So this is kinda weird—Sega is porting some of its lesser-known Dreamcast games to Xbox. Although there may not seem to be much of a reason for companies like AIA to be releasing the games Stateside, it allows more people to play titles they may have missed (like Rent A Hero, which was never released in the States).

So now that we have the game, how is it? Well, first of all, this is a Dreamcast game, and it looks like one. If you're looking for something that takes advantage of Microsoft's hardware, keep looking. Rent A Hero's strength lies in its personality, its extremely goofy story and sense of humor, and its flat-out love for Sega fans (look for Sega references galore).

As much as I was enjoying Rent A Hero, I had a little trouble getting into it at first. It starts off pretty slow, with a lot of fairly boring fetch quests. And why, oh why isn't there analog control?

Of course, as a superhero, you get into plenty of fights. The fighting engine is easy to learn, but it feels limited. A deeper system would have made the combat portions of the game feel more meaty.

I enjoyed Rent A Hero, but it's definitely not for everyone. Hardcore Sega fans will love it, but casual gamers will most likely become bored. If you love weird Japanese games, however, give this a try.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Game Now.