Chroma Squad

Fighting evil in helmets made from buckets.

Chroma Squad is a tactical RPG by Behold Studios, the same people responsible for the destruction of the Fourth Wall in Knights of Pen and Paper. This game is an affectionate parody of the Sentai genre, to the extent that the title screen mentions that it was inspired by Saban's Power Rangers.

You play as a group of stuntmen, tired of having other actors get all of the glory for your hard work. So you all walk out and start your own Sentai show. But little did you know about the real monsters in the world. Will The Power of Friendship and Ratings save you from the alien Gargans? Or will your production get delayed another week because you messed up the battle scenes?

Tropes used in Chroma Squad include:

Absurdly Spacious Sewer: Tactical combat inside of a sewer, ayup.
Amoral Attorney: With red skin and devil horns. Luckily you get to fight him on the streets rather than in the courts.
Bankruptcy Barrel: One of the actors your company hired really doesn't want to get into a proper costume, and proceeds to barrel roll all through you.
Bigger Bad: Villain X, Master of the Universe.
Brain In a Jar: The Cerebro prop, though it turns out Cerebro is a real brain in a jar.
Catgirl: The cat hanging around your studio? She's actually Catnigiri, the Salmon Ranger with a human transformation, at least in the ranger outfit. You only meet her in the Rider Route.
Chroma Key: Your green screen is upgradable, and you shoot a lot in front of it. One of the origins of the name Chroma Squad, along with...
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Of course. You do get to pick your ranger colors at character creation, but let's face it, the game is called Chroma Squad.
Conveniently Empty Building: Everyone wonders why there's no property damage in the game. By the time you start fighting real mecha battles, it's implied that A.R.M.O.R. does the cleanup work in your email.
Cool Bike: The Night Cyclone, which even has a short-term Time Travel gadget.
Cool Old Guy/Badass Biker: Night Driver Kanji Ahbo: legends never die!
Damsel in Distress: Averted. They discuss doing this plot, but then decide to but the gender norms by rescuing a cast member's little bro rather than their little sis.
Defictionalized: In-Universe. You start off making your own show where your troupe gets to run the show, not just be the stunt actors on Dr. Soap's show Super Rangers. And then well, things start to get weird
Elevator Action Sequence: A slow enough elevator to finish the whole battle, an elevator as large as the sewers.
Everything Fades: Mooks fade out, bosses explode.
Fan Service: Invoked with certain character abilities. Moving the Scout over long distances, or having Techie use skills can increase your audience.
Fish People: The monster of the week, Fishmaid", which is a fish head on a bikini babe. This one is actually telegraphed from far back, as there's a fish head prop sitting on your set from the beginning.

"I wish I could be a part of their world"
"I'm pretty sure I've heard that one before.

Five-Man Band: As in Power Rangers.
Five-Token Band: The default squad.
Gratuitous Japanese: Lots of places, including the theme song. One letter from a Fan Subber includes such gems as:

I have come to dai-suki after a good tomodachi of mine recommended it to me! It is now watashi's favorite! However, we don't normally receive this show on the Terebi, so me and my group of subbers have brought the show [to] all of our fellow nakama, as it should not be missed! Are you daijoubu with this?

Home Base: Cerebro's lair. "Wow, I didn't know you could do such cool backgrounds with chroma key!"
Humongous Mecha: The Once an Episode battles, starting in the second season. The first time you see the mecha, you get a Combining Mecha animation. But since the game is about making a Sentai show, you don't get Stock Footage ever time.
In the Blood/Legacy Character: Sixth Ranger Tammy Ahbo's father, Kanji Ahbo was the Night Driver, as was his father before him.
Kaiju: Lots of boss enemies are fought at a larger size. Special mention goes to the Mini-Kaiju Squad of Lord Gaga, who you fight at normal size, just because. They have abilities similar to your own party, which makes them a dangerous group of enemies.
Kamina Shades: Villain X, Master of the Universe.
Licensed Game: By Saban's company, which is unusual as it's more of an Affectionate Parody than a typical licensed game. It has led to lots of delays in game patches due to contract terms.
Load-Bearing Boss: "A countdown to an explosion? So cliché!"
Make My Monster Grow: Starting with the last battle of the first season, you get to fight giant versions of the boss monster with your mecha... which is, of course, just another costume, this time made of cardboard.
Merchandise-Driven: In universe, if you hire certain marketing firms. "If you still have a soul, monetize it!"
Monster of the Week: At least once you get the budget to afford better monsters.
No Fourth Wall: Not only is it a story about the making of a sentai hero show where the actors become real sentai heroes, it has moments where the programmers of the game hack into the game so that they can warn you about the monsters. It helps that in literally every scene, there's a camera crew there to capture your battles.
Once Upon a Time: begins the game.
People in Rubber Suits: Once you can afford to craft things from vinyl.
Porn Stash: Cerebro really doesn't want the enemies to look through all of his files.
The Power of Friendship: How this Chroma Ranger power works, natch.
Real Person Cameo: All of the Kickstarter backers. Some can be members of the sentai, while others join as guest stars.
Retroactive Preparation: "I traveled back in time with 'The Liner' until before I was at your studio and saved myself from Lord Gaga." Followed by Hanging a Lampshade on it with "you know, like video games."
Science Fantasy: Both In-Universe, and the game itself!
Sdrawkcab Name: The monster Dopi looks like an iPod. A giant, mecha-size iPod.
Sentai: The inspiration behind the game.
Shout-Out: Quite a lot, to other popular culture. Usually lampshaded.
- Lord Gaga is pretty fabulous.
- Rick Anger from A.R.M.O.R.
- The giant angry yellow sponge insists on being called Robert, no nicknames please.
- Ranger Night Driver gives the entire "I have special set of skills" speech, when trying to find the rest of his team.
Sixth Ranger: The Moonstone path gives you another member Tammy, though occasionally some guests will help you fight too.
Spandex, Latex, or Leather: Depends on how far up the crafting tree you are. You start off your show in cotton because you're pretty poor.
The Stinger: After the end of the game: the Narrator really tries to get you not to keep clicking, telling you that you're burning localization money on translators every time you click. After 200 clicks or so of ignoring the narrator, you get a scene from your prequel squad, the Zyumerica Clonerangers, talking to a giant lizard thing. This, of course, is Cerebro before he became a Brain In a Jar.
Superhero Packing Heat: Everyone can, but especially Techie, who has special firearms attacks.
Theme Song Power Up: In the final battle, natch.
Throw It In: In-Universe. Lots of random people show up to the set starting battles. It feels like a Random Events Plot to the actors, but hey, as long as we get good footage, why not?
You Have Failed Me...: Lord Gaga's demise.

"Evil always comes back at another time, at different settings and a different difficulty level."