“Omakase”, which in Japanese roughly translates to “I leave it up to the chef”, is an experience in which customers place their trust in the chef of an establishment to curate and serve a meal, usually with a very seasoned or respected chef. None come more respected in the Retro Handhelds Discord than Rapid99, the ever-present overlord of the GotX program who is responsible for curating all the images, coordinating all the voting and threads, and (mostly) ensuring peace and enjoyment for all who participate in GotX.
GotX is the Retro Handhelds Discord‘s version of a book club, and this month Rapid is bringing all the books! For those who prefer the usual selection of spooky and creepy for the month of October, no worries; most of the games “curated” by Rapid were of the spooky variety, and two of the three that won fit the bill for October.
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, 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. However, as mentioned previously, this month was a little different; Rapid “curated” nine games – three in each date category – and then GotM Champions voted on the games to select the three winners. Omakase!
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.
Omakase October
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) — Super Castlevania IV
Super Castlevania IV
- Console: SNES
- Genre: Action-Platformer
- Time to Beat: 4 Hours
Super Castlevania IV follows Simon Belmont in his quest to defeat Count Dracula. This game works as a remake of sorts, recycling the same basic plot and protagonist of the original Castlevania released on the Nintendo Entertainment System. However, the game features entirely new levels and enemies, as well as an almost completely original soundtrack.
The big excitement comes from the new eight-directional whip, allowing the player to dish out monster-mashing justice in multiple directions. This also allows Simon to use the whip as a way to block various enemy projectiles, as well as utilize the whip to latch onto grapple points and traverse chasms and other obstacles. Many other forms of gameplay were added or improved, including the ability to humorously “moonwalk” up stairs.
Game of the Month (1996-2001) — Clock Tower
Clock Tower
- Console: PlayStation 1
- Genre: Point ‘n Click Horror
- Time to Beat: 3 Hours
Thanks to some more fun naming convention quirks between Japan and the US, this Clock Tower is actually Clock Tower 2 in Japan and Clock Tower in the US; the SNES version you may be thinking of is actually Clock Tower: The First Fear in the US. Don’t worry, this will happen all month-long.
Clock Tower follows Jennifer Simpson, an orphan taken in by the wealthy and mysterious Barrows family, who ultimately finds herself trapped in their mansion with her friends while being stalked by the eponymous Scissorman. Players will use a point-and-click cursor to interact with various elements of the environment, solve puzzles, and influence the story through narrative choices, all while evading their relentless antagonist.
Game of the Month (2002 and later) — Choro Q
Choro Q
- Console: PlayStation 2
- Genre: Racing RPG
- Time to Beat: 20 hours
Through coercion, cooperation, or just plain corruption, Rapid has now managed to get three Choro Q games into the GotX platform; Choro Q 3 (Choro Q HG 3 in Japan) and Choro Q Wonderful preceded this one. Also known as Choro Q HG 4 in Japan, Choro Q has received repeated praise from Rapid as his favorite in the series, and is likely the one he’s most excited about for Omakase October.
The story starts with a flashback of a tragic racing accident, then pivots to the player taking control of the protagonist who is starting their racing adventure in Brachy Town. Players must advance by earning licenses, which are obtained by completing races, and then joining one of either Team Ranolfka or Team Sovass to progress the story.
Choro Q, like many of the others in its namesake series, consists of racing cutesie cars against one another, with each victory bringing new gear to customize your racecar and improve your skills. There are a ton of events and minigames to be found in this one, along with various themed islands and environments, and with the HLTB of 20 hours it seems like Rapid has given us a lot to chew on with this one.
Game of the Quarter — Radiata Stories
GOTQ
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.
Radiata Stories
- Console: PlayStation 2
- Genre: ARPG
- Time to Beat: 30.5 Hours
For the final quarter of 2025, we’ll be 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, 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.
If you’re new to Retro Handhelds or the GotX community, come join us!
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