Rotoscoping in Vegas 9
 

Is the Pro version the only one that supports rotoscoping?

...and is there a better recommendation than Vegas?

Vegas does not do rotoscoping - no matter what version you have. You might try Boris which will work as a plugin for Vegas. Or you could try After Effects and see if either of these do what you need.

I did find a tutorial for Rotoscoping in Vegas,
YouTube - Sony Vegas Tutorial - Rotoscoping
but it looks more like a workaround, and I couldnt sit through the whole thing because the instructor didnt particularly impress me.
Vegas is one of the software packages im looking at and it would be nice to be able to handle this effect even if I have to take a few extra steps (and call it something else).

Ok... maybe a better way of phrasing it is that it doesn't have any built-in tools designed to do this. If you want to do things manually, there are LOTS of things that can be done. If you're only doing a very little, you can work around it. If you're going to be doing lots of it, I'd look for a program with built-in tools to do this.

I fall into the occasional category, so I can live with that.
Does Vegas Platinum allow you to create masks that could be used to create a Rotoscope-like effect, or is masking a "Pro" feature?
Im open to any suggestions, thanks.

You will have many more options with the Pro version. A couple things only in the pro version that could help:

1. Bezier Masking in the Pan/Crop tool
2. 3D Track Motion

Platimum doesnt have masking?
I had been using Ulead's Media Studio Pro (which is comparable pricewise to SV-Platinum) and those options have been available in their consumer versions, so im surprised Vegas would be holding out.

I don't believe the movie studio versions have Bezier Masks in Pan/Crop. It does have the means of doing masking - just not that particular tool. There are some definite advantages to going with the pro version.