It would still take a brave man to bet against EA’s traditional festive champion Need for Speed fighting back to claim the top spot once again in time for Christmas, but Sega’s Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games is giving it a run for its money by clinching the top spot in the ChartTrack All Formats Top 40 for the first time.

The Wii title saw its sales rise by 39 per cent compared to the year before, becoming the best selling Wii title over a seven day period in the process, and narrowly outperforming EA’s racer by just 330 unit sales. The game also becomes Sonic’s fist number one since Sonic Mega Collection Plus in 2005 and Mario’s first since Super Mario Sunshine on Gamecube way back in 2002.

Another sterling performance in the Top Ten came from Activision’s Call of Duty 4, whose sales rose by 45 per cent, propelling it back to number three. Elsewhere, Sega’s The Golden Compass saw sales rocket by 220 per cent thanks to High Street bundling and the release of the film.

New entries in the Top 40 include Link’s Crossbow Training at number 27, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune in 28th and Pokemon Battle Revolution in 40th position.