Tenchu's stealth attack on No.1 slot
Sims succumbs to Ninja attack
The UK chart has a new number one at last, after Activision's excellent Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven made it to the top after debuting at No.4 last week. The Sims slipped to No.2, but could feasibly be back at the top very soon, with the Xbox and GameCube versions due out on April 4th.
The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers was the joint fastest mover on the chart, up 14 places to No.3, on the back of its Xbox and GameCube release, while the PS2 and Xbox release of Rayman 3 helped the limbless platformer climb to No.10 - also up 14 places.
Highest new entry of the week was Sega's GameCube cracker Super Monkey Ball 2, at No.8, while last week's highest debuter, Resident Evil Zero, slumped to No.9 after just one week at No.2. Despite a slew of new releases, the only other titles to make the 40 were Sega's Xbox light gun blaster The House Of The Dead III at No.28, and Square's completist release Final Fantasy Origins at No.39.
On a per format basis, the GameCube picked up again this week, with no fewer than four exclusive titles in the Top 40, boosted by the return of Super Mario Sunshine at No.25. The Xbox contributes to plenty of multi format releases, but just two, MGS 2: Substance and House Of The Dead III, are exclusive, while the PS2 currently boasts seven exclusives (Tenchu 3, Getaway, Vice City, Kingdom Hearts, GT3, Ratchet & Clank, and Smackdown 4). Even the PSone is healthily represented, with three exclusives currently in the Top 40. The GBA has none, while the PC has three, if you include Driving Test Success!
Slow starters this week include Namco's Ape Escape 2, limping in at No.19 on the PS2 chart, and Crash Bandicoot: Ntranced at No.5 on the GBA chart. The All Format Defender went AWOL, as did Paris Dakar Rally 2 on PS2, Infogrames' Zapper (PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC), and the dual Bomberman Max Red & Blue release on GBA. Ooops.
Top tips for next week include Metroid Prime, Panzer Dragoon (Xbox), Shenmue II (Xbox), Sonic Advance 2 (GBA), Medieval Total War - Viking Invasion (PC), Yager (Xbox), and if we're lucky, The Mark Of Kri (PS2).