The year is 2018, some of the most popular things on Earth during this time were Fortnite, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and some odd obsession over the 1980s. The ‘80s have seen fleeting popularity over the past fifteen years with throwbacks such as Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and the release of Michael Jackson’s #1’s album. However, in our current time, 2018 AD, the likes of Netflix’s Stranger Things and GLOW series, the Blade Runner sequel, the DuckTales, She-Ra and Thundercats reboots and now the release of Crossing Souls on the Nintendo Switch show that the 1980’s are back and bigger than perhaps the 80’s itself.
Crossing Souls takes place in a small American town, and much like coming of age movies like Stand by Me, young boy Chris, his friends and his brother discover a dead body by the nearby lake which sends the teenage crew spiralling into a world they never knew existed. Each character has their own unique backstory, with Chris and Kevin are brothers who live in a nuclear family, Kevin being the troublemaker younger brother and Chris being the coolheaded older brother. Matt has two parents that are scientists, and as such is much of a scientist himself. Charlie is a girl who lives in the local trailer park with her alcoholic father, and as such is the toughest of the five protagonists. There is also Big Joe, who is the son of a storekeeper, and despite his immense strength for his age, he is very lazy when it comes to helping his mother.
The characters are all introduced one-by-one during the opening stanza. Chris is the main hero, and he is able to scale vines and ladders against walls and use his baseball bat to hit enemy projectiles. Matt is introduced next and can shoot enemies with a laser gun and can utilise his hover boots to cross large gaps. Big Joe is the toughest kid that hits the hardest and can move large objects around. Charlie uses her skipping rope in battle and can throw objects at enemies. Finally, Kevin starts out completely useless, but I do not want to spoil the game, so I won’t mention how he becomes useful later in the game.
Once the five discover the dead body, the teenagers discover that there is a pink object in its hand. Swiping it from the scene, the kids take it to Matt’s lab where he determines that it is not of this Earth, but a gateway for the living to interact with the souls of the dead around them. At first, the group think of the cool things that they can do, such as talk to Chris and Kevin’s old dog, but soon they realise that not all souls are good and that some are downright dangerous. Not to mention the fact that a man by the name of Bronson (who looks eerily similar to Virgin CEO Richard Branson) wants the object, known as a Duat Stone, for his own nefarious purposes.
Crossing Souls plays much like a game from the ‘80s, with a top-down perspective and controls like Zelda and Secret of Mana. There are puzzles to solve and enemies to bash up along the way. Important cutscenes are handled in an ‘80s style cartoon complete with worn-out VHS effects such as tracking lines and a broken Vertical Hold. There are some nods to The Goonies, Back to the Future and other movies from the decade which will bring a smile to anyone who grew up during that time as well. While this all helps the game kick some serious goals in recreating an ‘80s look and feel, the pixel art comes across as too detailed for it to be something achievable on the NES or even the SNES. While the pixel art isn’t bad, it definitely doesn’t fit the ‘80s mould.
The game isn’t entirely without its faults. There are some real difficulty spikes that appear out of nowhere. Pixel perfect jumping is required in some areas and the fact that the D-Pad cannot be used, coupled with relatively loose controls with the control stick means that a lot of these jumps are way too hard to make. The narrative just barely makes these sections worth forcing yourself through these types of difficult moments.
Crossing Souls definitely ticks a lot of boxes when it comes to a 1980s homage. The story is well written, and the developers have done a decent job of bringing me down memory lane. Despite the moments of hair-pulling ridiculousness that is precision platforming that seemingly fights against the rest of the game, Crossing Souls is definitely worth checking out for ‘80s fans. I personally would have preferred the pixel art style to more resemble the games of the time such as Earthbound Beginnings, but what we do have is a serviceable game that stands out in the very crowded Nintendo eShop.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
Paper Mario returns this week.