Antiriad

STORY/GAMEPLAY
The two major powers had been working secretly on Anti-Rad suits, that would render the wearer invulnerable to conventional and nuclear weaponry. When one found out what the other was doing, it was enough to tip the delicate balance. The first nuclear missile was launched. The war raged merely for a moment, but smoke and debris lingered high in the atmosphere and plunged the planet into a nuclear winter which lasted many hundreds of years. Centuries passed, and from the chaos emerged a new race of men, strong and hardy. They led a simple and peaceful life, farming, hunting, and telling tales round their fires at night. Stories drew from distant memories of a volcano which loomed over the half buried remains of an ancient city. Suddenly, their lives were darkened by evil invaders, from a far off world. Their weapons were sophisticated and they showed no mercy, the people fought bravely, but against such might they stood little chance! All those that remained after the slaughter were put to work mining the planet's reach mineral resources. One male, Tal, stood out as a champion, he was chosen as the last hope, the man who would save the race. So Tal has been sent on a quest, to find the last remaining blueprint of The Armour, a Sacred scroll, outlining the magic it can perform. He must search the forests, find the suit, and use its power to destroy the central generator of the tyrants.

GRAPHICS/SOUND
The graphics on the ZX are fine, a bit inferior though to the CPC and C64 versions. The colors are nicely picked and the level details are followed by smooth sprite animations. Although the framerate drops significantly when a large number of enemy sprites occupy the screen (same happens on the CPC version), the game remains playable enough I think. Note that the C64 version is smoother and plays better than its other 8bit counterparts. The sound effects are simple but adequate while the opening music is not as good as on the CPC version.