As we all know, the 80s were the most superior of decades, a time of glorious nonstop excess, technological revolution, and questionable fashion choices all bathed in a bright neon glow. Perhaps that's why Crossing Souls, an 80s-inspired 2D action-adventure game developed by a team of just three people at developer Fourattic, had no trouble hitting its Kickstarter goals last year. And when I say 80s-inspired, what I actually mean is, a total, no-holds-barred 80s love-in that embraces 16-bit pixel art, ropey animated kid's TV shows, VHS-style tracking errors, and Amblin Entertainment films like The Goonies and E.T.
For a child of the 80s, then, Crossing Souls pushes every nostalgic button imaginable. The intro animation, which skips and jumps around the screen like on old videotape, is exactly what you'd imagine an old 80s cartoon to look like, complete with missing frames and a wonderful synthesised soundtrack. The game's cast of characters adheres to old tropes too: there's a brainy kid, a sporty kid, a big kid, a goofball kid, and of course, the handsome and heroic leader. The story, set in the California of 1986, sees the clichéd cast uncover a mysterious artefact in the woods outside their town, which allows them to move between the living world and the world of the dead.
Outside the high school, the large town (which acts as a hub world of sorts) is filled with boom boxes, skateboards, and loads of kooky characters to speak to. The attention to detail in the environment is impressive, and gets even better upon entering a local neighbourhood where houses were draped in bright yellow police tape, and hazard suit-wearing scientists wander the streets in scenes reminiscent of Steven Spielberg’s E.T.
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