Not too many heavy hitters are coming out in June, but that doesn’t mean there will be a lack of quality games. After the break you’ll find the games you should be on the lookout for the second half of this month. There are a couple that aren’t getting enough publicity, but people should be paying more attention. You’ll see them first thing after the jump.

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While this list isn’t super long, two of these four games are sure to be some of the biggest titles releasing this month. The 360 has a huge exclusive coming through with Alan Wake, and the PS3 has 3D Dot Game Heroes. Both are for completely different markets, so which one are you getting?

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(Vs. is a feature where two games that are considered competition are put against each other. Alex chooses one, Shawn chooses the other, and they let their words do the battling. So which one is better? Read on to find out.)

Alex’s Pick: Mario Kart 64

I sit here to write this article with my mind somewhat thrown at the notion I would have to write an article to defend Mario Kart 64 from Diddy Kong Racing. That’s like asking someone to write an article to defend why Coca-Cola is better than a generic store brand cola. Just because they are both cola beverages does not mean they are the same, and the same logic can be applied to these two games. Also like the cola example, the original is clearly the best.

Every time I play Diddy Kong Racing I can’t help but feel it is all a rip off of Mario Kart. You don’t get any further than the character select screen before that begins. In Mario Kart 64 you get character portraits lined up and when you select them they make a noise to indicate they have a personality. In Diddy Kong Racing you get…characters lined up in a row, making a noise when they get selected. I know some might be thinking, “How else are you supposed to lay out a driver select menu” at which point I smack you with my Logitech steering wheel and point out games such as Jet Moto, F1 Pole Position, Sega Rally, and so on. They had methods to give you information about the selection you are making without just lining all the choices up and having them make a noise. That is something pulled right out of Mario Kart 64. Get to the racing interface and it looks very same-y. Time and items are in the same spot, and even the course map looks the same.

Red shell. The item that has divided many a friendship.

Now look, I’m well aware Diddy Kong features adventure storylines, hovercrafts and airplanes which are things that Mario Kart 64 doesn’t even touch. I say good. Pick one thing and do it right. Don’t pick a bunch of different game modes and wedge them into one game to make it seem like you have more choices and the game is better, it’s not. What you get instead is a game that can’t quite decide what it wants to be – a car racing game with an adventure element that features airplane races, an air racing game with adventure and some car racing elements, an adventure game with car races…and I think you get the picture. Mario Kart 64 gives you some tracks, gives you some karts and says, “Right, here it is, now the plot is to just race and win. Want a change in pace? Get some friends and play some battle mode,” and leaves you alone to get on with it.

Shifting (ha. ha. shut up) from that let’s take a few moments to talk about a couple places where Mario Kart 64 just plain excels. First, we have the characters. Mario Kart 64 has Mario, Luigi (my favorite), Bowser, Yoshi and the other standard Nintendo staples; all characters we know and love and want to fight over racing as. Diddy Kong Racing features the title character (okay fine, I like Diddy Kong), followed by a bunch of characters that, at the time, I didn’t really have that much of a feel for. Sure, these days I think Banjo-Kazooie (and Tooie) are great games and Conker’s Bad Fur Day is one of my all time favorites… but back in 1997 when this game came out? Yeah, no feel for them whatsoever. By the way, in those days, Conker was nothing terribly interesting, the game would have been fun if you got some special power for being drunk and peeing on the competitors… but I digress.

On the left: Characters I know and grew up with. On the right: WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?!

As well as better characters, the graphics are considerably better in Mario Kart. Mario Kart features rounded characters that look carefully put together. Diddy Kong Racing looks like some designers ran the game play mechanics through their photocopier and then said “Oh no! We have to make character models!” and quickly set about making square, blocky characters in poorly rendered karts. That sort of laziness is really a big issue for me. You spend so much time staring at the characters, so they should at least be okay on the eyes – but they aren’t. Rare should have taken the resources for those stupid hovercrafts and directed them towards some decent graphics.

Taking the good characters, the graphics, the originality, and team those with spectacular maps and simple controls and you get a game that is just plain fun. Playing alone or with friends speeding around a course shooting shells, flying over jumps and power sliding your way around, you feel a simple and happy joy that a good racing game can bring out. Diddy Kong Racing never feels like a “bad game”; it’s perfectly adequate. The thing is, why play a game that is adequate when you can have something that is truly good? Like my very initial metaphor for this whole thing, why drink the adequate generic cola when you can have the real Coca-Cola? Might taste similar…but which one really satisfies?

The answer: Mario Kart 64.

Shawn’s Pick: Diddy Kong Racing

Diddy Kong Racing is better than Mario Kart 64. There. I finally said it, and guess what? It feels good. This is an argument I’ve only brought up with close friends, a couple of who completely agree with me. I’ve never had this discussion with a die-hard Mario Kart 64 fan, so it feels good to finally get the opportunity to shut down the notion that MK64 is a better game. Bringing up Alex’s metaphor about generic colas, I feel that this war is more Pepsi vs. Coke than any generic brand.

I have long been a supporter of original ideas. I am generally extremely harsh on games that act like they have their own identity, but are really just carbon copies of another idea. I suppose Alex is right that Diddy Kong Racing is a little me-too in a lot of aspects, but there is one characteristic I put above all else – how fun it is. Sure, DKR is a kart racing game with similar start-up screens, similar play mechanics, and similar weaponry. However, the things DKR does to expand upon this is what makes it a better, and in my opinion, a more fun game.

First, I love the fact that it’s also an adventure game. While it’s nice to just race on some tracks, I prefer the exploration Rare gave players with the hub world. Having hidden balloons to collect (these are how you progress, for those that haven’t played), secret characters to find, and hidden levels to discover make it much more exciting. If you take the time to collect all the balloons, you have much more freedom in the tracks you play later on in the game. You aren’t forced to a set of levels that you have to complete in a given order. This opens up the gameplay greatly, especially regarding the double-edged sword that is the hovercraft and airplane racing.

Not kart racing. Bold step or backwards step?

The fact that DKR expands beyond karts was a bold step, one Rare most likely made to avoid complete comparison and backlash for being exactly like Mario Kart 64. The hovercraft controls are suspect, but completely learnable and enjoyable once you do so. I personally hate the airplane races, but the reason they don’t completely fail for me is another reason I consider Diddy Kong Racing a stronger game – it has better track design. There aren’t many levels in DKR that I would call bad (except for Frosty Village. UGH.), but there are handfuls I can remember almost perfectly for how much fun they are to play. I felt like the levels in Mario Kart 64 were much inferior to the ones in Super Mario Kart; actually, I feel like most of the game is inferior to Super Mart Kart, so maybe that’s the root of the whole problem right there. Anyways, that’s a topic for another day, so let me get back on track (ha!).

The strongest push I can make for Diddy Kong Racing goes back to the adventure game idea. Expanding beyond exploration and a hub-world, Rare set forth to expand upon that even further with the inclusion of unlockable mini-games (hidden keys in each world!) and boss battles. The boss battles are one of the best features in the game, which also add to my second favorite feature – the silver coin challenges. Throwing eight silver coins on each track and having you play them again isn’t a cheap tactic, nor is it a pain to replay the levels. The silver coin challenges require skill and mastery of the levels, and are a reason to keep going back for more. This goes without mentioning the extra unlockables, including a second adventure. The content found on Diddy Kong Racing is not only better, but there’s more of it.

Also, the music. No competition.

This isn’t to say that Mario Kart 64 is a bad game. Just because I find Diddy Kong Racing to be a stronger game in most regards doesn’t mean I dislike MK64. I can admit the battle mode is an incredible amount of fun (but still better in Super Mario Kart), and I love how smooth of an experience it is in the racing department, maybe even more so than DKR. However, I consider gameplay to be the only real important aspect of any game, and Diddy Kong Racing laps Mario Kart 64 in that area. Calling DKR generic is a disservice to the great game that it is, and this is why I expanded Alex’s metaphor to Pepsi vs. Coke above. Who prefers which game will all come down to their personal taste – and I’ll be damned if Pipsi Pepsi isn’t better.

On the 1st of every month we are going to talk about the games we are most looking forward to in that specific month.

It’s only launching on the 2nd this month, because we wanted to avoid April Fool’s. We hate it. Not because we don’t have senses of humor, but more so because everyone else’s seems to not be funny. Anyways, onto our picks.

Shawn

I thought this was going to be a tough one, but the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo at PAX made it easy. To put it bluntly, it’s no longer my most anticipated. Like I said in my preview, if I’m playing as someone trained by the government, I shouldn’t have accuracy and control issues. Anyways, I’m a huge fan of Strategy-RPG’s, so Record of Agarest War gets my vote. Beyond all the ridiculous sexual promotions, the gameplay actually looks super fun, and we haven’t gotten a top-tier SRPG on the Xbox 360 yet. This better be it.

As for the other stuff coming out, we’ll still be getting/playing Splinter Cell: Convicton. We’ll go into it with an open mind, but that demo left a bad taste in both of our mouths. At least the concept behind the mode was fun. I think the single-player will be more fine tuned, but we’ll see. I’m probably going to pick up Monster Hunter Tri as well. I’ve never played a Monster Hunter game, but the previews have caught my eye. Weirdly enough I have the demo right next to me, but haven’t opened it. Remind me to do that before the game comes out.

Other than that, there’s what? Super Street Fighter IV? No thanks. I’d like to try some of the new characters, but I really don’t have the patience for Street Fighter. I don’t think it’s as great as people claim, but I also understand that’s personal preference. Looking at the list, there really is nothing coming in April. DSiWare games it is!

At PAX East, the guy demoing Bit Trip Runner said it would be out “next month”. I don’t know if that meant April or May, but if he meant April then replace the above three paragraphs with nothing but me gushing about Runner.

Charis

What game am I most looking forward to this month? Sadly, I don’t really have anything to pick. Although I was looking forward to Splinter Cell: Conviction, the co-op demo at PAX caused me to lose a lot of my excitement. One of the most important things in a game for me is how the controls are set up, almost to the extent that if I don’t like them, I won’t play the game. This is why I appreciate a game like Bad Company 2, which included the original controls from the first Bad Company (why they changed the controls I will never know). However, I have never played a game that felt as awkward as the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo. I’m sure that after some time I will get used to it, but having to press in the right stick to reload made me want to twitch. I’m hoping that the rest of the game will change my mind (I loved what I saw during E3 last summer). We’ll have to see.

I don’t like Street Fighter, have never played Monster Hunter, and… THERE’S NOTHING ELSE. This month is going to be so boring.

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates this weekend. Only two of us + plus busy weekends + lack of news = well, not many updates. With that said, we’ll be bringing you some awesome stuff this week and weekend.

To kick if off tomorrow we’ll be bringing you the normal Digital Downloads update with links to the product pages/videos. At night, we’ll be bringing in a new feature by Alex that will more satire-like in approach comparing Modern Warfare 2 and Bad Company 2. He’ll be doing these every other week, or once a month. We’ll see how this one goes!

Tuesday will be a regular day with this week’s releases that are verified by a bunch of places to make sure we aren’t showing games that were pushed back and such. Wednesday will be either our Pokemon SoulSilver/HeartGold or Cave Story review, with the other coming on Thursday.

And then the big news! Starting Friday, we’ll be bringing you exclusive updates from PAX East. We’ll both be there (since we are from the Boston area!) and will be bringing game impressions, hopefully some interviews, and we’ll even be updating on the panels we see… not just the games that are there. We should also have a ton of pictures, so be ready! We’re super excited about this, so hopefully you guys will enjoy it.

Also, our first podcast will come at the end of all this on Sunday. Can’t wait!

With that said, the music of tonight is going to be the opening theme from Resonance of Fate. I haven’t made as much progress as I’ve wanted to, but for where I am, the game has been pretty great. The battle system takes some practice (okay, a lot of practice), but everything else is very intriguing and above average.

With the release of Mega Man 10 finally arriving this week, I think it’s only right that we put the music up against the stellar soundtrack that was found in Mega Man 9. Can Mega Man 10 actually out-do it, or does it fall just below the mark? Well, we’re going to put different tracks up against each other and see which one Mega Man soundtrack can get the most wins with some votes.

There is a point to all this. It’s not so much the head to head match-ups that matter, it’s more about the votes for individual tracks. This is the last round of the voting, and there will be a final post compiling all the info together. VOTE IN THE COMMENTS!

Plug Man (MM9) Vs. Strike Man (MM10)

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Tornado Man (MM9) Vs. Chill Man (MM10)

VS.

Wily 1 (MM9) Vs. Wily 1 (MM10)

VS.

Wily 2 (MM9) Vs. Wily 2 (MM10)

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Wily 3 (MM9) Vs. Wily 3 (MM10)

VS.

With the release of Mega Man 10 finally arriving this week, I think it’s only right that we put the music up against the stellar soundtrack that was found in Mega Man 9. Can Mega Man 10 actually out-do it, or does it fall just below the mark? Well, we’re going to put different tracks up against each other and see which one Mega Man soundtrack can get the most wins with some votes.

Yesterday went well, so here is the next two choices. Voting for today is on Jewel Man Vs. Sheep Man and Galaxy Man Vs. Nitro Man. VOTE IN THE COMMENTS!

Jewel Man (MM9) Vs. Sheep Man (MM10)

VS.

Galaxy Man (MM9) Vs. Nitro Man (MM10)

VS.

With the release of Mega Man 10 finally arriving this week, I think it’s only right that we put the music up against the stellar soundtrack that was found in Mega Man 9. Can Mega Man 10 actually out-do it, or does it fall just below the mark? Well, we’re going to put different tracks up against each other and see which one Mega Man soundtrack can get the most wins with some votes.

Yesterday went well, so here is the next two choices. Voting for today is on Hornet Man Vs. Blade Man and Magma Man Vs. Solar Man. VOTE IN THE COMMENTS!

Hornet Man (MM9) Vs. Blade Man (MM10)

VS.

Magma Man (MM9) Vs. Solar Man (MM10)

VS.

With the release of Mega Man 10 finally arriving this week, I think it’s only right that we put the music up against the stellar soundtrack that was found in Mega Man 9. Can Mega Man 10 actually out-do it, or does it fall just below the mark? Well, we’re going to put different tracks up against each other and see which one Mega Man soundtrack can get the most wins with some votes.

Voting for today is on Splash Woman Vs. Pump Man and Concrete Man Vs. Commando Man. VOTE IN THE COMMENTS!

Splash Woman (MM9) Vs. Pump Man (MM10)

VS.

Concrete Man (MM9) Vs. Commando Man (MM10)

VS.

(Battery Leak is a feature that focuses on new games we were supposed to review… but just couldn’t. It’s not that the game is bad; It’s just that there are reasons that stopped us from fully enjoying it. This will most likely happen with a game a month and will be posted on the final day of said month.)

Zzzzz… oh, whoops! I must have been playing Glory of Heracles again.

I am an RPG fan. Not the biggest one by any means, but I enjoy them none-the-less. However, they all tend to fall into a 50/50 category of either RPG’s I can’t stop playing, or RPG’s that I can’t wait to put down. I have a tendency to get roughly 5-8 hours into them before I stop playing it, and it’s usually not the game’s fault. It’s mine. I play most RPG’s for the characters and story and if I’m going to sit down with a game for over 30 hours, I need to care about who I’m playing as, and what is going on around them. Sure, the battle system is super important, as is an interesting game world, but it’s a lot easier to march through the bad parts of a game if I care about what comes after it.

That brings me to Glory of Heracles for the Nintendo DS. I picked it up on the day of release very excited for what it offered. I have an interest in mythology and I was looking for an RPG to play… check and check. So, I fired it up hoping for the best.

Well, it took a total of two minutes to completely ruin itself. I watched the opening movie and as gameplay started you’ll never guess what happens! I woke up on a beach with no memory. This is the most cliche thing you can do, and I’m at a point where I refuse to support a game that uses it. The only reason I gave it somewhat of a free pass was because I was really in the mood for an RPG, and was happy that Nintendo brought this series to the U.S.. Not anymore.

After a slightly boring intro of meeting your main character and the first of his companions… I honestly fell asleep. This isn’t just for the sake of over exaggeration, either. I legitimately took a two hour nap having only been up for a few hours prior to turning it on. I shrugged it off assuming I didn’t get enough sleep. Within another hour I was getting drowsy AGAIN. I didn’t really know what to do at this point. Over the next few days I did my best to make a dent in the game, but in the end I was only able to progress about six or seven hours.

The characters are just not interesting. They are so generic and boring. There is “The Hero” who remembers nothing, a girl who tries to convince everyone she is a boy, and an egotistical jerk who the ladies love. It’s as lame as it sounds. The mechanics behind Glory of Heracles aren’t half bad. The battle system works with physical, elemental, and special attacks, using rows to create front and back lines. The unique aspect comes from the magic points. These can either benefit or hurt the user, and were a nice change a pace from the otherwise standard system in place. An annoying issue found in the game is the explanations and tutorials. Every single little thing you do will pop up a notification explaining to you what it means. This may be nice for someone new to RPG’s, or younger children, but it slowed the game to a crawl in most instances.

The visuals were hit and miss at the same time. All of the textures are muddy and sloppy, but the animation was and made up for how bad they looked sometimes. I really don’t know what to say from here. I didn’t hate the game by any means, but it’s impossible to finish it in a timely manner when it acts as a sleeping aid… even in the middle of the day. The new Nyquil? Maybe it can even cure colds.

If you are looking for a similar game that’s better, do yourself a favor and pick up Suikoden: Tierkreis, Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, or Final Fantasy IV.