shoot-em-up, but it’s laid out in such a way that you can get to any level whenever you like. The control centre is a vital piece of the jigsaw, and devoted shoot-em-up fans might at first find this a bit too much for them to handle. The ‘in-between’ scenes and the death-screen are pleasing, but not great, while the in-game sprites are vaguely cartoon-like. The sound effects are raunchy enough, but there are quite as many as you’d probably like to give you the real atmosphere. You have to hand it to Palace, Hostile Breed is not your ordinary shoot-em-up. If you want a bit of ‘think’ and your ‘shoot’ and you’re opposed to mind violence (but not plain ol’ everyday violence), go for it. You’ll enjoy it.

Rad Warrior

Rad Warrior

Apple II - Released - July 30, 1987

Originally released in Europe as "The Sacred Armour of Antiriad" on the Commodore 64, You play Tal, and as Tal, your job is to single-handedly clear out the aliens who have invaded a desolate and destroyed post-nuclear earth. To have any chance of this, he must locate a sacred suit of armor. Not only will this protect him from radiation, and allow him to withstand some enemy contact, it also heals him, and enables him to float. This means that the game has two distinct styles, with your character limited to jumping, and with only rocks (located around the screens) to throw. Once he finds the suit he can fly around the ledges, shoot the inbuilt Pulsar beam, and survive within the volcanic hideout the aliens have based themselves. You will need to recharge the suit at times, and also take it off to pass through tight caverns.

Rad Warrior

Rad Warrior

Commodore 64 - Released - 1986

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.

Rad Warrior

Rad Warrior

MS-DOS - Released - 1987

As Tal, your job is to single-handedly clear out the aliens who have invaded a desolate and destroyed post-nuclear earth. To have any chance of this, he must locate a sacred suit of armor. Not only will this protect him from radiation, and allow him to withstand some enemy contact, it also heals him, and enables him to float. This means that the game has two distinct styles, with your character limited to jumping, and with only rocks (located around the screens) to throw. Once he finds the suit he can fly around the ledges, shoot the inbuilt Pulsar beam, and survive within the volcanic hideout the aliens have based themselves. You will need to recharge the suit at times, and also take it off to pass through tight caverns.

Rad Warrior

Rad Warrior

TRS-80 Color Computer - Released - 1988

Rad Warrior is original arcade game, with some adventure game style elements. Although it used a fairly lo-res Coco 3 graphics mode (160x192 16 color), it actually looked pretty good, graphics wise. The sound was fairly rudimentary, and the controls (either on joystick or keyboard) were a little awkward, but the gameplay was a lot of fun, and pretty difficult. The meltdown sequence when you win the game was quite impressive as well. Basically, you are a survivor of the human race, after a nuclear war, and aliens have just invaded (as if the war wasn't bad enough). At the beginning, you are only armed with rocks to throw at the beings, but your first mission is to wander through the forest trying to hunt down some advanced technology left behind by your race from before the war. The suit can recharge you, and also can eventually be made to fly, fire, and serve as an anti-radiation device, all by finding the appropriate power packs, and installing them in the suit. By doing all of that, you can eventually go to the top of the radioactive volcano, and defeat the alien masters, and save the human race.

The Blues Brothers

The Blues Brothers

Commodore 64 - Released - 1991

The Blues Brothers are on the run from the law. Take control of either bulky Jake or nippy Elwood in this five-level platform game. You must cross a prison, a river and the big city to reach freedom. You also must find your missing records and collect these. Everything and everyone is against you, but you can pick up and throw warehouse crates to defeat your opponents.

The Evil Dead

The Evil Dead

BBC Microcomputer System - Released - 1984

You take control of Ash and you must try to keep out the Evil Dead shroud and stop it possessing your friends. When one is taken by the evil shroud, they will become a green mutant. Periodically, weapons will spawn and disappear about the house and which can be utilised to fight the mutants. Weapons consist of hatchets, shovels, and swords, and can be used for a limited time. As you fight the various new additions to the evil dead, they will split into various body parts before being completely finished off, so you will have to contend with disembodied arms, and legs, ghost spirits and such. You score points for each mutant, or evil body part dispatched. The ultimate goal of the game is to score enough points to conjure up the book of the dead, which you must collect and throw in the fire to finish the game.

The Sacred Armour of Antiriad

The Sacred Armour of Antiriad

Amstrad CPC - Released - January 1, 1986

In 2086, two opposing factions design an anti-radiation suit to counter the nuclear threat. A nuclear war is then unleashed and humanity fails to disappear. Several centuries later, the descendants of the survivors live in peace in a way of life close to the cavemen. But one day, an extra-terrestrial force from a volcano housing a former military base attacks the inhabitants of this new world in order to reduce them to slavery. In front of the power of the invaders, the Ancients of the tribes then reveal to the most brave of the warriors the secret parchments concerning the legend of the sacred armor of Antiriad. It will have to use it to destroy the energy supply center of the extra-terrestrial forces.

The Sacred Armour of Antiriad

The Sacred Armour of Antiriad

Sinclair ZX Spectrum - Released - 1986

The Sacred Armour of Antiriad is an action game published by Palace Software in September 1986 for Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 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 notable for being one of the earliest examples of the Metroidvania genre, being developed without knowledge of and concurrently with Metroid. 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). 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 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.

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