Mimeo for iPhone is Several Kinds of Old-School

A lot of games try to duplicate the 2-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit or 16-bit aesthetic, but Mimeo and the Kleptopus King pulls them all into one package. Shaun Inman’s work in progress is jump-and-run platformer with a twist: The power-ups don’t transform the eponymous main character, but instead alter the world around him. You start in a 2-bit, black-and-white world, which gains color and detail each time you collect cartridges scattered around, culminating in a rich, 16-bit level. Enemy behavior also changes with each power-up, adding some puzzle strategy to the game.

Inman’s game got partial funding from MakeWork, a fund for Chattanooga, Tenn., artists to work on “someday-I’d-love-to” projects. This one seems like money well spent, though I wish Inman played up the bit shifting a little more with progressively blockier graphics as you move towards black-and-white. Check out Inman’s blog post to hear some music from the game (which grows more complex with each power-up), or see it in action on Vimeo. Patience, though: Mimeo and the Kleptopus King won’t be out for iPhone and iPod Touch until the holidays. [Shaun Inman via TouchArcade, thanks Grobert!]