Mimelet takes the shape of a short-blast mobile platformer, but then twists in some metroidvania elements to create something that needs a little more though than your usual A-to-B leaper. When it works, it’s really good, but it can be a little frustrating sometimes as well.
The game sees you controlling a little critter. There are simple controls – two buttons move you left and right, another lets you jump in the air. You can kill your foes by bouncing on their heads. And that’s where the game’s big idea comes into play.
When you kill an enemy, you take on their power. You need these powers to get past certain obstacles. Some platforms can only be jumped on if you’ve got one kind of power, some blocks can only be smashed if you’ve got another. Water? You’ll need a power to get across that too.
It turns each level into a little puzzle. You’re not moving from start to end, you’re zigging and zagging, back-tracking to get that power you need to get over the next obstacle. You need to put some thought into every challenge to get to the end of it, and that’s a lot of fun.
What’s not so much fun is when you make a mistake and have to traipse all the way through things you’ve already done to try again. There are fruits to collect as well, and sometimes you’ll get to the end of a level and realize you’ll have to go all the way back in a slightly different way to nab the last of them.
Mimelet is fun, but it isn’t quite fun enough to make that back-tracking enjoyable. When it works, it’s a brilliant glimpse of how to squish big ideas into a smaller package, and it’s definitely worth checking out. Just be prepared to get a bit annoyed from time to time.
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