Game Store Rentals: PlayStation Edition

Last year, I wrote an article describing my experiences with video game store rentals in a small town, focusing on the “leftovers” for the Nintendo 64 console. However, the N64 wasn’t the only console we owned in the house, as my brother owned a Sony PlayStation. While everyone else in town was playing Final Fantasy VII or Metal Gear Solid, these were the leftovers that we often found ourselves playing on any given day after school.

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense

We’re going to start out with one of my favorites, a game my brother and I used to convince our dad to play with us before ultimately tormenting him with missiles and gunfire. There is a prequel titled Vigilante 8 that is also quite fun, but we started with this one, and it still holds a special place in my heart.

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense is a car combat game set in an alternate 1970s United States, taking place two years after the first game. We’ve got another tried-and-true story of evil oil company (Oil Monopoly Alliance Regime – OMAR) vs. a scrappy band of rebels and do-gooders (the Vigilantes), but it’s really just an excuse to stick a missile in a car tailpipe.

You’ve got interactive environmental set pieces, weapon pickups littered around the map that change the appearance of your vehicle, special ability pickups that help you or impede your opponents, and a character-specific special weapon that is usually crazy fun to use.

A neat part about this game is that each playable character has a Quest Mode with their own specific ending, each of which plays a larger part in the overarching story. The game practically begs you to play each character’s Quest Mode to get the entire picture, and it’s not hard to do given how enjoyable it is to actually play the game. These can also unlock secret characters that can then be played in the various modes.

Vigilante 8: 2nd Offense has a co-op mode (missing from the first game) that my brother and I adored, along with your standard story, quest, and melee deathmatch modes. The music is also very fun, with a 70’s funk and disco flair to it that jives well with the time the story takes place. I mean, just listen to that theme song.

Fighting Force

I have no idea if this game was popular or not, as I’ve seen some positive responses in the retro gaming community concerning Fighting Force, but it certainly wasn’t where I grew up. This one was always available for rent, and my brother and I had a blast playing this game co-op (and fighting over who got to play as Ben “Smasher” Jackson).

Fighting Force is a 3D scrolling beat-’em-up that features four different characters – Hawk, Mace, Alana, and my beloved Smasher – as they explore a multitude of environments, smashing enemies and environments alike. There’s a bit of “choose your own adventure” here with branching paths, which helped keep repeated play-throughs from feeling stale.

To this day, I have no recollection of the actual story of this game. I think there was a mad scientist, and Y2K was somehow involved? Either way, picking up a cop car and beating a guy to death was all I really needed as a young boy, even if the controls were a bit clunky.

You can find both Fighting Force and Fighting Force 2 as part of the Fighting Force Collection, available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and the PlayStation Store.

The Legend of Dragoon

Yes, a game that ultimately came out under PlayStation’s “Greatest Hits” label wouldn’t normally constitute as being a lesser-known game, but you could’ve fooled me! Nobody wanted this game at our local video game store, so this one was always available for play.

The Legend of Dragoon follows Dart Feld, a young lad who adventures out into the world on a quest to avenge his parents and rescue his childhood friend, Shana. Along the way, Dart discovers the power of the titular “Dragoon Spirits”, powers belonging to ancient warriors bonded with dragon souls. This allows Dart and his fellow party members to transform into powerful Dragoons, which involves some pretty kickass transformation sequences.

We’ve got a 3D linear overworld map scaled on pre-rendered backgrounds, dungeons, and towns within that overworld map that you can explore, and random battles within those dungeons. In true RPG fashion, players take turns between party members and enemy characters using attacks, items, and special abilities in battle.

What is unique about The Legend of Dragoon is the “Addition” quick time event. When a character chooses to attack an enemy, they then have a chance to press a specific button or buttons that rely on the convergence of squares, the difficulty and duration of which are based on the type and strength of the attack. It’s a system that rewards you for paying attention in battle, deterring the desire to just fast-forward through battles. It’s a little hard to explain, so feel free to check out the video above to get an idea.

Tomba!

Yes, the box art is ultimately what swayed my brother and me into picking this one up, and how could it not! It was a complete dart throw that would pay off for both of us, as we found ourselves enraptured with this silly wild child and his colorful world.

Tomba! follows the titular Tomba, a feral pink-haired boy who embarks on a journey to retrieve a prized family heirloom, which is stolen by the evil Koma Pigs at the beginning of the game. Exploration occurs in a colorful 2.5D environment, replete with secrets, upgrades, and items to find.

Tomba! plays as a side-scrolling platformer, but has a bit of a Metroidvania flair mixed in. Instead of simply jumping onto your fine swine enemies, Tomba belly flops and latches onto them, allowing you to drag and throw them around to solve environmental puzzles and open new areas to explore. Not to simply stop there, Tomba! also throws in some RPG elements via an elaborate log of quests obtained and completed by talking to NPCs throughout the game.

You can also play the Tomba! Special Edition, which is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and the PlayStation Store. This is basically a remastered edition, with save states, improved graphics and soundtrack, and additional development and artwork content.

Jumping Flash!

We’ve played both Jumping Flash and Jumping Flash 2 as part of the Game of the Week series (January 2024 and March 2026, respectively), and both were quite fun. However, the first game was regularly available at our local video game store, and while it wasn’t one we could play co-op, my brother and I would often pass the controller off after every level completion.

Jumping Flash! follows Robbit, a robotic rabbit working for Universal City Hall that is dispatched to stop the evil actions of Baron Aloha, an evil scientist who has broken apart Crater Planet into smaller “worlds” that he wants to turn into private resorts for profit. Robbit is ordered to explore each world, retrieve jet pods, and stop the dastardly Baron Aloha. It’s as silly as it sounds.

The game occurs from a first-person perspective; you’re essentially looking through the robotic eyes of Robbit as you jump around and explore the environments. Players can freely move about the 3D space, as well as rotate the camera 360 degrees to find secrets and pathways. Each area is timed (generously, for those worried) and has Robbit collecting various powerups and weapons, as well as four Jet Pods in each area, and reaching the end launcher before time runs out. The worlds vary in size and design, ranging from snowy vistas to carnivals to floating islands.

You can find Jumping Flash! available on the PlayStation Store, as well as included in the PlayStation Plus Premium tier.

Bonus Material – Breath of Fire III

I’m throwing this one in as bonus material since we’ve already talked about Breath of Fire III pretty extensively as our Game of the Quarter for January, February, and March of 2026, as well as a heavy mention in our Retroachievements article.

However, this is one of my favorite games of all-time (despite some glacial pacing), and I likely would’ve never been introduced to the game had it not been so readily available at our local video game store. Breath of Fire III was one of my earliest recollections of playing a JRPG, and I attribute a lot of my interest and love for the genre to this game.