Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War returns to the top of the UK all-format chart following its surprise slip to second during the Christmas week.

Last week EA’s FIFA 09 jumped to first place in the charts following a sales promotion at the retailers, capping a flourishing sales record since its release in October. EA’s soccer rival Pro Evo 09 fell out of the charts within a few weeks after its release, while FIFA remained buoyant in the top five throughout November and December. Today it sits at second in the charts.

In what will be just as encouraging for the troubled publisher, EA’s Need for Speed: Undercover moves to third in the charts, overtaking Nintendo’s Mario Kart Wii which drops to fourth. Nintendo’s only other title to make the all-format top ten, the Wii Remote-bundled Wii Play, climbs up to fifth, while Brain Training and Wii Fit slip out of view.

Filling the vacuum is Sega, which saw Sonic Unleashed jump up ten places to tenth, while Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games shoots to ninth after major retailers advertised the game through Wii bundle deals.

It has now been over a year since Mario & Sonic was released in the UK on both the Wii and DS platforms. Since then, the title has amassed combined sales nearing two million, a figure driven by recurrent advertising campaigns throughout 2008. The game’s success illustrates how much potential there is for third-party publishers on the Wii, though perhaps Mario’s (and indeed Nintendo’s) presence across the title shows it to be the exception to the rule. EA’s Boom Blox and THQ’s De Blob stand out as two favourable third-party titles that have undeservedly failed to capture the Wii’s market.

Tomb Raider: Underworld continues its positive sales period by climbing up the charts again, this time moving from ninth to sixth.

Full list according to Chart-Track:

1. Call Of Duty: World At War
2. FIFA 09
3. Need for Speed: Underground
4. Mario Kart Wii
5. Wii Play
6. Tomb Raider: Underworld
7. Guitar Hero World Tour
8. Quantum of Solace
9.Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
10. Sonic Unleashed

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