Rent A Hero [GEN/MD] Translation Playable!!

[Original_Name]

Yes!! One of my most-wanted fan translations has just come very close to completion. The original translator has released a playable alpha-build. It's an unedited script, so there are a handful of errors and somewhat awkward translations, but they're mostly negligible. The most significant issue is that some text isn't properly broken up by line, which causes a minor glitch and, in the case of one mission I encountered, obscured some text of a riddle that needed to be solved.

Clearly not an optimal experience, but nothing I couldn't solve by quickly jumping over to a longplay of the title in Japanese [レンタヒーロー]. The original translator has put the project aside to let himself focus on his new job and newborn, but the story is now accessible, and the game will be complete with a comparatively small amount of tweaking and editing. I encourage anyone with an interest in this game, to play or to help with coding, over at http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.p ... 18.60.html

Here's a direct link to the ROM, also: https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=5d71aa0b ... T6-pBE9a44

From the man himself: "If you put an unheadered copy of the Japanese ROM (named "Rent A Hero (J) [!].bin") in the "ROM\JPN" directory, the English ROM should compile just fine, and will output in the "ROM\ENG" directory if you run the batch file "!Create English ROM.bat". The script is "script\script.txt"."

Anyway, I'm loving the game so far. The classic interface of Phantasy Star and Sword of Vermilion, the "realistically" rendered locales rendered in the classical Genesis style of Bare Knuckle, E-Swat, or Super Shinobi, the Shenmue-style quaintness of the neighborhood and interactions with its locals, and the bizarre humor of Segagaga, Seaman, and Roommania #203, and the quirky gameplay gimmicks (that niggle at you more than they add to the game but sounded cool enough on paper that you forgive them for it) add up to make possibly the single most "SEGA" Sega game of all time. Not a masterpiece, but it's not meant to be. In the state that they released it, it really couldn't have been a hit, but it's full of great ideas and charm -- with another year in development, or released with the tech and standards of the Sega Saturn, it could have been a killer-app.

Despite its premonitions of the zaniness of Sega during the peak of their creativity and innovation in the late 90's and early 00's, this is clearly a game from the era when Sega was a developer who often followed instead of lead, but marched along the footprints to the beat of their own drum all the same. Anyone who's played Mother (Earthbound Zero) will be quick to point out that the groundwork that Rent A Hero treads had already been laid two years before, but this just adds to the "Wow this game is really Sega" feeling even more. It's almost a self-parody in the extent to which it embraces both the best and the worst aspects of classic Sega, and for the fan looking back from 2014, it's all the more endearing for it.

[CavZee]

I've always been interested in this game. Will definitely try it out sometime.

[GSZX1337]

Hmm, I've been interested in Rent a Hero for a few years now, but I'm not sure if I'd want to play an unfinished translation. For now I think I'll wait and see if someone finishes this off.