As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. That probably resembles the mentality behind Indie Kombat, a competition in which two independent developers spend a month building competing games (putting in a maximum of one hour of work per day). The two competitors for Round 1 are Farbs, creator of Fishie Fishie, and Rob Fearon, creator of SY!NSO!. Possibly the coolest catch, though, is that the games have to be built from pre-existing game components – in this case, sprites from Fishie Fishie and SY!NSO!.

The competition began exactly one month ago today, meaning the games should be out now, right? Here’s the thing: according to Fearon, both games are finished, but because Farbs made his game in XNA for Xbox Live Indie Games, his game won’t be playable by the general public until it passes peer review. Therefore, he’s holding onto Fish Fish Bang Bang until Fish Squid Time Machine releases on XBLIG, at which point the earth will resume spinning and the voting process will begin. Phew!

To help tide you over, here’s the trailer for Fish Fish Bang Bang Fearon posted yesterday:

There’s something you need to know about Fish Fish Bang Bang, though. Having played the Indie Kombat build, we can tell you that the trailer only barely communicates just how insane the game is in motion. It’s a constant barrage of Minter-esque color and sound, sprinkled with hilarious text, Wilhelm screams and a hidden Heavy Rain easter egg. Yes, it’s as absurd (and fun) as it looks and sounds.

The fifteen-level Indie Kombat demo of Fish Fish Bang Bang is coming soon, followed by a 40-level full version that you’ll be able to purchase (pay-what-you-want style, of course) on Fearon’s personal site (http://www.bagfullofwrong.co.uk) a couple weeks later. Definitely keep your eye on this one, or at least as keep your eyes on it for as long as you can without risking seizure.

And Farbs: you should be worried.