The Amstrad's been crying out for a decent flight simulator since its launch. This week saw three releases with a strong aerial theme, but none of them quite make the grade.

Flight Simulation is the poorest of the crew. It's written in Basic - not a good idea because that makes the controls sluggish and the screen updates rather slow. You can pilot any of 15 aircraft types.

With its simple wire frame landmarks it's a fair attempt, but certainly not worth £11.95.

At the other extreme is Dark Star, Design Design's conversion of its Spectrum hit. Very much an arcade type game, you command the vessel Liar as it hurtles through a colourful, if simple, landscape.

In space you can search for planets, then on the surface toggle your tactical map in your search for enemy bases. Enemy forces are defended by anti-aircraft emplacements on towers, so you have to dodge, fire and weave, keeping a close eye on your energy levels.

Fighter Pilot is, again, more an arcade game than a flight simulator. But it's easily the best of this bunch.

It's very fast, difficult and the screen display is excellent. You're in control of a jet fighter, can toggle a flight map to help track the delta winged enemy craft (they fire back at you if you let them slip past), and use your flight computer to match altitudes and bearings. Well worth £8.95.

Angelique - a Grief Encounter is the full title of the latest in the Arnold Blackwood series of adventures from Nemesis. Arnold, Wilhelmina and Angelique, the three most valued agents of Lord Erebus, have crashed in a light aircraft. With Wilhelmina dead and Arnold's fate unknown, Angelique must make her way from the heart of an extinct volcano to Raffles.

Durell has now converted its excellent Combat Lynx for the BBC and Electron. It's a military helicopter simulation; your brief as pilot is to keep your forces supplied and to collect the wounded for hospitalisation. The BBC version doesn't include enemy lorries or helicopters, but it's still a very good game.

Orpheus is a seven-screen arcade affair. The hero has to fight his way across a raging torrent to collect five golden harps. As you progress life gets harder - the river gets rougher and obstacles abound.

Naturally, the harp guardians don't take kindly to your activities and may need warding off with your handy discuss.

Anirog hasn't been slow to convert many of its Commodore 64 titles for the C16. But this week's list includes a new game, 3D Time Trek, a Star Trek derivation.

Gremlin's Xargon Wars is a fairly standard shoot-'em-up with 16 screens and multi-level difficulty.

Commodore has released four titles for its machine. There's nothing new here, a shoot-'em-up, a city bomber, submarine patrol and a curious sort of pinball/golf game.

Most notable is Jack Attack. It's on cartridge, hence the price. Jack, we are told, is an aggressive little creature with big feet and wiggly antennae. You make him squash spinning balloons by jumping or flattening them with blocks.

Shades is a graphics adventure of the new type - like Tir Na Nog (on the Spectrum) you control a character, moving him around different locations. You can do battle with monsters, stabbing them with your sword or firing crossbow bolts (if you've found the crossbow, that is).

Unusually, you can also plead for your life, though monsters being what they are this plot isn't guaranteed to work. The game looks nice, but plays badly - response to the joystick is poor and movement is slow. A disappointment.

Aqua Racer is an aquatic Pole Position. You charge around one of 20 circuits in an inflatable. There are two gears and acceleration and turning need a joystick. To qualify you must complete a circuit within the time limit, but there is a practice mode which you'll need to get started.

It's fast and quite tricky, but is badly let down by a lack of variety, poor sound and rather simple graphics.

Hypercircuit is also a let-down. It's a maze-type game, the scenario being a PCB invaded by malevolent molecules. The sound's good, but the game's very limited.

Moon Cresta is the 'official' micro version of Nichibutsu's popular arcade game. There's to be a high-score competition - £100 per month - just score over 30,000 points to enter...

If you believe in the possibility of psychic powers, you might be interested in Know Your Own Psi-Q. The manual states: "research has shown that practice improves psi-ability" and the program offers four tests for this purpose.

If, on the other hand you're of a more cynical mind, you'll have divined that controlled experiments into parapsychology have yet to show any repeatable positive results and that programs like this ought to appear as free listings. Certainly not worth a tenner.