--

　　Get started here:

　　Enter your All-Time Greatest Game Hero bracket

　　Browse the full hero list

　　Discuss the competition in the Greatest Game Hero forum

　　Have questions? Check the FAQ

　　--

　　Here's the deal. Brackets for the All-Time Greatest Game Hero competition are up, and if you haven't chosen yours, now's the time. We'll wait.

　　(OK, are they gone? I can't believe they fell for that line.)

　　Let's go over the first round of matchups. Here are the standings:

　　Mario vs. Bonk

　　The Prince of Persia vs. NiGHTS

　　Kyle Katarn vs. Dig Dug

　　Lara Croft vs. Parappa the Rapper

　　Cloud Strife vs. Lester Knight Chaykin

　　Phoenix Wright vs. Little Mac

　　Pikachu vs. Nathan Drake

　　Sam Fisher vs. Kratos

　　Guybrush Threepwood vs. Wander

　　Ryu vs. Abe

　　Niko Bellic vs. The Apprentice (Starkiller)

　　Strider Hiryu vs. Cate Archer

　　Liu Kang vs. Yoshi

　　Gordon Freeman vs. Bomberman

　　Alucard vs. Travis Touchdown

　　Snake (Solid and otherwise) vs. Crash Bandicoot

　　Master Chief vs. Bub & Bob

　　Sonic the Hedgehog vs. Ryo Hazuki

　　Garrett vs. Frogger

　　Samus Aran vs. Jade

　　Ratchet & Clank vs. Gex

　　Mega Man vs. Mike Haggar

　　Pac-Man vs. Kirby

　　Dante vs. Manny Calavera

　　Ryu Hayabusa vs. The Nameless One

　　Sackboy vs. Bo Jackson

　　Leon Kennedy vs. JC Denton

　　Duke Nukem vs. Marcus Fenix

　　Fox McCloud vs. Jak & Daxter

　　Earthworm Jim vs. Link

　　Ico vs. Banjo & Kazooie

　　Raziel vs. Donkey Kong

　　Some matchups seem like they'll have pretty obvious results. Others don't. Keep in mind that brackets were not chosen in any specific order, so purely by the luck of the draw, some characters seem like they might have an easier time getting to the finals than others. (Or do they?)

　　Some of the most interesting matchups are the ones between characters who seem like they're almost, kind of, sort of, evenly matched. Even though this is a competition between game heroes from a variety of different eras, from the early arcades to the 8-bit days to the newest generation of console and PC hardware, there are a couple of matchups that seem like they could go either way. Let's take a look:

　　Sam Fisher vs. Kratos

　　OK, both of these guys are total badasses. Neither is the kind of guy you'd want to meet in a dark alley. Both star in very popular, long-running game series that have spanned multiple game platforms; Fisher in the Splinter Cell series, and Kratos in the God of War series. Yes, in his more recent games, Kratos is technically a god himself, and possesses unbelievable power, but Sam Fisher is one of the best stealth operatives out there and was knocking guards off of lighthouses while Kratos was still a twinkle in the collective eyes of Sony's Santa Monica studio. I don't think the results of this matchup will be as easy to predict as they might seem to be. You're welcome to try to prove me wrong. (Reminder: Voting begins the week of September 1.)

　　Leon Kennedy vs. JC Denton

　　Both of these guys are super-secret agents. Both are firearms experts. Both are famous for uncovering tangled conspiracies involving foreign governments. Leon is the pretty-boy protagonist of Resident Evil 4 (a game that totally reinvented and refreshed the series); JC is the hero of the sadly underappreciated cult classic Deus Ex. Leon has a briefcase full of upgradeable weapons and grenades and sometimes carries a room-clearing rocket launcher. JC carries the latest in experimental future tech. JC also isn't afraid to implant some of that future tech in his own body, making him a better marksman, a better sneaker, a better computer hacker, and even a better diplomat. But Leon suplexes zombies, which counts for a lot.

　　Duke Nukem vs. Marcus Fenix

　　The sad story of Duke Nukem Forever aside, The Duke is a tremendous action hero who, in Duke Nukem 3D, completely nailed his role as a cigar-chomping, cliche action hero. In fact, he was THE cigar-chomping, cliche action hero. His one-liners are legendary and his arsenal of weapons is one of the most varied, and most hilarious, of all first-person shooter heroes. Marcus, on the other hand, is a tough act to follow himself. The star of the Gears of War series is a former military prisoner and now leader of an elite squad whose mission is to stop an alien invasion. And his gun has a chainsaw on it.

　　Fox McCloud vs. Jak & Daxter

　　Fox has been around longer than Jak & Daxter. Much longer. The guy first appeared on the SNES in Star Fox as a space pilot, then later returned as an action-adventure hero in Star Fox Adventures, and then tried his hand at the Super Smash Bros. series. Fox is a good pilot, his ship, the Arwing, was a secret item in Animal Crossing, and he hangs out with the loveable Slippy. (Or, at least, someone out there must love Slippy. Right?) Jak & Daxter have appeared in a racing game, but are otherwise primarily action-adventure guys who reliably deliver the goods in a series of very solid action-adventure games. You have colorful animal characters with action-adventure games on both sides of the table here. Who's got the advantage here?