Crossing Souls is a single-player action-adventure game set in a California suburb during the summer of 1986. A group of five friends stumbles upon a mysterious pink stone that opens a path between the living world and the realm of the dead, pulling them into a larger conflict involving shadowy government forces and supernatural threats. Players guide the kids through a mix of real-time combat, environmental puzzles, and platforming challenges while switching between characters to use their distinct abilities.
Gameplay
The core loop revolves around controlling five distinct kids named Chris, Matt, Charlie, Big Joe, and Kevin. Each brings unique skills that players activate by switching on the fly during exploration and encounters. Chris handles basic climbing on vines, Matt uses rocket boots to hover across gaps, Charlie leaps over larger distances, Big Joe pushes and pulls heavy objects to clear paths, and the group as a whole applies these talents to solve obstacles and target enemy weaknesses.
Combat unfolds in real time against street gangs, secret soldiers, undead monsters, and ghosts. Success depends on quick character swaps to exploit strengths rather than raw button mashing. Platforming sections require precise timing with disappearing blocks and moving platforms, while clever puzzles test the ability to combine skills creatively. Boss encounters demand the same strategic switching to survive patterned attacks.
Special levels break up the main adventure with standalone sequences styled after classic 1980s arcade games. These minigames often involve dodging waves of enemies or simple timing challenges that echo the era's arcade cabinets. The entire experience runs in a pixel-art style with cutscenes that mimic the look of 1980s Saturday morning cartoons, supported by an original soundtrack blending orchestral swells reminiscent of film scores from the period with energetic synth-pop tracks.
Game Modes
Crossing Souls offers only a single-player campaign. The story progresses through a linear sequence of suburban neighborhoods, supernatural realms, and hidden facilities, with no separate multiplayer or competitive options. Within this campaign, players move between exploration segments, combat arenas, puzzle rooms, and the occasional arcade-inspired diversion. The structure encourages repeated character switching to advance, creating a steady rhythm of action and problem-solving without branching paths or alternate difficulty modes.
Progression focuses on story beats tied to the pink stone's powers and the unfolding conspiracy. Each area introduces new combinations of abilities and enemy types, keeping the single-player experience varied through environmental design rather than additional game modes.
Story and Setting
The narrative places the five friends at the center of events that begin with a simple discovery and escalate into battles across two connected realities. Government agents, ancient entities, and everyday 1980s elements like pizza, basketball, and ice cream trucks appear alongside cowboys and pirates in the afterlife realm. The tone mixes lighthearted kid-adventure vibes with darker conspiracy undertones, all delivered through the retro cartoon cutscenes and environmental storytelling.
References to films such as The Goonies, Gremlins, and Back to the Future appear throughout the world design and dialogue, reinforcing the 1986 California suburb atmosphere without requiring prior knowledge of those properties.
Is It Worth Playing?
Crossing Souls suits players who appreciate retro pixel-art aesthetics, 1980s nostalgia, and games built around character ability switching in a compact single-player package. The atmospheric music and cartoon-style presentation stand out as consistent strengths across the experience. Combat and platforming sections can feel basic or occasionally frustrating due to precise timing demands, while puzzles remain straightforward for most players.
Reception has been mostly positive among those drawn to the era's influences, with many highlighting the soundtrack and visual style as reasons to revisit the title. Newcomers should expect a focused, linear adventure rather than expansive modern open-world systems. The game remains available on PC with no ongoing seasonal content or major updates since its original release, making it a straightforward purchase for fans of short, atmospheric action-adventures with strong thematic cohesion.
