Namco Bandai

The big surprise with Namco Bandai's year is that two of its best loved franchises have really let the side down, with both Soulcalibur Legends and Time Crisis 4 leaving critics disappointingly cold. Thankfully, Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Ace Combat 6 and a new - and long overdue - maze runabout for arcade veteran Pac-Man received much warmer vibes from critics.

Highest ranked game of the year: Pac-Man Championship Edition (360 XLA) 83%

Lowest ranked game of the year: Tamagotchi Party On! (DS) 37%

Average review score for 2007: 63.9%

Above: Even with a Tekken PSN offering and Ace Combat 6, Namco Bandai received its best review scores for XBLA title, Pac-Man Championship Edition

Nintendo

There are only a few smears on an otherwise splendid year of review scores for Nintendo. Wii Play, Mario Party 8, Flash Focus, Pokemon Battle Revolution and Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast all lower the tone. However, there's also been a wealth of quality titles to choose from - Super Paper Mario, Pokemon Diamond & Pearl, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. Oh, and Super Mario Galaxy, which is 2007's highest ranked game according to Metacritic.

Highest ranked game of the year: Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) 97%

Lowest ranked game of the year: Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast (DS) 44%

Average review score for 2007: 75.1%

Sega

The only real stinker that crept out of Sega's doors in 2007 was - unforgivably - Sonic the Hedgehog for PS3. In fact, 2007 has been a less-than-exhilarating year all round for Sega's mascot, despite showing up in seven different games. The highest scoring of all Sonic's efforts with 81% was old-school classic, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which was given a run-out on Xbox Live Arcade. As for the rest of Sega's portfolio, Virtua Fighter 5, Virtua Tennis 3, Crush, Medieval II: Total War Kingdoms and Football Manager 2008 all broke through the 80%+ review barrier.

Highest ranked game of the year: Virtua Fighter 5 (360) 88%

Lowest ranked game of the year: Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3) 43%

Average review score for 2007: 71.1%