It’s no secret that I like rhythm games. It’s hard to imagine that someone could be serious about both music and games without drawing at least some pleasure from titles like Elite Beat Agents and Guitar Hero.

I had heard that Electroplankton was some sort of experimental music game, but I never really knew what to expect. I wasn’t expecting to play it this soon, but GameFly was backed up with Halo 3 rentals and somehow this was sent to me instead of a flashy new title.

Electroplankton is really not much of a game. I saw every level in under an hour. There were about 10-12 different areas, each with little plankton creatures that would manipulate tones in different ways. The spontaneous nature of the music is a lot of fun, but my ears quickly grew tired when there was no melody to follow. I breezed through the levels, and after figuring out what made each one unique, I thought, “Now what?” Well, that was all there was.

Fortunately, one of my friends was around. He took a look at it and played it in an entirely different way. One level is set up with four plankton, each with its own tonal pattern and range. The notes change depending on the lines you draw for them to follow on the DS screen. While I drew straight lines, circles, and spirals, he drew different sorts of lines that were more abstract. Suddenly the tones became something new.

Electroplankton really is a neat experiment – the way players toy with the tones is a mark of individuality. The abstract nature of the game allows for more creativity, which is fantastic. However, the experimental nature of the title makes it less of a game and more of an interactive display. I would not buy this game, and together, my friend and I played the rental copy for less than two hours. While I admire the innovation in this game, it seems like it would work better if incorporated into a more structured game.