Rent A Hero (Mega Drive) Playthrough [English]
173A playthrough of Sega's 1991 action-RPG for the Sega Mega Drive, Rent A Hero.
Since Rent A Hero was only ever released in Japan, I am playing a fan-translated version here. If you'd like to check it out for yourself, you can find the patch at https://www.romhacking.net/translations/2309/
Rent A Hero was the work of Yu Suzuki and Sega's AM2 division, the legendary team behind most of the company's biggest arcade hits. It was also the team's second game made exclusively for the Mega Drive, releasing about a year after their first MD game, Sword of Vermilion (https://youtu.be/gr_j8AAv3ZQ ).
About ten years later it was also fully remade in 3D for the Dreamcast and Xbox.
Rent A Hero is the story of a teenager living in modern (early 90s) faux-Tokyo. His family has just moved to a new neighborhood, and while they're throwing a party to meet the neighbors, they run out of food. John (Taro, originally) tries to call for a grocery delivery, but inadvertently dials the number for the store's secret Rent A Hero department.
The business (SECA, or SEnsational CAfetetia) specializes in developing and renting out strength-enhancing combat suits to would be heroes. Everyday folks can call to request a help with a problem, and SECA assigns these tasks to the Rent A Heroes.
John ends up being the program's first participant, and the game follows his rise to superhero stardom. You begin with menial errands like delivering letters, but before long you get tangled up in domestic disputes, Yakuza scams, bank robberies... all sorts of stuff. You'll even save miners from an Egyptian curse at one point.
The game generally keeps its tone pretty light. There are a lot of goofy jokes and the game constantly makes punny allusions to various aspects of Japanese culture, but it does have its moments that know how to hit.
I can't remember the last time a game outright shocked me the way the scene at 1:00:30 did. Especially in 1991, doing that in a video game was a pretty ballsy move.
It's not all grim, though. The game also knows how to make Sega fans smile. Just check out the arcade filled with Sega games at 1:39:34!
The game mostly plays out from a top-down perspective like you'd see in an RPG - it feels like it's running on a modified form of the code that powered Sword of Vermillion (https://youtu.be/dK1ojKh6S3E ) and Phantasy Star III (https://youtu.be/sshSGJSWpzk ). You talk to the townspeople for clues, invest in armor and weapon upgrades for your suit, and whenever a situation calls for action, you're thrown into battle mode.
The battle mode is styled as a side-scrolling brawler that feels like it was adapted from the mechanics of Sword of Vermillion's boss fights, and unfortunately, these sequences are the game's Achilles' heel. The controls are stiff and the hit detection is all over the place. It blows my mind how poor these scenes are considering the talent behind the production, but thankfully the first 3/4 of the game keeps a firm focus on its adventure aspects. By the time you're forced into frequent random encounters, you'll be powered up enough to blow through most of them with little difficulty.
The game's art is excellent (though it looks a bit drab at times thanks to color palette choices that make it look like a modern-day take on Phantasy Star III), and Hiroshi Kawaguchi's soundtrack is (mostly) excellent. It features a lot of heavy digitized percussion that reminded me of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker and Sword of Vermillion, and it's generally upbeat and fun to listen to. (That is, until later in the game when the BGM switches to a loud and twangy rock track that plays for every scene. Why did they think that was a good idea?!)
If you can see past its issues, though, Rent A Hero is a lot of fun. It feels much more experimental in nature than Sega's typical console fare. While it doesn't succeed on all fronts, it feels like a baby's tentative first step toward what would eventually become Shenmue (https://youtu.be/bpIu5iNnbDo ), and I had a lot of fun with it.
_____________
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
NintendoComplete (http://www.nintendocomplete.com/) punches you in the face with in-depth reviews, screenshot archives, and music from classic 8-bit NES games!