Antiriad

STORY/GAMEPLAY
Two major world powers have been secretly working on Anti-Rad suits, that would render their user invulnerable to conventional and nuclear weaponry. Once one side found out what the other was doing, it was enough to tip the delicate balance so 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 that lasted for hundreds of years. Centuries passed, and from the chaos emerged a new race of men, strong and tough. They led a simple and peaceful life, farming, hunting, and telling tales around their fires at night. Stories drew from distant memories of a volcano that loomed over the half buried remains of an ancient city. Suddenly, their lives were darkened by evil invaders, coming 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. A male fighter, Tal, stood out as a champion and 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 look 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 frame-rate drops significantly when a large number of enemies occupy the screen (same happens on the CPC version), the game remains playable. Note that the C64 version is smoother and plays better than its 8bit counterparts. The sound effects are pretty simple and there's also a nice opening tune on the game's title.