Chroma Squad is a tactical RPG where you control suit actors for an indie tokusatsu (Japanese for "special effects") studio, directing them both in shooting episodes and budgeting behind-the-scenes. Your goal is to make the ultimate indie 'sentai' (Japanese for "squadron"; think Power Rangers) show by balancing fan acquisition and retention, and leveraging those fans for an extended budget.

Brief plot synopsis: a group of stunt actors, tired of being pushed around by their short-sighted and creatively-deficient director, break off to form their own indie production team. They find a prop called Cerebro in a warehouse belong to one of the members' uncle, and make Cerebro the 'hook' for their new show. Unfortunately, they wind up garnering attention from more than just a growing fanbase...

Your team is comprised of five members; you choose their suit actors (who each possess various stat bonuses and penalties), their roles (which determine what weapons they can use and what skills they unlock), and their colors (Ever wanted to have a ranger team without a red? Or maybe everyone is pink? Here's your chance!)

The meat of the game is the tactical combat - each episode plays out as a series of turn-based encounters. There is no 'initiative' stat, so you can move your characters in any order. Your get two actions, which you can spend moving and attacking (though attacking uses up all remaining moves, so move first), or you can use up the rest of your turn to use "Teamwork". The "Teamwork" move allows other characters to pool damage for a devastating attack, or to use the teamwork-using party member as a trampoline, bounding across the map in one move action. Each action builds up "audience", which acts as power meter and influences mission profit. Once you get enough audience, the "Chromatize" action unlocks, allowing your group to form up and transform into their super-powered alter-egos. Once in their hero suits, members unlock their special class abilities and weapons. Once you deal enough damage to a boss, a star and the words "FINISH IT!" will appear over their head. This is your cue to use a five-man teammate offensive and unleash one of your two finishing attacks (a standard melee finisher and a "Form the Giant Five-Part Howitzer!" weapon finisher that can be done at each weapons' respective ranges). Special "Director's Instructions" ask you to perform special tasks within an episode (like "rescure the hostage in three turns" or "don't let any team member fall below 50% health") for an extra Audience boost.

The first 'season' of play will end with you unlocking your giant mecha, which you'll use at the end a majority of the missions thereafter. Mecha combat hinges around stringing together punch combos - the higher your combo, the more damage you deal with your next punch, but the lower your chance of landing said punch. You can order the mecha to defend to end its turn (giving it a bonus to defense against the monsters' counterattack that scales with its current combo bonus) have the mecha perform a finishing move for massive damage (Giant bazooka arm? Energy saber? Chest-mounted laser? Take your pick, or take them all!), or use a defensive technique.

After every mission, you're brought back to your studio, where you spend your hard-earned profit on new props and upgrades for your studio. The shop will allow you to buy a few choice weapons and suit parts, but nothing fancy; you'll have to craft the exotic items yourself. During each mission, you collect random materials which can be used to craft props for your heroes or parts for the giant mecha. You can put your fanbase to good use in the Marketing section, where you can hire different firms to grant an array of toggleable bonuses (Need a better drop rate? Go with The Green Team - alternatively, consider an Indie Marketing Gig if you want to improve your Audience-to-Fans turnover ratio). Go to the Studio to buy upgrades to your set (maybe consider some health care?) or mess around with your studio options ("Lights, Camera, Chromatize!" not cutting it for a transformation call? Why not try "Powers Unite!"?). The Mecha section allows you to outfit and upgrade your giant mecha for the kaiju-sized brawls. Finally, the Actors section allows you to review your suit actors' stats, change their special abilities, and mess with their equipment (You can't wear buckets on your heads forever, guys). During the course of the campaign, you'll make decisions through the in-game e-mail system, some of which affect which bosses you fight. While the plot stays relatively the same regardless of what you do (up until the halfway point, anyway!), there are multiple endings depending on the choices you make, and multiple playthroughs are necessary to see everything.

I would recommend Chroma Squad to anyone who enjoys tactical RPGs, regardless if they're a diehard tokusatsu fan (but being a diehard tokusatsu fan won't hurt). Chroma Squad retails for $15, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it at that price.

Chroma Squad is a tactical RPG where you control suit actors for an indie tokusatsu (Japanese for "special effects") studio, directing them both in shooting episodes and budgeting behind-the-scenes. Your goal is to make the ultimate indie 'sentai' (Japanese for "squadron"; think Power Rangers) show by balancing fan acquisition and retention, and leveraging those fans for an extended budget. Brief plot synopsis: a group of stunt actors, tired of being pushed around by their short-sighted and creatively-deficient director, break off to form their own indie production team. They find a prop called Cerebro in a warehouse belong to one of the members' uncle, and make Cerebro the 'hook' for their new show. Unfortunately, they wind up garnering attention from more than just a growing fanbase... Your team is comprised of five members; you choose their suit actors (who each possess various stat bonuses and penalties), their roles (which determine what weapons they can use and what skills they unlock), and their colors (Ever wanted to have a ranger team without a red? Or maybe everyone is pink? Here's your chance!) The meat of the game is the tactical combat - each episode plays out as a series of turn-based encounters. There is no 'initiative' stat, so you can move your characters in any order. Your get two actions, which you can spend moving and attacking (though attacking uses up all remaining moves, so move first), or you can use up the rest of your turn to use "Teamwork". The "Teamwork" move allows other characters to pool damage for a devastating attack, or to use the teamwork-using party member as a trampoline, bounding across the map in one move action. Each action builds up "audience", which acts as power meter and influences mission profit. Once you get enough audience, the "Chromatize" action unlocks, allowing your group to form up and transform into their super-powered alter-egos. Once in their hero suits, members unlock their special class abilities and weapons. Once you deal enough damage to a boss, a star and the words "FINISH IT!" will appear over their head. This is your cue to use a five-man teammate offensive and unleash one of your two finishing attacks (a standard melee finisher and a "Form the Giant Five-Part Howitzer!" weapon finisher that can be done at each weapons' respective ranges). Special "Director's Instructions" ask you to perform special tasks within an episode (like "rescure the hostage in three turns" or "don't let any team member fall below 50% health") for an extra Audience boost. The first 'season' of play will end with you unlocking your giant mecha, which you'll use at the end a majority of the missions thereafter. Mecha combat hinges around stringing together punch combos - the higher your combo, the more damage you deal with your next punch, but the lower your chance of landing said punch. You can order the mecha to defend to end its turn (giving it a bonus to defense against the monsters' counterattack that scales with its current combo bonus) have the mecha perform a finishing move for massive damage (Giant bazooka arm? Energy saber? Chest-mounted laser? Take your pick, or take them all!), or use a defensive technique. After every mission, you're brought back to your studio, where you spend your hard-earned profit on new props and upgrades for your studio. The shop will allow you to buy a few choice weapons and suit parts, but nothing fancy; you'll have to craft the exotic items yourself. During each mission, you collect random materials which can be used to craft props for your heroes or parts for the giant mecha. You can put your fanbase to good use in the Marketing section, where you can hire different firms to grant an array of toggleable bonuses (Need a better drop rate? Go with The Green Team - alternatively, consider an Indie Marketing Gig if you want to improve your Audience-to-Fans turnover ratio). Go to the Studio to buy upgrades to your set (maybe consider some health care?) or mess around with your studio options ("Lights, Camera, Chromatize!" not cutting it for a transformation call? Why not try "Powers Unite!"?). The Mecha section allows you to outfit and upgrade your giant mecha for the kaiju-sized brawls. Finally, the Actors section allows you to review your suit actors' stats, change their special abilities, and mess with their equipment (You can't wear buckets on your heads forever, guys). During the course of the campaign, you'll make decisions through the in-game e-mail system, some of which affect which bosses you fight. While the plot stays relatively the same regardless of what you do (up until the halfway point, anyway!), there are multiple endings depending on the choices you make, and multiple playthroughs are necessary to see everything. I would recommend Chroma Squad to anyone who enjoys tactical RPGs, regardless if they're a diehard tokusatsu fan (but being a diehard tokusatsu fan won't hurt). Chroma Squad retails for $15, and I would wholeheartedly recommend it at that price.