____________________________________________________________________ /___________________________________________________________________/ _____ ___ _____ __________ ____ __________ / / / // // ___ // /____ / __ / / / /__// // / / // _____/______ / / / /_______ / / / //__/__/ // / /______// / / //______/ / /___ ____/ / /_ // /____ / /_/ / /________//________/ /___//________/ /_________/ R E N T A H E R O N o. 1 ____________________________________________________________________ /___________________________________________________________________/ Rent A Hero No.1 Sega Dreamcast (Japan) walkthrough/FAQ ver.0.85 by J.T.Kauffman & Ben Judd June 5, 2000 ____________________________________________________________________ /___________________________________________________________________/ --Contents-- --Introduction-- --Gameplay-- Getting Started Controls Accepting Jobs Menu Translations Battle Saving/Item Boxes Suit Rental --Walkthrough-- Getting Started Prologue Come On! Hero! Job 1: Your First Job, Please Job 2: A Request From Kent Job 3: TakeOut Delivery Job 4: Bank Transfer Guard A Trip to SECA Job 5: Makata Town Patrol Job 6: Shopping Request (Misosoup) Odds and Ends Job 7: Dahane Town Patrol Job 8: Shopping Request (Hanson) Job 9: Find the Pet Job 10: Shopping Request (Book) Job 11: Star as the Hero Job 12: Urgent! Cave-in! Job 13: Bodyguard Job 14: Urgent! Clean up the Dud Bombs Job 15: Pizza Delivery Job 16: A Request from Frio Job 17: Urgent! Conbini Robbery in Progress Job 18: Request from Hi-To Pharmecuticals Job 19: Help with an Investigation Job 20: Urgent! Stop Mr. Wood Job 21: Excavation Team Missing Job 22: Saran is Missing Job 99: Complete the FAQ To Parse (misc. notes not yet integrated) --Miscellany-- FAQs Mini Games Rent A Hero Series Bonuses Release Info --Outro-- Versions Legal Credits Contact ______________________________________________ / / / I N T R O D U C T I O N / /_____________________________________________/ Rent A Hero No.1 is a Sega Dreamcast 3D Action RPG that is highly steeped in humor. Using the Spikeout game engine, Sega has developed a texture-heavy world that is filled with all sorts of Japanese quirks and puns. While this game isn't difficult per se, the amount of specific things that you must do makes the game incredibly hard for those who don't know Japanese well. That is where this faq comes in... Written by J.T.Kauffman, with translations done by Ben Judd, this work will walk you through jobs from start to finish, giving you not only directions, but also filling you in on the story (although don't expect line-by-line translations in this department). The walkthrough is divided up into separate jobs so that you can pick and choose between the jobs listed, and simply head to the corresponding section. However, it is also written as a complete work - you can start at the beginning and head all the way through, following our directions to a T, and you'll be fine. It is highly recommended that you know a bit of Japanese to play this game, even if it is just knowing the kana and having a basic understanding of the language (what kanji and kana are, etc.) - while this faq doesn't require you to know any of the language at all, it will make your life a hell of a lot easier. We also recommend that you view this faq in a program that can display Japanese encoding, as there is a bunch of Japanese Shift-JIS encoding throughout the document. It was written in NJStar's Japanese Word Processor, a Windows 95/98/2000/NT shareware program available at http://www.njstar.com. Another option is to down load the Microsoft Japanese IME from http://www.microsoft.com - this will let you display and type in Japanese in certain programs, including Netscape 6 and Internet Explorer 4.0+. If you can't display, or don't want to/can't download the aforementioned programs, don't worry - you'll just see some gibberish throughout the faq (we've tried to keep it all in [brackets] to make it easier on the eyes)... It is recommended that you view this document in a fixed width font, such as Courier New (the font it was written in). However, due to the Japanese encoding, some parts may be slightly off. An attempt to correct this will be made later on. Another note is that occasionally we'll recommend that you play "match the kanji" - for things such as shopping lists and food deliveries, you'll need to write down, as best you can, names of things in order to complete the job correctly. Much of this is randomised in the game, so it is up to you to copy the Japanese, and then match it to the apartment/house, or to the list of items for sale in the shops. If you're just a bit observant, you should be fine in this category. Finally, this is currently _just_ a walkthrough, nothing more. The gameplay itself is pretty easy to figure out, and most of the things such as item lists are either unnecessary, or explained as they are come across in the game. More may be added at a later date, but there are no guarantees about that... At any rate, enjoy... ______________________________________________ / / / G A M E P L A Y / /_____________________________________________/ Gameplay in Rent A Hero No.1 is fairly simple: log online with your SECA Creamcast, find a job, accept it, and follow the directions. Once that job is complete, repeat. Of course, for Japanese speakers, this is simple; for people who can't read the language well, this is a bit harder. The walkthrough itself will help you through the various jobs, while this section will help you with the basics of gameplay. ________________________________ /_Getting Started_______________/ First off, when you select a new game (by selecting New Game from the title screen, rather obviously), you'll need to name your character. The first Name Entry is for your character's last name, the second for your character's last name. The four choices on the left are Hiragana, Katakana, English, and Kanji. Enter your names, and then select the far right option at the bottom, followed by the left choice of the two that pop up ('yes', or はい - the other, いいえ, means 'no'). The default last name is Yamada (in hiragana; やまだ) and the default first name is Taro (again, in hiragana; たろう ). I'll refer to our hero as Taro. ________________________________ /_Controls______________________/ Once again, there isn't anything incredibly difficult here, but it is worth going through... --Normal Mode-- D-pad: Moves Taro in the direction that you press; press twice quickly to run Analogue Stick: Nothing A Button: Examine/talk/accept B Button: Jump/cancel X Button: Change into Rent A Hero Y Button: Enter Menu Start Button: Pause game L Trigger: Run R Trigger: Check job info --Battles-- D-pad: Moves Taro in the direction that you press; press twice quickly to run Analogue Stick: Nothing A Button: Attack (start Combo) B Button: Jump X Button: Attack (charge move - hold until the desired level is reached, then release the button to do the attack) Y Button: Guard Start Button: Pause game L Trigger: Nothing R Trigger: Nothing And before you ask, there is no way to manually move the camera. ________________________________ /_Accepting Jobs________________/ To take a job, the first thing that you need to do is to log onto your SECA Creamcast (you recieve this about 20 minutes into the game). Press either left twice or right twice to rotate the icons around to the Job icon. Press A to enter, and Miu, your contact at SECA, will display the available jobs for you. At first you will only have one job at a time, but eventually the number of jobs will grow (many of them being recurring jobs). Generally the last job in the list is the latest one, or the one that will advance the story, so if which job to take isn't mentioned in the faq, assume that it is the final one. Before you actually take the job, moving your cursor to highlight the job will display the job's Employer, Reward, and Place, in that order, in the blue box at the bottom of the screen. To actually start on a job you'll simply need to accept it by pressing A, then selecting the left option that pops up (yes, or [はい]). Miu will fill you in on the details, which usually isn't much more than "See [your employer] at [the job location] for more details." After you've finished getting the info on the job, close out of the Creamcast, and head to the location, remembering to turn into Rent A Hero before you speak with your employer. After that, she/he will fill you in on the details, and you'll be off to do the job itself. ________________________________ /_Menu Translations_____________/ The menu itself isn't all that hard to figure out, but again, we've provided you with rought translations of if to help your Rent A Hero-ing. --Main Menu Screen-- Item Moves Parameters Options [アイテム] [パラメター] [オプション] --Item Screen-- --Move Screen-- Combo [コンボ] Charge [チャッジ] (note: see the Battle section for more details on this screen) --Option Screen-- ________________________________ /_Battle________________________/ Using a very fast, very smooth battle engine, Rent A Hero is a nice combination of 3D fighting and old school Final Fight/Streets of Rage beat-'em-up action. The interface is simple, and should be familiar to anyone that has played a fighting game. Rent A Hero's life meter is on the left at the top, and the current enemy has its meter displayed at the top right. In the middle of the two is the Charge meter, which is used to unleash powerful Charge attacks. Down in the bottom left is Rent A Hero's remaining batter power. Remember that the Combat Armor runs on batteries, and needs to have new batteries put in every now and then. However, before you actually go into battle you need to prepare for it. You do this via the Moves section (the second option from the left) of the menu. Once in this section, enter the first option to change your normal attack, known as the Combo move in this game. The combos that you have learned will appear on the top right, and the moves that they entail are in the bottom right. Simply highlight a combo and press A to select it. After you've done so, you'll be back on the Moves screen again. To change your various charge moves, enter the second option of the two, and then select which Charge level, from 1 to 4, you want to assign a move to (you have to buy the moves from the B2 floor of SECA before you can do so), press A, then select the move that you want, and press A again. You can repeat this for the other power levels, again, providing that you have purchased moves for them. Now that you are ready for battle, let's go over what the various attacks are. The basic attack is the Combo (A button). At first, you'll only be able to use a weak jab, but by learning extra moves from Mr. Segasa at the Kohjya School, you'll be able to upgrade to more powerful Combos. Combos do not use any battery power at all, and are usually the best way to attack. Simply press the A button in rapid succession to go through a Combo (you don't even need to connect to continue in the chain). The other attack is the Charge move. There are four levels to Charge, and each can be purchased at SECA and assigned through the Moves section of the menu. To use a Charge move, hold down the X button until the guage at the top displays the move that you want to pull off. Once it does, simply release the button, and the move will go off. It's very simple, once everything is said and done, but the later moves do suck up a huge amount of battery power, so be careful. A few other moves exist as well, such as the Jump Kick (jump, then press the A button to kick) and the Dash (press a direction twice quickly, then press A), but we'll let you figure those out on your own. If you are defeated in battle, you'll end up at the hospital, but with only half of your money on hand left. You can, however, avoid some of this by opening a bank account, and keeping most of your money in there. ________________________________ /_Saving/Item Boxes_____________/ Saving can be done a couple of places. The most often used will probably be your SECA Creamcast. Log onto it and press right once, which should take you to the only one of the four icons that has two lines of text on it [セーブ & ロード]. It is here that you can save by simply pressing A, selecting the memory card, selecting which file you want to save into, and selecting the leftmost option that pops up to go ahead and save. Loading is done in a similar way, but instead of just pressing A right off the bat, press right, then press A. Saving can also be done at a few places around the game - look for a small tent-shaped message board that says "SAVE" on it in English. They are red, black, and yellow. Just walk up to it and examine it with A, and repeat the process above. There are also items called Teleboxes in the game. These are boxes that can hold up to 128 items, making those items accessable from any of the teleboxes. In practice, they are very similar to the item boxes in Resident Evil. However, you probably won't find that you'll ever have a need to use these, as there aren't a ton of items that you'll need to carry on a regular basis. ________________________________ /_Suit Rental___________________/ Although you are given the suit as a "present", it turns out that it was more of a limited time present. After the fourth job you'll get back to your apartment to find that the Service Cafe deliveryman is waiting there for you. You now have to pay a rental fee on the suit, providing that you agree to be a Rent A Hero. The fee differs with which suit you are wearing, but starts at 200 Gold. You'll find that you need to pay the fee about once per hour of gameplay (not counting pausing). There are two ways to do this. The first is to pay the fee at SECA; simply talk to the first woman on the B1 floor, and select the second option. Your fee will be paid from the money that you have on hand. The second option is to open a bank account. You can do this by going to the bank and talking to the clerk, who will set up the account for you. From there, select the first option to put money into savings. When you have enough in your account, SECA will simply do an automatic withdrawal, and you won't have to worry about it. If you don't pay on time, you'll be fined 25% of the original rental fee, and won't be able to change into your Armor. Occasionally, you'll find a box with green text coming up on the screen. The first is telling you that your fee is due soon, and the second says that you have had the money deducted (or that you don't have enough in your account). ______________________________________________ / / / W A L K T H R O U G H / /_____________________________________________/ **NOTE: Please remember that this is not only a walkthrough, but a story translation/summation. That means that there WILL BE MANY UNMARKED SPOILERS within. While we have left a few of the sight gags out, or talked around them, all of the important spoken text has been summarised for non-Japanese speakers. Thus, _read at your own risk_.** ________________________________ /_Prologue______________________/ Due to his father's job, Taro was forced to move with his family to a new house in the town of Kohjya. Today, they are celebrating moving into the new neighborhood, and the housewarming party is just now starting... Taro's father will start the party off in his own fashion, microphone in hand. After he finishes, he asks Taro to walk around and meet everyone. First, talk to the five people (besides Taro's father) in the dining room. The man in brown, named Casey Hogan, works for a company called Macrosoft, who makes an operating system called Wirows 758; this is the first of many puns in the game, many of which aren't quite as obvious in English (obviously, we're talking about Microsoft and Windows 98, here). After you're done meeting the rest of the people in the dining room, speak with the two people in the kitchen (the woman in the middle is Taro's mother), and the girl in the entryway (Taro's little sister); no one is upstairs, so you don't need to bother going up there. After everyone is spoken with, talk to Hiro's father again, then to Taro's mother three times, then to Taro's father again. Apparently, there is some sort of food crisis, which can only be solved one way: phoning for a pizza! Head to the entryway, and pick up the phone (which is on the table near the coatrack). Dial the first number, 014, the Service Cafe (サーヴィスカフェ). Three pan pizzas are on their way for the sum of 300 Gold (ゴード). Unfortunately, checking Taro's parameters reveals that he only has 100 Gold, so it's time to hunt down Daddy for some cash. You'll have noticed that he just went upstairs, so follow him. Once upstairs, head down the hall to the last room on the left, Taro's parent's room. Speak with Taro's dad, and he'll give you the cash that you need. He also will show you his latest idea for adding some life to the party... :/ At any rate, let him go downstairs, and then head down yourself (exploring a bit upstairs if you want, the only thing that you'll find is the item box in Taro's room, but it is empty). When you get downstairs, the doorbell will ring. Talk to Taro's sis, and she will move aside so that he can open the door. The deliveryman will drop off the three pizzas, and once you pay him (and the pizzas are taken into the dining room by sis), he'll say that he has a present for you. And what a present it is... Open the present, and you'll find the costume of a TV Anime Hero inside! You'll now be able to change into your Hero costume by pressing the X button. Do so, and go in and talk to Daddy again. After a short conversation, the two of you will really get the party started... **Fight** This is quite possibly the easiest fight in the history of video games. Dad just stands there and growls, so take a moment to familiarize yourself with the fighting system. B jumps, A punches, and X charges - B followed by A is a jump kick. Basic stuff here, really. Head in and attack Dad with all that you have... After the fight, and the slightly humourous scene that follows, you'll be treated to the wonderfully cheesy opening credits. ________________________________ /_Come On! Hero!________________/ After the open, you'll find yourself in Taro's room again. Head downstairs to find that you father is still alive, and then head to the front door. The deliveryman will be there when you open it, and will talk to you for a bit. After answering 'Yes' (the top option, はい) to the question that he asks, he'll leave you with a Seca Creamcast Video Game System (128-bits of pure creamy power). Grab it and head upstairs with it (the downstairs TV doesn't have AV input, so Taro needs to use it on his TV in his room). After hooking it up to your TV (which is on the bottom wooden shelf), power the sucker up and log online with it. You'll have four options here: Mail, Save/Load, Job, and Quit (or, メール, セーブ & ロード, シゴト, and オワリ蟋 The Mail function is merely a sort of online instruction manual for now (and all in Japanese to boot), Save/Load is pretty self explanitory (it defaults to save; press left to get to load - select a VMU with at least 20 blocks free/the file you want to load, press A twice, select the slot to save in, press A, select the left option if need be), and Quit speaks for itself (although you can also quit the Creamcast by pressing B). It's Job that you'll want to utilise here. Head in, say hi to Miu, your virtual job consultant, and select the only availble job: Your First Job, Please (初仕纏｢ 里｢佑｢ぉ. Again, choose the left option to accept it, and you'll be given a rundown of what the job requires you to do (see job walkthroughs for descriptions). After that, check your mail again for a few messages (again, all Japanese - don't expect much English in this game) on the battle system. A few moves are given and such, but you can basically head out of the house for the first time... ________________________________ /_Job 1: Your First Job, Please_/ Pay: 1000 G [初仕事のおねがい] **Job Description** This is your first job from SECA, and it's a simple one. Near the Made Naruto Burger restaurant in Kohjya, you'll find a man named Dr. Trouble. Head there, and speak to him - he'll fill you in on the job from there. After taking the job, head downstairs, and into town. Instead of finding the Made Naruto Burger place (which is a rip-off of McDonald's that totally doesn't translate into English...), look for the yellow and white Jumbo Cones stand. Directly across from it, and near the Hot Springs billboard, you'll see the delivery man that gave you your Armor. Head up to him and speak with him; it turns out that this is Dr. Trouble. Dr. Trouble tells you to pass out 7 fliers as Rent A Hero. So, grab the fliers from him, press X to turn into Rent A Hero, and head out into the town to spread the word... If you don't feel like hunting out the 7 people that will take the fliers, simply use this list: 1. The man in the green shirt across from Made Naruto Burgers 2. The large man in the red shirt walking in front of Made Naruto 3. The Made employee standing near the door of Made Naruto 4. The clerk in the back of the Supoon Ufun convenience store 5. The guy in the gi (karate outfit) in front of the dojo Upon giving person #5 the flier, he'll take you into the dojo and you'll have to fight him; don't worry if you lose - either way he'll teach you the Front Kick Combo afterward. 6. The older man sweeping the stairs near the playground At this point you'll need to head to the playground, where a mohawked punk is picking on a woman. Talk to him in your Armor and choose the top option to defend the woman. You'll head into a simple fight after you do so. Upon defeating the guy, you'll be able to name your Superhero identity (default is RentalMan, or レンタルマン), and selecting the top option will allow the girl to give you 2000 G. After you fight this guy, your last person will appear. 7. The policeman beside the Jumbo Cones booth When you're done, you can hunt down the punk again and scare him (he's behind a car near the playground), or say hi to the woman again (she is across from Made Naruto Burgers), but your final objective is to talk to Dr. Trouble, who is still in the same place. He'll reward with 1000 G, and send you on your way. Head back to your house, and log online with your Creamcast to get your next job (and some new mail as well). ________________________________ /_Job 2: A Request From Kent____/ Pay: 500 G [ケントくんからの依頼] **Job Description** This is a request from Kent Hogan, who lives in Kohjya. Head to the Hogan house, and speak with Kent there; he will fill you in on the job. The Hogan house is directly across the street from Taro's house - head there and go inside. Speak with Kent, the boy, as RentalMan, and he'll reveal to you that he is in love with Alisa Yamada - your sister! His request is that you deliver a love letter to her. A simple task, ne? Heading back to your own house will reveal that Alisa has gone out. Speaking with your mother in the kitchen, Taro finds that she has gone to visit the Mina Greek next door. Head back out and head over to her house... Of course, things would be too easy if they were here. No, says Sam - they are making cherry pies and needed to pay a visit to Baron Albright. The Albright house is right next to the Greek house, so head over to there next... Now, you can't tell me that you expected them to be here either, can you? Nope - they have gone to the park (says Albright in between bites of beef). This is the same park where you fought the punk who was picking on the girl... Off to there next... Getting to the park you'll find Mina, but no Alisa. It turns out that Alisa met up with a couple of boys and started a game of hide and seek. Mina is currently "It," but hasn't had any luck finding the kids. They were supposed to stay in the area, but you know kids these days... At any rate, you can hunt around for the kids. Alisa has wandered a little ways away from the park, but isn't any further than the Yamada household... After finding Alisa, she will talk to you for a bit, and run back off (if you couldn't find her, she is standing next to the house diagonally across from Taro's house). Head back to the park and speak with Mina once more. Alina will come up and be happy that she wasn't found by Mina. At this point, the cherry pie will be done, so Mina will head back to her own house. Follow her back, and talk to her in the kitchen, where she will reveal that Alisa has gone back to her own house (which happens to be yours, too). So... head _back_ to the Yamada household, where you'll find Alisa in her bedroom. As Rentalman, give her the love letter from Kent. Alisa will say that she wants to start off as just friends, and to let Kent know that. Of course, now you need to head on back to Kent's house to give him the report. Kent is slightly disappointed at the news, but ends up quite pleased, knowing that eventually, Alisa will be his bride (yeah, whatever, kid). At any rate, Kent pays you 500 gold for your trouble, and you're off back to your house for yet another exciting Rent A Hero job. ________________________________ /_Job 3: TakeOut Delivery_______/ Pay: 500 G/delivery [出前のバイト] **Job Description** The owner of the Penguin Cafe in Ohtory has requested that you work for him. They are currently very busy, and they would like you to deliver some take-out food for them. Head to Ohtory, the next town over. You can go there via the road across from the hotdog stand, or by the train station (across from Made Burgers). Once you're there, explore a bit, and find the Penguin cafe. Head inside, and you'll see that they are fairly busy (although the waitresses don't appear to be so). Go to the man in the corner who is cooking, and speak to him. After answering yes (although you might want to read the next paragraph before doing so), the top option, to his question, you'll be given some food to deliver, and a person to take it to. Unfortunately, the people that you deliver to are randomised, so there is no simple way to do this. There are only two sections that you'll be taking the food to, and they are both in Kohjya. The first is your street, and the six houses along there. The second is the apartment complex near the park, and the mansion right next to it. If you can't read the maps below (ie. no Japanese character support), then make your own maps - walk up to each house and write down what appears at each door. If you do have Japanese support, then just look for the names in the dialogue that the chef says before he gives you the food. The names are in the final dialogue box on either the first or second row - both first and last names are given, although only the last name appears by the door. Once you've figured out a way to do the delivery, talk to the chef, as above, and select yes. You'll be given the food, and a timer at top - deliver as much as within the 11,000 whatevers that are given. When you do head to deliver the food, don't forget that you can cut through the alleys when you are going to Kohjya to reduce your time. --Coconuts Mansion Apartment Complex-- [ココナッツマンション] 1F (stairs) Rice Sinclair Akami Maguro (Tuna) ライス シンクライア アカミ マグロ, 2F (stairs) Wash Book Spoid 3F (stairs) Rissel Juice Enogu (Paint) トマト ジュース スミ エノグ --Actual Mansion nearby-- Cashew --Street-- Hanson Baron Albright ハン鵐札? バロン オルブライト Misosoup Greek ミソスー璽? グリコ Yamada (your house) やま泙裾(or whatever your name is) After the timer is up, you'll appear back at the restaurant, and will recieve 500 Gold for every delivery that you completed. ________________________________ /_Job 4: Bank Transfer Guard____/ Pay: 3000 G [現金輸送の依頼] **Job Description** Bishibashi Bank in Dahane needs to hire you. Go to the back of the bank and talk to the Guard - they will let you in. The head of the Bishibashi Bank will fill you in on all of the details. After finishing your food delivery service, you'll find another job, and some new email. It turns out that you are wanted for yet another delivery job, and this one has a bit more at stake than the last - you need to transfer money from one bank to another. Your first objective is to head to Dahane, and to the Bishibashi Bank that is within. As Dahane doesn't have a road leading to it, you'll need to take the train. Dahane is the second stop from the bottom, or [ダハネ]. After getting off of the train, explore if you want, but head for the bank, which, like most things in this game, does have an English sign out front. The guard is around to the side, in the parking lot. Talk to him. The guard will let you in to the bank, and you'll need to take the door on the right, which will lead you into an office. Ignore the guard that is standing right inside the door, and instead talk to the rather rotund man that is at the rear of the room. He'll ask you to take a whopping 1,000,000 Gold to Sushitoro bank [オートリー スシトロ銀行] in Ohtory. Grab the cash, and run (...to the train station, of course - you _are_ a hero, ...remember?) This being a game with a movielike feel (a B-movie at that), you can't expect the delivery to go smoothly. Right outside of the Sushitoro Bank (which is a pun on Sumitomo Bank, a popular Japanese bank) you'll be attacked by the "Evil Thugs That Would Even Make a Laughing Child Cry." Luckily, you're not a laughing child, and can probably beat on them rather easily (although one does have a shotgun, which is a little tricky). After pummeling them into the ground, the police will cart them off and thank you, and you can take the money inside the bank. Once again, you'll need to talk to the guard (who did a hell of a lot to help you out, considering that he was about ten feet away), and go into the office on the right, handing the money over the yet another rotund man, who will give you a lousy 4000 Gold in return (which is what, .04% of the value of what you delivered?) ________________________________ /_A Trip to SECA________________/ After your little money transferring job, you'll return to your house to find that Dr. Trouble is there waiting for you. He says that he thinks you're doing a good job, and that he wants to put you to work as an official Rent A Hero. However, from here on out you have to pay him for use of the suit. Money will transfer automatically from bank account as long as you have enough in the account. If you don't pay the fee, you can't transform. Also, if you don't pay the fee on time, you get fined (25% of the normal fee). He also gives you an official Rent A Hero Bracelet (RHブレスレ譽奪肌, proving who you are. He also says to go to Service Cafe and look for the strange looking, bad smelling place there. If you wait patiently at that location, you'll be able to come to the SECA building, where he will be. So, head on over to Ohtory, and the Service Cafe. The ideal strange looking, smelly place is... you guessed it, the toilet. Head on it, and sit down... and wait... You'll end up in Super Energy Combat Armor, better known as SECA [セカ] - Dr. Trouble invites you to look around - the women in the booth will sell powerups later on, and the men are working on making the armor better (which will translate into charge moves later). It also turns out that lots of people have been wanting to wear the armor and turn into Rent A Heros, but SECA is trying to figure out who is just and good enough to wear the armor. Once you're done there, it is probably wise to set up a bank account to deal with the greed of the corporate man, er, of SECA. Doing so is easy - simply talk to the clerk, and she'll set it all up for you, as well as giving you an cash card and a passbook. Afterward, you'll get a screen that you can use to keep track of your account, and deposit and withdraw money. The screen translates as follows: savings withdrawal donation The donation is one to SECA, and comes out of your own pocket, not your savings. The more that you donate to SECA, the faster they can do their research and develop better armors. For now, though, choose savings, and enter the amount that you want to put into the bank. Remember that if you die, you'll lose half of the money on hand, so it's better to put most of your cash in the bank. Once that is done, head back to your account, where you can now select from two jobs (one being the reoccuring food delivery job). ________________________________ /_Job 5: Makata Town Patrol_____/ Pay: 4000 G [マカタ町内パトロール] **Job Description** From the Mayor of Aero City, you've been hired to patrol the inside of Makata Town. Meet the Mayor in front of Makata Train Station, and he'll fill you in on the details from there. Selecting the bottom of the two jobs, as delivering more food won't get you anywere, you'll find that you need to meet the Aero City Mayor (Aero City is the city that is made up of the five towns, or neighborhoods, that the game takes place in). Head to Makata, the very bottom stop on the train line. Outside you'll find the mayor. Talking to him reveals that there have been lots of people making the streets of Makata unsafe, and he would like you to go and teach any of them a lesson while you're on patrol. Head off and begin to explore the area - there are four groups of punks around (each two person groups) which you need to find, talk to, and fight. After you've beaten the fourth group, you'll be approached by another Rent A Hero, better known as Ultra Great Super Hyper Miracle Strong Dash Top Fighting Salaryman. People tend to refer to him as Urusalaman [ウルサラマ] for some reason... hm. At any rate, he wants to challenge you, and what better way than a kid that has climbed to the top of the Nomoruwa Chemical plant tower! Yes, a kid is on top of the tower, and you and Urusalaman have to race to the top to see who is the real Rent A Hero. After you're informed of the kid on the tower, follow Urusalaman to the nearby group of people, and approach the fence. You'll be force into a simple button-mashing race to the top; simply hit A repeatedly, and you'll be fine. Once the kid is down from the tower (he was trying to visit his dad in heaven, which everyone knows you can touch if you climb high enough on a chemical plant tower), talk to the mayor once more, and you'll recieve your payment of 4000 gold. Right after getting your payment, you'll see a cutscene with 3 punks. They say that Rent A Hero being a bit pain in the ass, so they are going to put a bounty on his head and then hide in the shadows until it all works out... The plot thickens... Er, the plot begins... ________________________________ /_Job 6: Shopping Request_______/ Pay: 1200 G [買い物のお願い] **Job Description** Nipori Misosoup, who lives in Kohjya, would like you to do some errands. Head to the Misosoup house for more details. You'll once again find multiple jobs when you get back to your house, so since the second job (skipping the first, as it is the food delivery job again). After you've done so head to the Misosoup house, which is diagonal from yours (and next to Kent's). Niposhi is in the pink room at the desk - talk to him. It turns out that Niposhi is being punished for a mean trick that he played at school and needs to write a long book report. However, he doesn't have a book to write the composition on, and has too much homework to go get it himself, since the store is in Ohtory. So the solution? Call on Rentalman! (Of course, Rentalman has to keep it a secret from Niposhi's older sis). More than likely the books that you have to buy change, but the books that we needed to get were: 銀紙鉄道の夜 週刊ゲンマイ Hanage Try your best to just write down the book names in Japanese (three single lines of text, one after another - ignore the last character on them, which means 'and') and play the good "match-the-kanji" game. Head on over to the bookstore in the alley in Ohtory and buy the books - no gold will be deducted from your account, so don't worry. Once the books are in your possession, go back to the Misosoup household and give them to Niposhi. He'll thank you, wish that you could write the composition as well, figure that it's probably impossible (bingo, kid), and give you all that he can - 1200 gold. Once you've got your reward and Niposhi has his books, head back to your house, and select from the two remaining jobs - the food delivery job, or a different town patrol job. ________________________________ /_Odds and Ends_________________/ At this point in the game, if you've donated 1000 Gold or so to SECA, you can head back to SECA's B2 floor and pick up some new techniques, ranging from the Rent A Somersault to the Victory Pose. Full translations of the list follows: レンタハンマーダブル 100 Rent A Hammer Double 0 Energy レンタニーアタック 100 Rent A Knee Attack 0 Energy レンタビルドアッパー 100 Rent A Buildupper 0 Energy レンタサマーソルト 100 Rent A Somersault 0 Energy エナジーソード 2000 Energy Sword 8 Energy ヴィクトリ蝓璽檗璽? 2000 Victory Pose 4 Energy フラッシュフォース 2000 Flash Force 8 Energy ソニックカッター 2000 Sonic Cutter 6 Energy ドラゴンサンダー 4000 Dragon Thunder 30 Energy レンタコレダー 4000 Rent A Corridor 30 Energy エレ譽鵐織螢奪沁 4000 Elentrigger 40 Energy セルフリカバー 4000 Self Recover 48 Energy バーヒングクロー 10000 Burning Claw 72 Energy ソードフィニッシュ 10000 Sword Finish 64 Energy スペースバリア 10000 Space Barrier 96 Energy Pick up a few if you want, and head back up to B1. You can pay your fee for the suit at the B1 desk if you want, and you can pick up a few batteries or an item that ups your BT maximum by 16 (for 5000 gold, that is). One of the guys in the B1 lab reminds you to look for HiP-PP crystals that have been scattered around the town - finding these superpowerful NASU-developed crystals can mean for some great armor and weapons and such. After you're done at SECA, you can head back to your house and take the food delivery job again if you like - nothing has changed here, and it's great for a bit more cash. Once you've collected your 500G/delivery fee, Now, take the Dahane Town Patrol, the next job, but before going there head to the school and talk to Segasa Tanshirou (aka. Sega Saturn Shiro) in the gym. He sent an email saying that he wants to spar with you, and now is the time to do so (he won't fight an unemployed man). Defeating him will gain you another move, the Quick Kick Combo. Now head on to Dahane, and the job that awaits you there. ________________________________ /_Job 7: Dahane Town Patrol_____/ Pay: 2000 G [ダハネ町内パトロール] **Job Description** From the Mayor of Aero City, you've been hired to patrol the inside of Dahane Town. Meet the Mayor in front of Dahane Train Station, and he'll fill you in on the details from there. Head to the Dahane Train Station (Dahane is the second to last station on the train line) and, once outside, turn into Rentalman and talk to mayor, who is standing, as stated, outside. The mayor says that there are two punks that are roaming around causing trouble in the town of Dahane. You need to talk to people around the town and find out who has seen them, and catch them. You'll now be able to roam around the town and get into *gasp!* random battles! Three enemies at a time, followed by two more, each of which can leave items such as batteries and medical kits behind. While you can just wander around talking to people, if you wish to get a move on with things, head inside the bank and talk to the kid there. This will trigger two robbers' entrance into the bank, proclaiming, creatively, that "This is a holdup! Don't move!" Of course, after they attack the kid, you can opt to move (top option) or not. Being the hero, you want to move, which will trigger a fight, and one of the most difficult ones yet... After the fight, the cops will come and take away the robbers, and you'll recieve a reward of 4000 Gold. From there, head back to the train station and talk to the mayor again, who will give you an additional 2000 Gold. ________________________________ /_Job 8: Shopping Request_______/ Pay: 1200 G [買い物のお願い] **Job Description** Scott Hanson, who lives in the Kohjya, would like you to do some errands. Head to the Hanson house for more details. After your recent bank robbery foiling, you'll find that you have some tamer things on the menu - more food delivery, another shopping request, and a pet hunting expedition (in that order). Skipping the food delivery, which is old school by now, choose the second option, the shopping request. This time you're heading to Dahane to do some shopping for Mr. Scott Hanson, who wants some things from the department store there. Once again, these are probably random, so just copy what he wants (again, three single lines of text, one after another - ignore the last character on them, which means 'and'). Ours were: ササシシシ メグロナサンマ ブチトマト Get onto the train and go to Dahane, and seek out the ImoYouCanDo Dept Store. Truck on down to the basement using the elevator, and grab the items that he needs - again, no gold is deducted, as he gave you money to pay for the stuff. After you have procured the necessary items, head on back to the Hanson house and deliver them. Piece of Rent A Cake. ________________________________ /_Job 9: Find the Pet___________/ Pay: 4000 G [ペット探し] **Job Description** A pet has been lost in Anamoina's Conteyal Park - head to the park, and find the pet. After completing the latest fetch quest, you can take on the good old "Find the Pet" job. This will open the final town in the game, Anamoina, which is rather... unique looking... Take the train there, and look around for the Conteyal Park [アナモイナのコントヤル公園]. Of course, you can also stop into the Ro-jin Conbini (a take-off of Lawson, staffed by old men - trust me, it's funny). After you've found the park (which isn't hard to miss), scout out the man in the blue suit. It is his pet that is lost, but before he hires you, he has to see if you're worthy - and what better way than with a little fight. Once you're done pounding him into the ground, select the top option to take the job, and you'll recieve 1000 Gold from the guy. It turns out that he doesn't have a lost pet (he just wanted to rumble), but there is someone in the park that needs your help - and in order to find this person, you need to talk to the kids that are around the park. As you talk to the kids, it seems that a strange old man has been telling them about something very cool that is hidden around the park. It seems to be some sort of treasure, hidden near the trash. Thus, after talking to the four kids, go up to the trash can and search around it using the A Button. Inside, you'll find a tape recorder with the voice of Nomoruwa Chemicals, asking you to be his bodyguard (cue Whitney Houston song). Of course, to meet him, you'll need to get a letter of introduction. But to get a letter of introduction, you'll need to go to Fujimiya and play the point game, recieving zero points. In order to do that, you need to solve a riddle. Oh, and the tape is going to self destruct in 10 seconds (..........so it turns out that he was kidding). At Fujimiya, talk to the person behind the counter and select the very bottom choice on the list, [点取り占い], which costs 2 Gold. Simply buy it until you have zero points [0点]. After you've done that, buy the top option, the [ふがし], for 30 Gold, and take it out and give it to the dog that is to the right of the shop. The dog will move, allowing you to get the letter of introduction that he was laying on. Now, head over to Makata, to the port area, and go into the Nomoruwa Chemical building (a blue building, with the name [ノモルワ科学本社叺), and head upstaris to the third floor (use the elevator). Talk to the receptionist, who will let you in after she sees the letter of introduction. The president will be waiting for you inside. As it turns out, the president has been getting life-threatening letters, so you need to guard him as he heads to the store-room. His normal bodyguard, who you fought in the park, will take the front, and you're stuck guarding the rear. Before you go off to the storeroom, you can explore the building some. On the second floor you can find a Nomoruwa Lithium Battery if you look in some of the cabinets - don't forget to occasionally check around for things like this... Heading outside, the computer will take control of the characters, right up until you're attacked (did you expect anything else?) by a rather 70's looking guy. You'll be forced into battle while the other bodyguard protects the president. After, you'll find that the kid's father was affected by a steroid-like drug that Nomoruwa Chemicals created, and now wanders the street, mindless. The kid merely wanted revenge for what happened to his father, and you, Rentalman, deprived him of that. But you got 4000 Gold for doing it... The scene will change soon after that to the interior of the storeroom, where the president is talking to a scientist. The scientist has been developing the strongest robot ever put on the market, and to test it, they plan on using... Rentalman! (big surprise, eh?) ________________________________ /_Job 10: Shopping Request______/ Pay: 5400 G [買い物のお願い] **Job Description** Note Book, who lives in the Kohjya, would like you to do some errands. Head to the Book apartment for more details. Mr. Book, a novelist, is in a huge reading mood, but has deadlines approaching, so he can't get the supplies that he needs. This, of course, is where you come in. He needs Rentalman to head to the bookstore in Ohtory to pick up some books for him. Once again, random items here, so copy and match the Japanese... ours were: 銀紙鉄監擦量, づれづれづら ハーレクイモノ ロマンス オマレッツ 源爺物語 不死身の國のキリギリス 風邪と共に寒気 週刊鉄人マジンガ 週刊少年シャンプー Read enough? Anyway, he forks over his cash card, and sends you on your way. Once again, head to the bookstore over in Ohtory, grab the stuff that he wants, and bring it back. After he checks what you have for him, you'll get payment of 5400 G, your biggest single payment to date! So much for this being a simple little crap job, eh? Once you're done rolling in your dough, head back to your house, and get onto the next job... being a superstar! ________________________________ /_Job 11: Star as the Hero______/ Pay: 2000 G [ヒーロー代役の琉様袤 **Job Description** The ImoYouCan-Do Dept. Store in Dahane wants you to be in their Hero Show. Talk to the head of the dept. store for more details; he will be waiting on top of the roof for you. After making your way to the top of the ImoYouCan-Do Dept. Store, you'll find that the normal Hero Show star is unable to come today, so they have called on you. They are in dire need of your help, and of course will offer payment. Follow him behind the stage, then talk to the woman back there, and the show will start. The story goes... the department store has been taken over by bad guys, and the voice of justice, Rentalman, has to be called by the audience (hey - it's for kids, what can you expect?). Of course, Rentalman comes to the rescue, and beats up the five bad guys (concentrating on the guy who is in green, and was in the center - beat him and the fight is over). After the show you'll get a word of thanks from the head of the store, as well as your 2000 Gold payment. Once arriving back at your flat, you'll have not one, not two, not three, but four jobs to choose from. However, it's less impressive when you consider that jobs one through three are food delivery, shopping, and play the hero again. Number four, however, is more interesting - an urgent cave-in. ________________________________ /_Job 12: Urgent! Cave-in!______/ Pay: 4000 G [緊急! 落盤事故発生!!] **Job Description** There has been a cave-in at Anamoina's Tunnel Koji Gemba. There are a few people trapped inside, so please procede there immediately and attempt to rescue them. From Anamoina's train station, head straight, and turn to the left into the Tunnel Complex. Once inside, head straight ahead, turning a bit to the right, and talking with the supervisor at the entrance to the tunnel. He tells you that due to an overuse of blasting powder, there are three people trapped in the tunnel, hence, the call to Rent A Hero. There is a large rock blocking the way that you need to break up, but if you're not careful breaking up the rocks you might hurt one of the trapped people, so be careful. Unfortunately, they have also sent a call out to your rival, UltraSalaryman, as well.... Since he isn't there yet, head into the tunnel and start to do your work. While a map for this section was started, it is too complex to do well (let alone in a text faq), so you will basically just need to hit every single rock. Walk up to the decent sized round rocks and press the A button, then select the top option to break it open. Some of the rocks will break, others will not (although they will change in appearance). You basically need to break every single breakable rock to find the three trapped workers. Once that is done, you'll find that there is a very big rock blocking your entrance. And just as Rentalman goes to break it open... You are thanked kindly for your work, and told to pick up the payment at the front office, which is right next to the entrance of the area. However, upon talking to the secratary in the office, you'll find that the person with your money has just had his daughter collapse in the park. The park will contain three fairly upset children who are thinking that the little girl was taken to Ohtory General Hospital. Off we go to Ohtory... Heading up to the second open room on the right on the second floor, you'll find that the little girl is in there with her parents. Talk to the man and you'll get your money, as well as thanks. As an interesting note, this is the same room that the little boy who was hurt in the bank robbery is recovering in. Possibly a little romance in bloom? Heh. Once the salary is collected, you're back off to your house for some new mail, and another job. ________________________________ /_Job 13: Bodyguard_____________/ Pay: 2000 G [ボディーガード] **Job Description** Sofia Sinclair, who lives in the Coconuts Mansion Apartments, has requested a bodyguard. Please see her for more details. You'll find the Sinclair apartment on the first floor of the apartment complex, the middle apartment of the three. Enter, and as Rentalman, talk to the girl at the back of the main room. It turns out that Sofia has been getting strange letters from a secret admirer that is now threatening to never let her go. Of course, this makes her nervous, and she would like Rentalman to escort her to school. After talking about the letters, speak with her once more, and the two of you will set off for school. Along the way she attempts to make small talk about various things. To get the "best" replies, answer in the following manner (Yes being the top option, No being the bottom, and the questions are set, and are not random; also, go as fast as you can to get all 15 of the questions in before you get to school): Yes No Yes No No No No No (starts with ダイエット) Yes Yes Yes No No (has the numbers 8 & 5 in it) Yes Yes No (only asks this once they are in the school) Yes No Yes That makes for a total of 15 questions on the way to school, and once inside the school grounds, another 4 while you are on the way to the classroom. If you answer all of the questions in a section, the rest of the walk will be in silence. Again, you need to be quick on the trigger finger here... After answering that way, she'll say that they might be able to be really good friends, then thank you, and ask for your help again at lunch (well, she will thank you and ask for more help no matter how you answer). Entering the classroom yourself and talking to Ms. Naomi, she'll remark that Taro isn't at school yet, and must be sick or something. At this point, change back to Taro and talk to her again, and class will start! Ms. Naomi starts to quiz you, asking you 10 multiple choice questions. As before, questions here are random, but we've provided most (if not all - all that we saw in six or seven playthroughs of the section) of the correct answers for you - if you have Japanese encoding, and one of the answers below is in the answer list, select it. If not, simply guess to the best of your ability (yeah, easier said than done, right?) --Correct Answers:-- サワラ (bottom) イワツ (middle) スカッシュ (top) 地象 (bottom) for the list that starts with 蛇足, choose the last one だいこん (middle) 第三者の方が物事の先が読めること (middle) 頭かくして尻かくさず (middle) 馬子 (middle) ツルガネ (middle) ローラーカナリア (bottom) 芙蓉蟹 (top) 個所 (top) 熱可塑性樹脂 (bottom) パター (top) 海千山千 (bottom) 十 (middle) オルガ｣鵑琉貅?(bottom) 地上 (middle) 指人形 (top) 甲府 (bottom) After Ms. Naomi's class, it's time for gym with Mr. Segasa, so turn into Rentalman and escort Sofia to the girl's locker room (if you didn't answer all of the questions before, you might get a few more here from where she left off). Once at the locker room, press the A button on the door and you'll be asked if you want to look inside (ヘンタイ!). Answer yes and you'll hear a scream from inside - the door will burst open, and it turns out that there was someone strange in the locker room, and that they went out the window. Head out the window, where you'll find that they had bumped into Mr. Segasa. Run toward the gate, where you'll run into the Shinishini Cult. It would appear that Sofia is a goddess to them, and they want to make her a sacrifice. Of course, this also means that you will have no choice but to fight them (again, going for the guy in the pointed hat, who is the leader). After seeing them beg for mercy, they'll run off, and Sofia will thank you and pay you the 2000 Gold that she promised. At this point, school, as well as the bodyguard job, is finished, so you can head back home. _________________________________________ /_Job 14: Urgent! Clean up the Dud Bombs_/ Pay: 5000 G [緊急! 不発弾処理の依頼] **Job Description** The Tsumikino Construction Company in Anamoina wants you to clean up some explosives that did not go off properly, but are still dangerous. Please head to the tunnel site for more details. One of the easiest jobs that you can do for 5000 Gold, take this and head back to the construction site, and the tunnel. Upon reaching there and talking to the head, he informs you that there is a bomb in the tunnel that needs to be defused. UltraSalaryman, however, is already there and inside, working on the bomb. Head inside and find him at the back of the tunnel. Reaching the back of the tunnel you'll find UltraSalaryman examining the bomb. He says that he was about to start in on it, but that you should do it instead since it is so dangerous (gee, thanks). He takes off and leaves you to the job. You know the game Simon? Well, this is the same thing exactly. Upon examining the bomb and selecting the top option, you'll find a circle interface divided into four sections, each of which corresponds to one of the DC's four buttons (they're color coded) as well. You'll have to go through four rounds, starting with four button presses and heading up to seven for the final round. This is random again, but shouldn't prove to be any real problem. Upon defusing the bomb, head back out and talk to the same person who let you in. He is very relieved that everything is ok, and asks you to go to the office for your payment. Luckily, the owner has left the 5000 Gold payment with the secretary, so you can grab it, and everything is all right. ________________________________ /_Job 15: Pizza Delivery________/ Pay: 3200 G [ピザ暁枌C離丱ぅ否 **Job Description** Dahane's Do Le Me Pizza would like you to do some part time deliveries for them. Please head to the pizza shop for more information. Another job that will be a recurring one, this also happens to be one of the fun Random Ones. After taking the job, the third one down, ride the train to Dahane, and find the Do Le Me pizza shop on the corner. Talk to the owner, and listen to the people and kinds of pizzas that he wants you to deliver. Again, this is important, so be careful to take decent notes. The setup of the order information is simple - the first line is where (what building, town, etc.) you need to take the pizza, the second is the person's name (which really doesn't matter much), and the final is the type of pizza that they want. Below is an example: ダハネの アカリー 出版の (place: Akarii Publishing in Dahane) ヨメルド カカネバさんに (name: Yomerudo Kakaneba) シーフードピザ (pizza type: Seafood Pizza) Specifically, the name of the town comes first on the first line, then the place. The second line you can skip, and the entire third line is the type of pizza. Once you do have the four deliveries written down, hunt out the place and enter - you'll automatically start a conversation, and you'll have to select the correct kind of pizza from a list. If the pizza isn't on the list, select the bottom option, which will allow you to select from more kinds of pizza. Continue to do this until you've found the right type, and hand it over. After all of the pizzas are delivered, you'll warp back to the pizza joint, and will be able to collect your reward. ________________________________ /_Job 16: A Request from Frio___/ Pay: 4000 G [フリオくんかC蕕琉様袤 **Job Description** Head to the Ohtory Hospital and talk to Frio, who is on the second floor. He will fill you in on the details. Please hurry, as it is urgent. Select the bottom job from the list (which is now up to five, four of them being recurring jobs) and head to the hospital for the urgent request from Mr. Frio (who happens to be the kid that was injured in the bank robbery). After finding him on the second floor, sitting on his bed, reading a manga. It turns out that this urgent request is a trip to MadeNaruto Burgers for some grub. Like so many other people, he only wants to say this once, so get out your pen and paper and get ready to copy down the list once more (yup - another random one). For reference, here was ours: マイドテリヤキバーガー マイドオムレツバーガー マイドフレンチサ汽鵐, トーフステーキサンド フライドポテチ M サイズ マルゴトパンプキD鵐僖ｌ マイドシェイク タネイリメロナイス Once you have the list (and his MadeNaruto Burger Card to pay for it with), head to Kohjya and pick up the food, then book back to the hospital to deliver it. Upon giving it to him, you'll recieve your payment of 4000 Gold, and can safely head back to your house. ______________________________________________ /_Job 17: Urgent! Conbini Robbery in Progress_/ Pay: 5000 G [緊急!コンビニ強盗発生] **Job Description** Kohjya's Conveinience Store, Sepoon Ufun, has issued an emergency request. Please head to the store and talk to the manager, who will fill you in more. The police have also been called, and are on their way. Selecting the bottom job once more, you'll find out that the Sepoon Ufun (a pun on Seven Eleven) is being robbed. Bolt out of the house, changing into your Rentalman costume as you do, and head for the conbini. As you turn the corner, the game will head into a cutscene. After threatening "if anyone moves, I'll make it so that this cop can't move", a voice is heard from above (although you'll notice just how tightly the cop is being held). As everyone looks up to see someone new... yes, it's Rent A Hiroko, the Rent A Heroine. kicks him in the balls, leave him for you - fight, get 5000 gold. ______________________________________________ /_Job 18: Request from Hi-To Pharmecuticals___/ Pay: 6000 G [ハイト製薬社長垢C蕕琉様袤 **Job Description** Hi-To Pharmecuticals in Dahane has a request of you, and will pay you 6000 Gold if you're able to help them. Please find out more information from the President of the company. Once again, choosing the last job on the list will provide you with the only non-repeating job: a request from Hi-To Pharmecuticals. Hi-To is somewhat hard to get to, as it is in a section that is most easily accessable via an alleyway in Dahane. Head there, and, as Rentalman, talk to the guard near the elevator. He will tell you that the president is on the third floor. Head into the elevator, and it is off to the third floor for you... Talking to the president will reveal that an important secret file, full of important info on a new medicine, has been stolen from a safe on the second floor. Unfortunately, if the medicine is used now, before it has been perfected, that it will be poisonous. He wants you to get it back, and keep it quiet, as the company has a reputation to protect. Heading to the second floor and talking to the guard, you'll be let in to the research room, as per the president's orders. Speak to the researchers, and to the other guard, upon where you'll learn that a person named Beaker Spoid recently was the head of the department, but after the embarassment of the file being stolen he quit to save face. They also say that he lives in the Coconuts Mansion Apartments in Kohjya, and that you might want to talk to him there for more info. At Coconuts, you'll find Mrs. Spoid outside of their apartment on the second floor. Talking to her reveals that Spoid has a new job, and hasn't gotten back from it yet. She also reveals that our friend Spoid is quite the gambler, and has racked up a considerable debt because of it. He did recently pay it off in full, which was rather surprising... After that, you'll need to talk to the other people in the building; the Spoid's neighbor, Mr. Book, needs to be talked to twice. They all confirm the fact that Spoid was a gambling addict, and had huge loans from the loan shop in Dahane. So now, it is off to talk to the employees of the loan shop... Before you do that, you can head to the gym and get a new combo by defeating Mr. Segasa in a sparring match. He'll teach you the six-hit Hit Strike Combo, and then you can be back on your way, dealing with the missing file of death. After the gym, hit the Loan place in Dahane, and talk to the man who is standing. He'll ask you if you'd like a loan, which you'll answer no (the bottom answer) to, and instead begin questioning him about Mr. Spoid. They do in fact know him, and thought it strange that he paid back such a large sum of money all at once (although they don't mind, as long as the money is coming from somewhere...). At this point, you'll need to return to the Coconuts Mansion Apartments and talk to Mrs. Spoid again, who says that her husband is home, and is acting very, very strangely. Head inside to find Mr. Spoid in the bedroom... dancing. He says that he is really happy that he paid off his loans, and admits that he stole the file from Hi-To and gave it to Nomoruwa Chemicals. They had agreed to give him a job and pay off his debts if they did, and the timing was perfect, so... At any rate, they made a poison gas from the file, and he got a whiff of it, and now he can't stop dancing. In fact, he is going to dance until he dies if no antidote is found. Of course, he asks Rentalman to help him however he can... Heading back to the Hi-To Pharmecutical Company, talking to the owner will reveal that he isn't happy that Spoid stole the gas, but says that the most important thing now is to create an antidote for the gas. He says that he will start his researchers on it immediately, and to not create confusion, that Rentalman shouldn't tell anyone about Spoid taking the file. From here, head back to Spoid's, where Spoid is dancing doubletime now. As he is dancing like crazy, he asks you to destroy the file, which is in the Nomoruwa lab in Makata. He's sorry that he did what he did, and is glad that the people that he just backstabbed at Hi-To are helping him. As the conversation ends, he gets even more into the groove, and is saved at the last minute by a scientist from Hi-To. After things have calmed down, talk to the scientist again and reply yes to his question to take the antidote with you to the Nomoruwa Chemicals in case you get hit with the poison gas. Talking to Spoid again will reveal that the guard at the plant is a dirty old man, and is destracted by anything sexy that goes by him. The answer? Playboy, of course (or in this case, Playboya). Once you've recieved thanks from Spoid's wife and kid, head to the bookstore in Ohtory and buy the very last item - Playboya [週刊プレイボ棔璽籟. Then, it's off to the docks. Find the company, and, as Taro, talk to the guard. He will see the dirty magazine, and will say that kids shouldn't be reading such things, and that he will take it off your hands for you. As he does, he can't resist and starts reading it, appreciating the girl's assets. As he is, sneak by him, entering the lab. Searching in the side room of the lab will reveal a battery, which you can grab before you continue on to the room down the hall. Inside, the scientists will be arguing inside whether the gas is done - they decide that it is, and that they are going home for the day. As they are, they see Rentalman, and start a fight with him. After the fight, grab the file from the back desk, and talk to each of the scientists to cure them of their little syndrome. The mad scientist at the front says that he is dancing of his own accord, and doesn't want to stop. Next, head back to Hi-To Pharmecuticals and give the file to the president, who thanks you greatly, asks that you keep everything a secret, and gives you your money. Another visit back to the Spoid's will reveal that Spoid was forgiven, and got his job back, as well as having been cured of gambling for good. _____________________________________ /_Job 19: Help with an Investigation_/ Pay: 6000 G [捜査協力の依頼] **Job Description** The Dahane Police Department has requested help with an investigation. Please see the police chief for more information. Taking the last job, you'll find that the Dahane Police need your help in an investigation. Make sure that when you get on the train that you aren't in your Rent A Hero costume yet (if you are, it's no big deal - just skip down a couple of lines to get the answers to the questions). After going to the station itself, you'll need to find the office of the chief of police, which is on the second floor. Talk to him and you'll find there are a lot of illegal drugs going through the area, and that the police are preparing a huge drug bust. You'll need to help out, and to do so, you need to talk to the hula-shirt-wearing, sunglass-wearing, bald-headed guy in Makata. As you're heading to the train station, make sure that you're in your Rentalman costume so that you'll be accosted by Tomato Juice, who works over at the Akarii Publishing Company. She would like to interview you for the monthly magazine "Your Friendly Neighborhood Rent A Hero." The questions, and the "correct" answers (as well as Ms. Juice's reply to your answers) are as follows: Question 1: If someone that you didn't know gave you 1000 Gold, would you take it? No - Taking money from people that you don't know is dangerous. Good answer. Question 2: Do you like horse mackerel (a kind of fish)? No - Because you say the fin of a horse mackerel is better than the head of a sea bream (another kind of fish) it proves that you are the true friend of an everyday man. (yeah, whatever... it's from a sort of proverb...) Question 3: Do you like "The Tortoise and the Hare" better than "The Ugly Duckling?" Yes - I agree with your line of thinking. Question 4: Do you have any friends in the police force, or anyone that you would like to have be your friend? Yes - Of course: you're the friend of truth and justice, so making friends with the police makes perfect sense. Question 5: Do you like tea better than coffee? No - Wow, you're really cool to drink dark coffee like that - it really helps you wake up in the morning, too. Question 6: When you're eating lunch, do you like to eat lunch that has hotdogs cut into octopus shapes? Yes - Of course, everyone loves those octopus shaped hotdogs. Question 7: Every four years is a leap year; does having an extra day make you happy? Yes - You have to live life one day at a time, and having an extra day is a very good thing. Question 8: Are you afraid of heights? No - You're a hero, and no heroes are afraid of heights, right? Plus, you have to be cool and bathe in the spotlight and strike a supercool pose now and then, right? Question 9: (can't explain in English, but answer No) No - (again, can't explain, but this has been confirmed by a native Japanese speaker) Final Question: Are you enjoying being a Rent A Hero? Yes - Running throughout the town and helping people, of course, you're having a good time. After pleasing Miss Juice, head on to Makata. You'll find the Mayor a bit in, and talking to him will reveal that he saw an old guy jogging with some guys in suits, and that they were all sweating. He found the entire situation a bit exciting... At any rate, running around for a while, you'll find the guys in question ganging up on the old man near the door with the Keep Out sign. Talk to them a few times, and eventually you'll get into a fight with the three of them. They are rather easy, and you shouldn't have any trouble at all with them. After they run away, tails between their legs, talk to the old man. The old man says that he overheard the suits talking, and that there was a meeting being set up with the Coronel Family, the ShiniShini Cult, and some other crime organizations around town. To prove it, he tells you that one of them, a person named Chou Bintan, is staying at the Pri-Pri Hotel in Dahane. Your next stop is there... Once at the hotel, head up to the second floor, where you'll find a woman standing outside of a room. Inside is Chou Bintan, who will promptly throw you out if you talk to him. The woman, however, tells you that he was very generous to her, giving her a diamond ring simply by agreeing to go to dinner with him. She asks you if you think that he is going to shower her with presents, and is happy if you think that he will. From here, you'll need to head back to the Dahane Police Station and talk to the chief again, who tells you to investigate this Bintan chap. Next, head back to the hotel, and talk to the girl outside Bintan's room again. Walk into the room as Taro and talk to him again, and Bintan and the girl will head off to the Bistro in town for a good meal. Of course, now you'll need to go to the Bistro, which bears the lovely and high-class name of Bistro Skip. Unfortunately, talking to the doorman will reveal that you need a suit and a tie to get in. It's a good thing that the ImaYouCan-Do Dept. Store in town has such items. Head there and buy the top item, which will set you back 3000 Gold. Back to the Bistro from there, you'll be asked if you want to change into your new suit when you talk to the doorman this time (select yes, the top option). Bintan and the girl are sitting in the corner. Approach them and talk to him, where you'll be directed to your own table, asking not to bother other customers. As you do, you'll see one of the Coronel Brothers approach Mr. Chou, and asks to speak to him up at the counter. You'll need to approach the counter a bit to overhear. Coronel asks if the meeting is gioing to be at the pier, and Chou says that it will be. Approaching a bit closer, you'll see that they don't like you listening in, and that they want you thrown out. The waiter obliges, and outside, you'll meet a few people who you saw a bit earlier in the game. They make you a bit more comfortable, and then will attack. While this will seem like a tough fight, it isn't that bad, as the Fruit Loop brothers don't have much in the way of fighting skills. From there, it's back to the police station for a report to the chief of police (although you'll want a good supply of health drinks before you head there... you've got a big fight coming up). He's rather excited by the news, and asks Officer Zenikase to head to the pier. Zenikase, being the good police officer, runs off to do so. Follow him to the wharf, and you'll find the police officers near the boat, in a little section that is made up of shipping containers (Speed Shipping, etc.). Talk to Zenikase, and you'll all hide. The police will head in first, and you'll support. They then will ask if you think that it will start soon, where we answered Yes (top option). From there, you'll see a cutscene featuring our friend Chou Bintan and a very expensive car. The Coronel Family arrives next in another expensive car. The ShiniShini Cult shows up next, hood and all (no car though). The final two people are ones that you've not met before. Once everyone is gathered, the scene will cut back to the police officers. Rentalman needs to run out, and they will all approach him. They all go to attack, and the police run out, Zenikase shouting that he is going to arrest them all. They decide that they are outnumbered, and run off. The police follow, and it's up to you to hunt down the five baddies and fight them each one by one (although they each have some help... go for the main guy, though). Simply running around the area should allow you to find them all - they aren't that hard to track down, and none have gotten all that far... After they have all been tracked down and arrested, Chou Bintan will be so shocked at his defeat that he will lose his memory, making it hard for him to reveal any of the secrets of his crime syndicate. At any rate, you'll now need to track down Zenikase once more and talk to him now that all of the criminals have been captured. He will once more proclaim who he is, and take the criminals off to jail. Now you'll need to head back to the police station to collect your reward from the Captain. ________________________________ /_Job 20: Urgent! Stop Mr. Wood_/ Pay: 4000 G [緊急! ウッド君を止めて] **Job Description** Go to the Gym at Kohjya School - Jason Wood is going crazy, and you have to stop him. Please talk to the principal for more information. Choose the last job, and head to the school, where the principal is waiting for you on the steps. Talking to him will reveal that Jason Wood is going totally nuts in the gym, almost like he has taken some bad drugs or something. Everyone is trying to hold him down, but they are getting beaten off one by one. Talking to the other kids reveals that Rent A Hiroko went into the gym a little while ago, and that UltraSalaryMan has gotten beaten as well. It all started after he beat Segasa in Judo practice, and he got more and more excited, and eventually lost it. Head into the gym, and, avoiding the devestation that is strewn about, head to the north end of the gym, where Jason and Rent A Hiroko are squaring off. Talking to Rent A Hiroko reveals that he is taking a drug called Paapulipin, and that is why he has lost it. After that, head up to Jason and talk to him. He attacks, but not after taking one more swig of Paapulipil. After the fight, Jason tells you that he wanted to beat Segasa and be the strongest person in the school. He got beaten up in the street yesterday by some people who drank the Paapulipil beforehand. They told him that he was strong, but that he should take this and be stronger. He took it, but never thought that it would make him go crazy. He's sorry, and asks for forgiveness. Directly after, he recieves the same sort of speech that many of us have gotten many times... Once everyone has cleared out, head outside and talk to the woman standing near the door, who will give you 4000 Gold. __________________________________ /_Job 21: Excavation Team Missing_/ Pay: 5000 G [発掘隊行方不明] **Job Description** The Tunnel Excavation Team has found something that they believe to be from before 3000 B.C.. However, now three people from the excavation team are missing. Please head to the excavation site and talk to the leader of the team, Mr. Quintin Masuda. After taking the bottom job, you'll need to head to the tunnel site and talk to the leader, who is standing near the tunnel. It turns out that they have found some secret rooms, but when they were supposed to all meet up at a specific time three people didn't show up. There was a small earthquake, but he is assuming that they are still alive, though he is worried. He then asks you to look for the three people in the cave. As you begin to go in, another worker comes out talking about the curse of Tsurunsoomen. This person, as it turns out, was one of the lost people, but there are still two people inside, having to deal with this curse of Tsurunsoomen. The other workers begin to leave, scared of the curse. Go into the tunnel and head to the top, where you defused the bomb. Walk up to the rock and select the top option to break it, then continue into the newly opened room. Walking a ways in, you'll find a person trapped under a stone column. Select the top option to break the column and free the person (who then proclaims you the greatest Rent A Hero ever). Once free, he then says that he and another two archaelogists discovered that this is the tomb of King Tsurunsoomen, and have been doing work down here. They found a very scary and frightening things - a golden mask. Although they were fascinated by the brightness of the golden mask, when they put their hands on it, they heard a voice saying "I am Tsurunsoomen - you have awoken me from my slumber. I will now use your bodies as my vessel!" The mask said that, and they were all so afraid that they ran away. It was then that the earthquake struck, and that is how he got stuck under the pillar. The final person, Indoa, is still inside, by some sort of door. At that point, another Rent A Hero will come in, and after saying that he is sorry that he is late, he'll begin pacing. You'll be quick to notice that he is pacing right over a button. Walk up to the other button and stand on it, and when he paces over the button, the door will open. The scientist explains that you'll need someone to stand on both buttons, or the door will close, which means that only one person can go inside. The other Rent A Hero volunteers, walks inside bravely, then runs out, saying that there are mummies and monsters inside, and that he really doesn't like those sorts of things, so he offers to stand on the other button and let Rentalman go inside. Head inside, and be prepared for a fight... After beating on 3000+ year old mummies, head into the next room to find Indoa Jones (pun of Indiana Jones) as good old King Tsurunsoomen. He says that he is the great, invincible King Tsurunsoomen, and that he is borrowing Indoa's body. He says that he has never lost a battle in his life, hence the nickname "invincible". Yet another fight will start. Apparently, the 3000+ years of being dead has affected Tsurunsoomen's fighting ability, and he does down hard with defeat. He then says that it was the body's weakness that did it (great excuse, eh?), but until he finds a better body, he'll just wait for you. Jones wakes up and thanks you very much for helping him, and the other Rent A Hero is impressed as well. Outside, everyone is glad that they are all right, and that they are now going to take the injured to the hospital, as well as going to see Dr. Gusto. Talk to the leader again, and he'll give you the 5000 gold reward. ________________________________ /_Job 22: Saran is Missing______/ Pay: 2000 G [サランちゃん行方不明] **Job Description** Saran has gone missing from the Ohtory Hospital. Please find out more information from her parents at the hospital. Once again, take the last job on the list and head out, this time to the Ohtory General Hospital. Saran's room is on the second floor, and her father is standing near one of the beds. Talk to him, and he'll begin to tell you how Saran about how Saran is missing. She was worried about the heart operation that she needs, and ran away. He then says that he is going to go look for Saran himself. Heading to one of Saran's favorite hangouts, the park in Anamoina, you'll find her father there, but no Saran. Talking to the kids will reveal that she was a big fan of the Hero Show at the ImoYouCan-Do Dept. Store, and that her mother used to always take her there. Now, go to the Dept. Store in Dahane, and upon reaching the roof you'll find that the normal Hero for the Hero Show is late, and they want you to do the Hero Show instead (and will pay you, of course). Agree by selecting the first option, and you're off to play the hero once more. After completing the Hero Show, select the top option to take the normal payment of 2000 Gold for your duties. As you head out, you'll notice that a single girl has stayed behind. Talk to her, and you'll find out that this is Saran. She says that she wants to be strong like you, but now, she is weak. She is surprised when you say that her parents sent you to come find her. She was terrified of the heart operation, and ran away because of it, then promptly begins to cry. After Rentalman got her to stop crying, the department store called her parents, who come to get her. Saran says that she is sorry for making her parents worry. They are just happy that she is safe, but they were really worried about her. Saran's parents then thank Rentalman, and say that they will pay Rentalman when they get back to the hospital. Head back to the hospital, and you'll recieve the thanks, and the money, of her parents. Talk to Saran once more, and she'll ask if she goes through with the operation, if she will get better - reply yes to make her feel better. As you are leaving the room, she will go into surgery, and the doctors promise that it will go well. Heading to the operation room and talking to her parents, you'll find out that Saran's surgery was a success, since she was able to face her fears, and stand up to them on her own. ________________________________ /_Job 99: Complete the FAQ______/ Pay: 0 G [コンプリット ザ ファック] **Job Description** Wait for J.T.Kauffman to complete the FAQ/walkthrough, and then continue from there. As FAQ/walkthrough authors J.T.Kauffman and Ben Judd live 6 hours and roughly US$400 away from each other, and only J.T. has the game, players have to wait for J.T. to trudge his way through the rest of the game, as it is Ben that was doing all of the speedy translation to bring us to the point where we are now. The walkthrough will be continued, however, although the time that it will take will be slightly longer. --To Parse-- These are some notes that we have yet to truly integrate into the FAQ - most are things that caught our eye from the official Sega Rent A Hero No.1 BBS (http://www.sega.co.jp/rentahero/) - we haven't tried them yet, but offer them for your purusial. - SuperSalaryMan's family gets kidnapped - need to hunt down the Dynamite Dog gang - four each, four different towns, (every one except for Ohtory). Then you'll get four keys that you use for the manhole in Dahane. - Do the Hero Show, then transform into Rentalman and talk to the person (the mayor?) in front of the train station in Dahane - you'll get to give him a piggyback ride. Multiple piggyback rides can be done. O_o - After the first Heroshow, go to the gym, no Segasa, but note on the ground. Find him at in front of the hall on the first floor, and another event will start. - Ito Yokado [イトーヨーカドー] Department Store - real store - take-off of Dept. Store in game ______________________________________________ / / / M I S C E L L A N Y / /_____________________________________________/ This is merely a collection of other info that doesn't fit into any of the other sections. ________________________________ /_FAQs__________________________/ Q: My instruction book was put in backwards and upside down! What gives? A: The Rent A Hero No.1 instruction manual is modeled after a Japanse magazine, and thus, reads in the opposite way that English magazines are read. In other words, what we think of as the front of the magazine is actually the back, and vice versa. This also explains the style of the instruction manual (discounting the 'real' cover), with its magazine-styled front, the ads contained within, and the manga-like instructions. Q: Where did they come up with the names for some of these stores? A: Practically everything in the game is a joke, pun, or take-off, and this includes the stores. While the Romanized (English) names end up looking quite funky (eg. Sepoon Ufun), the Japanese versions are very similar to well known places (in this case, Seven Eleven). A possibility for a later release of the FAQ is a list of these, as well as short explanations. Q: Why can't I change into my Rent A Hero costume? A: You probably didn't pay your costume rental fee to SECA. See the Suit Rental part of the Gameplay section for more details. The other possibility is that you are in the middle of a job that doesn't let you change, such as the food delivery job. These jobs are always short ones, so simply complete the job, and if you still can't change, _then_ start worrying. ________________________________ /_Mini Games____________________/ Like many other Dreamcast games, Rent A Hero No.1 contains a couple of downloadable minigames for your VMU. However, they are hidden within the game, and must be found. Below are the locations, as well as summaries of the games: (descriptions, names coming later) - Mother & Father's Room, box that contained the Gachilla (monster) costume. (file size: 61 blocks) - Arcade in Ohtory, one of the machines at the back along the rear wall. One more game has been confirmed, but not found. More on this later. ________________________________ /_Rent A Hero Series____________/ With the release of Rent A Hero No.1, Rent A Hero actually became a series. The original game, titled simply 'Rent A Hero', appeared on the Sega Mega Drive (the Sega Genesis in N.America) in 1991, and became a nearly instant cult hit. Unfortunately, like it's successor, Rent A Hero contained many Japanese cultural references, and although it was an excellent game, it never left Japanese shores. To this date, the game is extremely hard to find in Japan, and fetches prices of around US$100 (from 9500-10500 Japanese yen) in Tokyo's Akihabara district. Since Rent A Hero was a cult hit, and not a mainstream one (hence the high price and the rarity), Rent A Hero No.1 did not recieve a very large budget. This is obvious in a few places. Lack of camera control is possibly the most obvious, as is the lack of analogue control. Many of the detail work is simply texture only, and not made up of polygons (eg. look at shelves, etc.), and thus occasionally appears very flat. Voicework was not done for the game (past a few grunts and shouts), and many of the tunes are re-used. From reports, the game uses the Spikeout engine (Spikeout being a Sega Naomi board beat-'em-up that has yet to hit the Dreamcast), and borrows moves & animations from both Spikeout and other games (Outtrigger and Virtual Fighter 3 have been mentioned various places). Popup is occasionally seen, and seeing inside of solid objects is quite common as well. Finally, the game uses an odd blurring/distance filter that appears quite strangely on good TVs (such as Trinitrons). Of course, if you're merely thinking about buying the game, and haven't yet, please don't think that Rent A Hero is a 'cheap' game. It is quite fun, quite unlike many of the other games out there, and very much worth a purchase. ________________________________ /_Bonuses_______________________/ Rent A Hero No.1 has a few added bonuses for those DCers with computers - by inserting the GD-ROM into a computer, you can view three bitmap wallpaper images as well as a text file. ________________________________ /_Release Info__________________/ Title: Rent A Hero No.1 Company: Sega Enterprises Release: May 25, 2000 Format: 1 GD-ROM Genre: 3D Action RPG Supports: VMU (saves: 20 blocks, mini games: 61-? blocks), PuruPuru Pack (Jump Pack), VGA Box ______________________________________________ / / / O U T R O / /_____________________________________________/ ________________________________ /_Versions______________________/ ver.pre, June 5, 2000 - Gameplay, Miscellany sections added. ver.pre, June 5, 2000 - J.T. left Ben's house (6 hours from where he lives) after 22 Jobs completed, so walkthrough completion speed will drop considerably. ver.pre, June 2, 2000 - Ben Judd joined the project, speed increased tenfold. Walkthrough continued. ver.pre, May 27, 2000 - Initial version of the faq started by J.T.Kauffman. Slow progress was made due to lack of Japanese, although the walkthrough was started. ________________________________ /_Legal_________________________/ Rent A Hero No.1, Dreamcast, Rent A Hiroko, Creamcast, Service Cafe, SECA, and all other game-related names/etc. are copyright/trademarked by Sega Enterprises. All other copyrights are properties of their respective owners. This document is copyright J.T.Kauffman 2000 and cannot be reproduced for profit in any form. It can be freely distributed over the internet as long as it is unaltered and is only distributed on free (i.e. non-subscription) sites. If you do choose to post this document on your site, please email me to let me know. ________________________________ /_Credits_______________________/ - The Official Rent A Hero No.1 BBS (misc. tips) http://www.sega.co.jp/rentahero/ ________________________________ /_Contact_______________________/ J.T.Kauffman stormwalker@hotmail.com Ben Judd jbill@mint.or.jp note: please do not contact J.T. for translation questions; Ben was the one that did 98% of the translations/story info/job info/etc, and while J.T. does know some Japanese, he can't really help out much. On the flip side, Ben doesn't currently own the game, so basically if you have a translation question, you're out of luck. However, if you have an addition to the walkthrough, or spot an error in it, please don't hesitate to contact J.T. with it. since May 27, 2000 Mie-ken & Miyagi-ken, Japan.