UK chart: Rayman spent 5 years there

DS game New Super Mario Bros. may have spent more than three years (169 weeks) in the UK all-formats top 40, but that doesn't hold a candle to what the original Rayman achieved.

Ubisoft's platform game occupied a top 40 spot for an outrageous 261 weeks, according to Chart-Track data provided to Eurogamer this afternoon. That's more than five years.

Team17's Worms wasn't far off that with a massive 239-week stint.

The gap widened after that: Brain Training recorded 190 weeks inside the top 40, Grand Theft Auto 178 weeks and Theme Park 172 weeks. That puts New Super Mario Bros.' 169 week tally (that continues to grow) sixth highest.

Below that, Tomb Raider 2 spent 167 weeks in the top 40, The Sims 2 160 weeks, Wii Play 159 weeks and The Simpsons: Hit & Run 156 weeks.

That was the all-formats top 40. Chart-Track broke those numbers down further for Eurogamer into weeks spent at number 1, the top 5, the top 10 and the top 20. The numbers were recorded from 1996 onwards.

Record holder for weeks at number 1 was Eidos' Who Wants to be a Millionaire? with 18 weeks. Wii Fit held second with 16 weeks, and FIFA Soccer '96 and FIFA - Road to the World Cup '98 shared third with 11 weeks. Fourth (10 weeks) was tied between seven games: GTA: Vice City, Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Tomb Raider, FIFA '07, Pokemon Yellow, Medal of Honor: Frontline and Need for Speed: Underground 2. Fifth (9 weeks) was split three ways between FIFA 2000, V-Rally and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

For weeks in the top 5, Wii Fit reigned supreme, having stayed there for 56 weeks. That's over a year in the top 5. Tomb Raider almost managed that with 51 weeks. FIFA '99 managed 47 weeks, Grand Theft Auto 3 46 weeks, Gran Turismo 42 weeks and Wii Play 39 weeks. Driver tallied 36 weeks and Worms, GTA, FIFA Soccer '96 shared eighth place with 32 weeks. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games notched-up 30 weeks and FIFA '09 and Tomb Raider 2 shared 10th place with 29 weeks each.

Might as well soldier on.

Weeks spent inside the top 10 was dominated by Brain Training (87 weeks), but only just: Tomb Raider managed one less with 86 weeks. The Wiimote-bundled Wii Play was third with 82 weeks, Grand Theft Auto and Tomb Raider 2 shared fourth with 79 weeks and Wii Fit was fifth with 68 weeks. Worms stayed in the top 10 for 65 weeks, Gran Turismo for 64 weeks and Mario Kart Wii and Driver shared eighth place with 63 weeks. Colin McRae Rally made an appearance in ninth with 56 weeks, and FIFA '99 and Grand Theft Auto 3 shared 10th with 55 weeks.

Finally, then: the games that stayed longest in the top 20. These were Brain Training (156), Worms (147), Rayman (140), Tomb Raider 2 (130), Wii Play (126), Grand Theft Auto (124), Tomb Raider (120), Colin McRae Rally (111), The Sims 2/Mario Kart Wii (100) and Driver (96).