After dealing with legal troubles concerning their game and a long absence after the debacle, Behold Studios’ tactical RPG about creating your team of color-coordinated superheroes is finally coming to consoles.
The game ran into legal trouble two years ago when it launched on PC. Despite the studio clearly drawing inspiration from the original Japanese Tokusatsu shows that helped inspire the phenomenon of the 90s that was Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, Behold Studios became entangled in legal troubles with Saban Brands over their game’s material. This lead to the game being delayed from its original launch date until the lawyers settled on things. Chroma Squad released in 2015 as the exact same game Behold Studios intended to make, but the game had to include the subtitle, “inspired by Saban’s Power Rangers.”
Now, after announcing the game was coming to consoles and mobile devices a year ago, Behold Studios has finally given us a release window. Bandai Namco will be publishing Chroma Squad on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in May of this year. However, it appears that the PlayStation Vita version has been cancelled. Not exactly a good thing considering other features being dropped from that device. Android and iOS versions of the game still appear to be in development.
The greatest unique selling point of Chroma Squad is that it goes beyond just managing your own version of teenagers with attitude. Each major boss battle and level is treated like episodes of a season of an actual television show, with ongoing passive abilities, buffs and currency represented by otherwise mundane resources. You have a budget to spend on better lighting and green screen effects that gives your team better attack power and passive bonuses. You obtain an adoring fanbase by having your superhero team kick serious tail without messing up. You expend the adoration of your fanbase to make some extra budget money on promotional events or advertising campaigns. It’s a central part of Behold Studios’ identity, charming use of game mechanics as meta-commentary that they have used in their last fantasy RPG, Knights of Pen and Paper, and appear to be continuing with their next sci-fi project, Galaxy of Pen and Paper.
