Written by Iun Hockley and Tom "Tphi" Phillips

Welcome to the N-Europe Buyers Guide for Nintendo's wondrous Wii and the fantastic games that you need to be spending your remaining Christmas money. Also check out our companion Buyer's Guides for the Nintendo DS and Virtual Console!

Welcome to the N-Europe Buyers' Guide for the Wii! 2007 was an amazing year for Ninty's worldwide Wii phenomenon that's currently beating everything else in the charts across the globe. From Alan Hansen's Sports Challenge to Zack and Wiki, gamers the world over have been playing a huge catalogue of Wii titles now available. But out of them, what to buy with your hard-earned (or Christmas gift) dosh? Here's our top five:

And the top dogs are...

• Super Mario Galaxy
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
• Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles
• Super Paper Mario
• Zack and Wiki

Price: �30+/�49.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Released: December 2007

Why: Come on, if you haven't bought this game yet, go and get it now. This is the game that nearly toppled Ocarina of Time from the top spot as most Highly Rated Game Ever �. As a sequel to Mario 64 it works on so many new levels, not reinventing the genre but enhancing it in so many ways never done before. If this wasn't Mario, it would be called a Mario-beater.

Price: �30/�49.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Retro Studios
Released: June 2007

Why: Samus comes back for her final instalment in Retro's series, and what a corker it is. Easily beating out Echoes and the original Prime, the game refines all the great elements and makes them into a tight package that really shines head and shoulders above other offerings. While the slow pace of the action and intelligence of its design may put off some, it cannot be denied that this is an exercise in gaming art.

Price: �20-30/�49.99
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Released: December 2007

Why: Lightgun games are a dying breed, and good lightgun games are almost non-existent. If ever there was a control setup designed for lightguns though, then the Wii is it. The game couples the Resident Evil story with the best bits from the games and condenses into an action shooter that is probably the best lightgun game ever made. If you have never played a game in the Resident Evil series, then this will spoil everything for you, but it's probably the best spoiler ever.

Price: �20/�40-49.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Released: September 2007

Why: A slightly repetitive, but clever entry into the Paper Mario series. Super Paper Mario tried to add a 3D gimmick that didn't entirely work into the formula and the game is full of ideas from previous games. However, when these games are as good as Paper Mario and The Thousand Year Door, this can be forgiven. The story is still heartbreakingly funny and it made a darned fun stopgap between Wii launch and the superlative Super Mario Galaxy. And you know what? Post-Galaxy, it's still definitely worth a purchase if you missed it.

Price: �30
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Released: January 18th, 2008

Why: Released in a fortnight, this may go down in history as the greatest game that no-one ever played, which is a worthy, if saddening accolade. Yes, N-Europe is joining the "Buy this game!" crusade as well. We've played it, and this title is so well put together that it hurts: a nice learning curve with clever puzzles the game really tests your intelligence and powers of observation to the limit. In some ways it reminds of Grim Fandango and Full Throttle, and we love it.

In conclusion: It's been a wondrous year for the Wii, and can only get better with Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, Smash Bros. Brawl and many more in the next twelve months. Until then, game on.