ElectroMaster is a universal iOS game that is simple to play but becomes more difficult as the game progresses.

The basic idea is this: You’re a girl that’s a terrible cook and can never wake up on time. Fruit isn’t a food source (sometimes) and there’s another girl that either runs away or is kidnapped every morning while you sleep in. All of this is explained between levels with cryptic dialog that is reminiscent of a 1980’s early arcade game or home port translation.

You play by touching the screen. The girl walks to where your finger is, and when she arrives she begins charging electricity. Holding your finger down longer charges more electricity. Touching elsewhere on the screen releases the electricity in a bolt.  The duration of the bolt is determined by the length of time you spend charging it.  You unlock new beam weapons as you progress.

The on-screen HUD shows your remaining hit points (in the form of hearts) and your score. There’s no indication of charging power, which I think would have just cluttered the already busy screen. The game isn’t afraid to throw senseless numbers of monsters at you, becoming incredibly crowded and busy quickly.  I tested the iPhone version and on the tiny screen it can sometimes be hard to see what’s happening, as you’re forced to keep your finger on the screen wherever the main character is located.  It doesn’t help that the center of the screen is your default starting position.

This game reminds me of Super Smash Brothers, which is a good thing.  You don’t kill enemies by shocking them, you only knock them back. Pushing them off the sides of the screen removes them from the game. You have to knock all of the enemies off of the screen to win.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with this game, though it does get a bit stale after everything’s unlocked and fifty or so levels have passed. The achievements with Game Center and OpenFeint integration help negate this a bit.

Oh, and when you die, the girl you’re trying to save gives you hints.  She will eventually give you the hint to tap repeatedly at the title screen.  This unlocks a new costume for the main character and raises the speed and difficulty of the game.  As of this writing I have found no way to revert back to the original mode, so do this at your own risk!

ElectroMaster is a fun game that has refreshing charm and quirkiness. If game was not free, I would not recommend it due to the amount of time it takes before the game becomes repetitive and stale. But, since the game is free, the couple of hours of fun are worth it.  I tested this app on an iPhone 3G and an iPhone 4 and it ran fine on both.

Rating: 4/5

ElectroMaster is available for free in the iOS App Store.