Murtop mini-review

Blasting gophers like Caddyshack’s Carl Spackler.

2009’s Retro Game Challenge cultivated a love for retro games that never actually existed. That title and its sequel, the Japan-only GameCenter CX: Arino no Chōsenjō 2, presented players with a collection of games that painstakingly simulated popular 8- and 16-bit genres. Years later, Donut Dodo would perform a similar feat. The effort felt like a lost Nintendo coin-op, released around the same time as Donkey Kong Jr. and the original Mario Bros.

With the PC and Switch release of Murtop, publisher Flynn’s Arcade adds another great faux arcade game to their roster. Drop a simulated coin and hit the start button and Murtop transports you to an alternative 80’s where someone fused Dig Dug with Bomberman. While it’s not quite as prodigious as either of those two gems, retro fans will find plenty of enjoyment in helping the game’s diminutive rabbit protect his crop from hordes of malicious gophers.

Like Dig Dug, you’ll begin each stage at the top of the single-screen playfield. Like Namco’s classic, you’ll burrow downward and if you excavate the earth under a rock, it will fall, smashing anything unlucky enough to be in its path. But instead of pumping up Pookas and Fygars with air, your offense is the ability to poop bombs.

If you’re a Bomberman veteran, you’ll probably need a bit of time to adjust. The bombs materialize one block behind the bunny and detonate in a plus-shaped explosion that travels to the edges of the playfield.  Early on, you are your own biggest threat, as you’ll inevitably get caught in Murtop’s blast radius. Other times a bullet from a gunner gopher can trigger an explosion, seizing the soul from your starting supply of three rabbits.

Pleasingly, there are a multitude of scoring techniques that contribute replayability. Eliminating multiple gophers with the same explosion provides a nice combo and you’ll earn an end-of-stage bonus for collecting the carrots scattered on each stage. Finish a level in less than a minute and you’ll earn an additional dividend. Finally, there’s a bonus stage where carrots and rocks rain down.

Murtop’s succession of 256 levels generally intensifies in difficulty by adding more opponents. Occasionally, you’ll face stages that might feel a bit easier than the previous one. This can feel like a nice reprieve, as the challenge gets lofty when you’re tracking a screenful of adversaries- including a stone dropper who can’t be killed. Mercifully, you’re given continues, so you don’t have to dedicate all of your free time to become the master of Murtop.

Murtop was played on PC with review code provided by the publisher.