For followers of Retro Gamer magazine, it's been a turbulent year. Original publishers Live Publishing went under last summer, leaving the publication in limbo for a number of months, before a new publisher picked it up and resumed production. Yet one issue remained unpublished by Live, and the majority of the writing team were left with substantial freelance monies owing as a result of their demise.

Yet how's this for a response? Instead of sounding off, or sulking in a corner, they put together Retro Survival, a CD featuring content that would have gone in the missing issue, as well as plenty of extras produced especially for the disc. And selling for a mere fiver, it proves to be a real trove of treasures for retro enthusiasts.

Highlights? Desert Island Disks is an excellent read, as is the history of the Vectrex console, the Zzap 64 tribute and the fascinating look at games that weren't. In fairness, it's not right to single any element out: the standard of writing is uniformly high, and the team tackle both niche and mainstream retro gaming subjects with equal enthusiasm.

Our only slight disappointment was their take on the Retro Gamer story which, while very well written, did feel a little more tempered than we suspect its authors would have liked. Holding everything off is the excellent presentation. There's a strong, web browser driven menu system employed, easily allowing you to jump between different articles, downloadable PDFs and video files. It works a treat, never gets in the way, but gets you where you want to go without any trouble.

In short, Retro Survival is a real triumph that easily warrants a fiver even before you consider the circumstances that led to its arrival in the first place. We stumped up our five quid, and we strongly urge you to do the same.

Overall, a smashing project, that's been exceptionally well realised. Well worth a fiver of any retro gaming enthusiasts' money.