Sometimes in GotM, we see a selection of the same games get nominated over and over each month. Never Nominated November is the theme for GotM this month, and gives us an opportunity to break this cycle for a bit. All games that were nominated (including the three winners listed below) must have never been nominated for a GotM theme before.

GotX is the Retro Handhelds Discord‘s version of a book club, and this month we’re reading some deep cuts. So come on in, sit down, and let’s play some games!

What is GotX?

GotX is short for “Games of the X“, which can be split into three categories: Game of the Month (GotM), Game of the Quarter (GotQ), and Game of the Week (GotW). Games of the Month are chosen according to a theme selected by community users who have previously beaten a GotM game for the prior month, aka “GotM Champions”.

Three games in total are selected, each falling within a range of release dates, which are nominated and voted upon by the GotM Champions. Winners each receive their own thread in the GotM channels in the Retro Handhelds Discord, where discussions, arguments, and ultimately fun are had by all.

Game of the Quarter and Game of the Week are selected independently in styles that are slightly different from Game of the Month, and they also don’t follow the same theme as the Games of the Month. Games in these two categories have either a runtime of under two hours (GotW) or a minimum runtime of 25 hours (GotQ), according to HowLongToBeat.

Completing a game (by posting a screenshot with ending credits, a date, and your Discord username) gets you an imaginary internet point that can be redeemed towards very real merch on the RH Store.

Game of the Month (Pre-’96) — Adventures of Lolo

• Console: NES
• Genre: Puzzle
• Time to Beat: 4 Hours

Adventures of Lolo has players take control of the titular Lolo, who is on a journey to rescue Princess Lala from the evil King Egger. The game takes place in Egger’s castle, which has 50 rooms arranged in 10 floors of 5 rooms. Within each room, Lolo must collect several hearts in order to open a treasure chest and collect the gem inside, which will open the exit to the next room or floor.

While technically the fifth game in the Eggerland series, Adventures of Lolo was the first in the series to make it to Western audiences. These games involve moving and sliding blocks and/or enemies around the screen in order to gain access to hearts and treasure chests. This is repeated in each room, with some varying additional abilities depending on the room, until Lolo reaches the top of the castle to rescue the princess.

Game of the Month (1996-2001) — Neo Turf Masters / Big Tournament Golf

• Console: Neo Geo, Neo Geo Pocket Color
• Genre: Sports
• Time to Beat: 2 Hours

Neo Turf Masters is an arcade-style golf game that has you competing as one of six players on one of four fictional golf courses located in the United States, Japan, Australia, or Germany. The game uses a single click to determine the power of the shot, a second click to determine the height of the shot, and the B and C buttons to determine hook and slice. Some tricky course layouts and wind direction bring additional difficulty to the otherwise simplified gameplay.

Completing the game for GotM consideration simply involves beating one of the four aforementioned courses. There is also a Neo Geo Pocket Color version of the game that is eligible for completion.

Game of the Month (2002 and later) — The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

• Console: PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox
• Genre: Adventure
• Time to Beat: 6 hours

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a hack-and-slash adventure game that mostly has you following the events of the titular second movie. Players take control of Aragorn, Gimli, or Legolas from a third-person perspective, with the two characters you don’t choose often showing up as supporting NPCs for the level. Players are graded on their skill via an on-screen meter during each level, ranging from Fair to Perfect, with higher ratings providing more experience.

While each character has specific weapons and attack combos, the general fighting style remains similar; quick attacks provide minimal damage in exchange for more nimble maneuvering, fierce attacks deal more damage and can break shields but are slower and riskier, ranged attacks provide damage from a distance, and killing moves provide a way to instantly killed a downed enemy with style.

Game of the Quarter — Radiata Stories

If you’re looking for a meatier game to sink your teeth into, then the Game of the Quarter has you covered. GotQ consists of games that meet a minimum criteria of at least 25 hours to beat according to HLTB. Each quarter, four games are pulled at random from an extensive list of games that meet the minimum criteria and then community users vote on which game they’d like to play for the next three months.

Completing a GotQ will still net you a single point, but there is also an opportunity to earn two additional points if you manage to 100% the game by completing all of the achievements through RetroAchievements and posting this as an additional screenshot.

• Console: PlayStation 2
• Genre: ARPG
• Time to Beat: 30.5 Hours

For the final quarter of 2025, we’re still playing Radiata Stories, an action role-playing game developed by tri-Ace (developers of the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile series). The story follows Jack Russell, a young man who wants to become a Radiata Knight like his father. As the story progresses, Jack finds himself caught in a conflict between humans and non-humans, ultimately having to choose a side during an impending civil war.

Radiata Stories places a lot of importance on NPCs, as there are many of them and they each have their own lives, jobs, personalities, homes, dialogue, and schedules according to the in-game Day/Night system. Each of these NPCs can be recruited as party members, and each with their own requirements; a staggering 176 characters are recruitable!

Combat consists of real-time weapon swinging against monsters and mooks alike, with Jack being controlled directly by the player and other party members being controlled by in-game AI. Pretty standard PS2-era ARPG gameplay. Also, you can kick everything, which can provide beneficial items or start unnecessary fights!

Game of the Week, aka RetroBits

If short games and easy points are more your speed, then each Saturday at 5 PM PST, a new GotW is announced. Each game comes with a completion time of 2 hours or less according to HowLongToBeat, and must be completed before the new GotW is announced the following Saturday. Completion of the GotM and GotQ will earn you one point (three if you 100% the latter), but GotW will only net you half a point. Unlike the aforementioned GotM and GotQ, the GotW is chosen entirely at random by the GotX overlord Rapid99, selected from a large database of sub-two hour games.

Below is an example of the four most recent GotW games that we’ve played in the Retro Handhelds Discord. Clay Fighter 63 1/3 is the most recent, and we’re still playing it from November 1, 2025 – November 8, 2025.

If you’re new to Retro Handhelds or the GotX community, come join us!

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