"Will you still love me when I'm 464?" Simon Williams looks at old favourites on the Amstrad

An old computing proverb states that any machine is only as good as the software it will run. In the case of the Amstrad CPC464, the first programs to become available from the company's own software house, Amsoft, are almost exclusively games. They are all priced at £8.95, a good deal more than equivalent programs for other machines. How, then, do they compare?

The first thing to note about this batch of software is that it is composed largely of conversions of successful programs for other machines. There is nothing necessarily wrong with this, as it is a good way to attract potential buyers. It may, however, mean that the full features of the new machine are not fully used, especially if the conversions have to be hurriedly programmed.

Amsoft has taken the unusual step of setting itself up as an umbrella organisation to handle the marketing of programs produced for the 464 by several well-known software houses.

With successful versions of this program for the Spectrum and Oric already available, the 464 version from Durell Software offers all the features of the original, plus better sound than the Spectrum version and four realistic colours.

It's awkward having to use the space bar to drop bombs even when controlling your plan with a joystick. If using the keyboard, an immediate advantage is gained over a Spectrum game in the response of the excellent keyboard on the 464.

I was annoyed that the range of my missiles seemed shorter than that of the enemy planes, and that I only got one plane. But at several million pounds each, I suppose that was only fair.

Every good micro should have a good chess program and Micro-Gen's Master Chess will give you a challenging game (rather too challenging for my standard of play).

It offers ten levels of play, which determine the ply of serach the program uses. An opening book of some 6,000 moves is written in and on-screen tally is kept of the past 13 complete moves. The colours of both sets of pieces and the board may be changed at any time and chess puzzles may be set up.

If requested, the program will offer a best move at any point. But whenever I used it, it seemed to suggest move decidedly more favourable to its own strategy.

The only other point against Master Chess seemed to be its inability to recognise mate. I had to abandon several games when I had no valid moves and was in check, but was not mated.

Soft Spot has produced several well-written programs for the BBC Micro and three, including Electro Freddy, have been converted for the Amstrad. Freddy, according to the cassette insert, is a kind of urban guerilla bent on preventing Uncle Claude Sincrum from upping the price of his products and causing redundancies at his factory.

The chosen method is to push everything on screen onto the despatch conveyor before Claude can get his hands on you. You do this is a vaguely Pengo fashion, while avoiding Claude, the spectrims he throws at you and the oracs that are periodically dropped from the roof.

Each screen uses a different product, from computers to alarm clocks to trannies, and the game gets harder with an increasingly complex warehouse layout and the introduction of a force-field between Freddy and the conveyor. The chunky graphics move well and, while not the most complex game in the world, Electro Freddy is a lot of fun to play.

This Micromega Spectrum hit converts well to the Amstrad machine. Complicated, it combines the best qualities of both strategy and arcade games.

It's something like the Atari classic Star Raiders to play, itself similar to Star Trek with real-time arcade elements added to make it more exciting. Where Codename Mat scores over either is in the quality of the graphics (attacking ships, bolts, asteroids and star gates) and the facility to direct allied fleets against the enemy as well as zooming around the solar system shooting up anything that comes within range.

I can't claim to have mastered this game; it takes a lot of practice and I find the speed controls particularly difficult to use effectively. It is only too easy to enter an area under attack and streak straight past the enemy without firing a shot.

This game of submarine warfare was originally written for the Spectrum and published in a monthly computer journal. It proved so popular that the cassette of the game achieved success in its own right, and now Protek has converted it to run on the Amstrad CPC 464.

The game plan takes place off the coast of Germany and Denmark during the second world war. The player is in command of an S-type submarine with orders to disrupt enemy submarine traffic in the area.

The screen depicts the control room of the submarine, complete with radar, Asdic, charts, periscope and numerous digital readouts. Control of the sub is complex and you will have to put in a fair amount of study, just as for a flight simulator, to be able to control the craft properly.

It's worth the effort, though, since Hunter Killer can generate a feeling of high tension during a close run game.

All the games are available from retailers or from Amsoft, 169 Kings Road, Brentwood, Essex. Tel: 0277 230222. Prices £7.50 to £8.50.