izigame.me

I love Bomberman, I like Dig Dug, and I'm delighted that I was pointed in the direction of Murtop, which is a mash-up of both. It stars a little bunny called Murti, who is tasked with saving the world and its supply of carrots from a gang of invading moles.
The visuals, controls, music, and presentation are all spot-on, conjuring up the feel of a well-polished single-screen arcade game from the 1980s - complete with period-appropriate bezel art, too! The main character has just the right amount of weight and momentum when she moves (which is accompanied by a cute little hopping sound that's very much in the vein of the blippy movement noises in early-80s arcade titles like Donkey Kong), and there are neat little touches all over the place, such as the boot-sequence replicating the self-test ROM-checks of vintage arcade cabinets, a sweat-drop appearing on Murti's face when she poops out a bomb, and the enemies turning towards the screen and cheering the player's demise when your last life is lost. It's a lot of fun, and draws on the classics whilst also feeling fresh and new.
I really appreciate the leaderboards being kept separate from the game itself, requiring the user to scan a QR Code in order to participate - this way, there are no possible problems if you're playing on a portable device away from an internet connection, or just don't care about that sort of thing.
Playing the native Linux version on the Steam Deck using the d-pad, I've occasionally encountered what seems to be an input bug - sometimes, seemingly when making a lot of twists and turns in quick succession when being chased, the controls will suddenly register that Right is being held even though it isn't, which will lead to death and a Continue screen where you cannot move away from the "No" option. Popping up the menus using the Steam Deck's dedicated buttons for this reveals that the d-pad is actually functioning fine when this is going on, and starting a new game from the main menu after being forced not to continue will see everything return to normal again, at least until the next time. This first happened to me in a run where I had reached Stage 180, which was quite disconcerting, though I was able to reproduce it shortly after starting a new game on a different day, too.
Aside from this, however, I've been having an excellent time with Murtop - it's definitely been a worthy addition to my library, and if you like Bomberman, Dig Dug, or any of the recent wave of vintage-inspired modern arcade games on Steam, you can't go far wrong by giving it a look.