''Rent A Hero'' is an

action role-playing An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a video game genre that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing game genres. Definition Action role-playing games emphasize real-time combat wh ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

series released by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

for the

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

console in 1991 with a large emphasis on humor. The game features the same graphic engine previously used in the development of '' Sword of Vermilion''. However, ''Rent A Hero'' has an unusual innovation for the genre. Instead of using standard

turn-based Timekeeping is relevant to many types of games, including video games, tabletop role-playing games, board games, and sports. The passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. In many games, this is don ...

battles, fights are in a similar format to 2D

fighting game The fighting game video game genre, genre involves combat between multiple characters, often (but not limited to) one-on-one battles. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappling, counter- ...

Plot

Taro Yamada, or lives in the town of Corja in Japan with his mother, eccentric father and younger sister Alyssa; the family moved there after his father changed jobs. He received his Combat Armor by accident during their house-warming party, when he ordered pizza from 'Sensational Cafeteria' or SECA and instead received the suit. After realizing the suit gave him incredible strength, and that he is required to pay for the armor, Taro decides to become a hero for hire, performing various heroic tasks and odd-jobs for the townspeople of Corja.

Release

''Rent A Hero'' was released for the

on September 20, 1991, in Japan by

. It was later released on the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

Virtual Console The Virtual Console was a line of downloadable retro video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of handheld systems. The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on pa ...

download service on April 17, 2007.

Remake

''Rent A Hero No. 1'', a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of the original Mega Drive game, was released for the Dreamcast in 2000. It features similar events to ''Rent A Hero'', this time adding Rent A Hiroko, a female counterpart of Taro. The fighting engine used for the game is the same used for Sega's ''

SpikeOut ''Spikeout: Digital Battle Online'' is a 3D computer graphics, 3D beat 'em up video game developed by Toshihiro Nagoshi, and released by Sega for their Sega Model 3, Model 3 Step 2.1 arcade system board in 1998 in video gaming, 1998. An ...

'' games and allows the player to receive hints via in-game email. The game was enhanced and given online capabilities by Coolnet Entertainment for the Xbox in 2003, and also translated into English for a North American release in what would have been the first ''Rent A Hero'' overseas release. However, the English version of the game was never released due to distribution problems, and the Xbox version remained only in Japan as had previously happened with the original Dreamcast version. In 2008, the unreleased English-translated version of the game was leaked and appeared on torrent sites in an apparently complete state, with only minor text errors present. This version was very close to completion and was reviewed by ''GamePro'' and ''Electronics Gaming Monthly'' in February 2003. An unofficial English patch was released in 2023.

Reception

On release, ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' scored the Dreamcast version of the game a 30 out of 40.''ドリームキャスト – レンタヒーロー No.1''. Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.51. 30 June 2006. ''

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

'' called it "a bordering-on-cheesy, yet outstanding action-RPG". They praised the 3D combat system, comparing it to ''

'' and ''

Shenmue is an action-adventure game series created, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. '' Shenmue'' (1999) and ''Shenmue II'' (2001) were developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. ''Shenmue II'' was released in 2002 in Western m ...

'', as well as "the meticulous attention to detail" in "around five large neighborhoods, each with plenty of houses, universities, and restaurants" as well as a

video arcade An amusement arcade, also known as a video arcade, amusements, arcade, or penny arcade (an older term), is a venue where people play arcade games, including arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, mer ...

with

minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...

s. They also praised the animation and "brilliantly rendered graphics", concluding that "the gameplay is tightly focused, it looks great, and definitely has a soul". ''

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

'' called it a "wacky" game that is "definitely unique and uniquely Sega". They praised the battle system, comparing it to ''

Virtua Fighter is a series of fighting games created by Sega AM2 and designer Yu Suzuki. The original ''Virtua Fighter (video game), Virtua Fighter'' was released in December 1993 and has received four main sequels and several spin-offs. The highly influential ...

'' and '' Dynamite Deka'', as well as the "admirable" camera work, "rock-steady 60fps" and "fluid" character animation. They criticized the character models for not looking "as nice as" ''

Soul Calibur The soul is the purported immaterial aspect or essence of a living being. It is typically believed to be immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that describe the relationship between the soul and the body ...

'' or ''Shenmue'', but praised the environments for having "a texture quality that rivals" ''

Sonic Adventure is a 1998 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. It was the first main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game to feature 3D gameplay. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Pr ...

'', indoor and outdoor designs that "are nothing short of breathtaking" and "a large number of suburban homes" where "each house is unique". They concluded that it is "a humorous, irreverent joy to experience" and a "surprisingly excellent game."

Other media

Taro is available in ''

Fighters Megamix is a 1996 fighting video game developed by Sega AM2, a crossover between Sega's 3D arcade fighting games ''Virtua Fighter 2'' and '' Fighting Vipers'', with unlockable characters from several other AM2 games such as '' Virtua Cop 2'' and '' D ...

'' as an unlockable character. He is one of few characters to use projectile attacks, and one of the strongest fighters. However, he has an additional handicap: above his life bar are battery symbols, that deplete the longer a fight lasts, if they deplete fully, Taro's armor will disappear. In this state, he will not be able to perform a number of moves, including all projectile moves, and he will also take more damage. On July 12, 2016, it was announced that

Steve Pink Steve Pink (born February 3, 1966) is an American actor, director and writer. He is the director of the comedy films '' Accepted'' and ''Hot Tub Time Machine'', and the co-writer of the films '' Grosse Pointe Blank'' and ''High Fidelity''. Lif ...

will direct and co-write with Jeff Morris a film version of ''Rent-A-Hero''. There has been no news on this since.

Stage play

The series itself was adapted into

stage play A play is a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than mere reading. The creator of a play is known as a playwright. Plays are staged at various levels, ranging ...

titled ''Rent-A-Hero'' and was hosted in Japan's Rokkokai Hall in Tokyo from January 17 to 21, 2018; it was sponsored and produced by SPIRAL CHARIOTS. Seiji Hattori, who runs SPIRAL CHARIOTS, was in charge of the script and direction with supervision and special cooperation from Sega Games and Sega Holdings. Stage version main cast: *Rental Hero/Rentaman/Taro Turner: Ken Ogasawara *Rent-A-Hero Darkness/Mac Albite: Ryutora Isogai *Susie Stripe: Haruka Ohara *Rent-A-Hero Rent-A-Hiroko/Piano Doremy: Hana Toshima *Rental Hero Ursalaman/Ursalaman: Shota Minami *Combu Dasijiru: Tatsumi Sheena *Rent-A-Hero Blycarnman/Will Antony: Sho Toda *Organo Doremy: Sayuri Yamato *Travel Travolta: Texas *Money pear: Misa Kurihara *Mink: Minami Kashimura *Tomato: Karen Misaki *Hyena: Ryotaro Matsumura *Gazelle: Takahiro Saito *Alisa Turner: Rio Sudo *Yoshiko Turner: Saeko Shono *Inspector Zenikase: South American Jin *Officer Ryogae: Tooru Hirayama *Buster Alvide (President of Nomorwa Chemical): Shota Yamada *Kent Albede: Mahiro Komatsuzaki *Maitake Jackson: Chizu Hanasaki *Mu: Kaori Natsuka (voice appearance) *Lars (Chief of Dahane Police Station): Seiji Hattori

References

{{Authority control 1991 video games Dreamcast games Japan-exclusive video games Role-playing video games Sega Genesis games Sega-AM2 games Single-player video games Video games developed in Japan Video games produced by Yu Suzuki Video games scored by Hiroshi Kawaguchi Virtual Console games Xbox games