Rent-A-Hero No. 1

About

Rent A Hero No 1 casts you as Tarou Yamada, a kid who stumbles into heroics after receiving a powered cosplay suit instead of food delivery. The game blends beat-em-up combat with RPG job systems, you take contracts to defend townsfolk, earn cash for suit upgrades, and grind experience by intervening in random street brawls. A female protagonist appears in later chapters, offering alternate playthroughs. Battles use Sega’s Spikeout engine, letting you string together acrobatic strikes and charged attacks. Between fights you roam a grid-based town, handing out flyers and tracking down clients, with each mission adding to your reputation. The Xbox version added online hint emails and an English translation never officially released outside Japan. A 2008 leak preserved this version intact, sparking cult interest among retro fans. While its story sticks to straightforward hero tropes, the mix of hack-and-slash fluidity with persistent progression mechanics feels ahead of its time. Community guides note the game’s surprisingly deep job system and minor graphical quirks from its 2000s ports. With Metacritic scoring it 72/100, it remains a niche pick for those craving underappreciated Sega oddities.

Storyline

The player is Tarou Yamada, an ordinary boy from the Yamada family that just moved to the Koja Town. The Yamadas made a party to celebrate the move and meet the residents, but during the party, the food was almost ending. Tarou asked for more food from a delivery named Service Cafe (Seca for short), but he received a cosplay costume instead. Thinking of using it to boost the party by making a hero show with his father, who was dressed as a monster, he wore the costume and discovered that it gave him powers, accidentally throwing his father far away with a light tap. Checking it, he discovers that it is the top work from Seca, a sturdy and powerful super energy combat armor that can make anyone a hero, but it requires batteries to work. Also, as it is a rental suit, Tarou decides to start a rental job under the name Rent a Hero, and distributes flyers around the town to take requests. The money he gains is used for the costume's monthly rental fee and for batteries. After finishing the distribution and returning home to play on his creamcast (the game's save point), he went out to check the town and saw a man harassing a woman, entering in a fight against him. Although helping outside the shop requests won't give rewards, it rises awareness of the hero, improving his career. Tarou then gradually gains experience and becomes a famous hero.