FantaVision
| FantaVision | |
|---|---|
 North American PlayStation 2 cover art | |
| Developer(s) | SCEI |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. |
| Composer(s) | Soichi Terada (JP Release) |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Distribution | DVD |
FantaVision is a PlayStation 2 title from Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. It is a real-time puzzle game involving fireworks. It relies on quick color matching and symbol recognition skills.
FantaVision was at first a tech demo for the PlayStation 2, but it surprised many as something that actually could be a game, resulting in its release. Initially, the game was released in Japan, only featuring single player mode. The American and European releases of the game, which were launch titles, were released with two-player mode support.
Gameplay
In this title, fireworks or flares are launched onto the screen, where they hover for a period of time before disappearing. The player controls the direction of a "guideline" ray extending from the circular cursor which allows a flare along the ray to be "captured". The goal is to string together three or more flares of the same color, and then detonate the flares. More points can be scored by creating a chain reaction, by causing new flares to touch the sparks of detonated flares of the same color, and by creating a daisy chain, which allows flares of multiple colors to be detonated at the same time. Flares not detonated within a certain period of time are considered missed flares, and cause a Play Meter on screen to decrease; the game ends when the Play Meter is empty.
Stages
During each level or stage, the camera slowly floats through a darkened environment which serves as the backdrop against which gameplay takes place. There are a total of eight stages in four areas.
Starmines
In addition to normal fireworks / flares which can be detonated, white stars periodically appear during play. These can be captured and detonated along with an existing set of three or more flares. For each star captured in this fashion, the player earns a letter of the word "Starmine". After collecting all eight letters, a large glowing Starmine is launched onto the screen. If the player captures it and detonates it with at least three colored flares, a time-limited bonus mode is entered where a large number of fireworks appear at a rapid pace. The more flares detonated along with the Starmine, the longer the bonus mode lasts.
Versus mode
A two-player versus mode is also in the game. In the mode, players frantically detonate fireworks in a race to a preset total of detonated flares. In this mode, there are additional power-ups which can be captured and detonated to either increase the size of the play area (while decreasing that of the opponent), or switch play areas and undetonated fireworks with the opponent. By using these mechanisms, it is possible to steal flares intended for the opponent's side of the screen, including during an opponent's Starmine bonus.
Futari no FantaVision (aka FANTAVISION for you and me)
To refine the limited single player mode of the Japanese version, in 2002, Futari no FantaVision (FantaVision for You and Me) was released to the Japanese market. Major differences include the two-player mode and remixed soundtrack of the previous version. This version is also sometimes referred to as FantaVision Version 2.
Soundtrack
The music played during the game differs between the Japanese, North American and European versions. The music from the Japanese version consists of techno music composed by Soichi Terada, while the North American version uses a mix of techno and new age music, and the European version contains mostly dance music. While there are no official soundtrack releases for the American and European soundtrack, both of the Japanese soundtracks were released to the public. Also, the Japanese and European versions of the game feature female voicing while the American game features male voices.
| FantaVision Original Soundtrack | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "FANTAVISION ~ OPENING" | 1:03 | ||||||||
| 2. | "SOUTHISLAND ~ STAGE1,2" | 4:40 | ||||||||
| 3. | "SUBSPACE ~ STAGE3,4" | 4:40 | ||||||||
| 4. | "MOONY ~ STAGE5,6" | 4:11 | ||||||||
| 5. | "INFINITY ~ STAGE7,8" | 4:13 | ||||||||
| 6. | "STARMINE ~ STARMINE" | 4:10 | ||||||||
| 7. | "EXPOSITOR ~ DEMO" | 4:32 | ||||||||
| 8. | "COMFORT ~ GAME OVER" | 0:53 | ||||||||
| 9. | "INTEGRAL ~ EXPLAIN/STAFF" | 0:44 | ||||||||
| 10. | "INTEGRAL(ORGAN)" | 1:03 | ||||||||
| 11. | "SOUTHISLAND(CONTRARY)" | 4:01 | ||||||||
| 12. | "INFINITY(PRIMARY)" | 3:21 | ||||||||
| 13. | "MOONY(ELEMENTARY)" | 3:46 | ||||||||
| 14. | "FANTAVISION(REPRISE)" | 2:08 | ||||||||
| Futari no FantaVision Original Soundtrack | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | ||||||||
| 1. | "fantavision [for you and me] ~ opening" | 2:18 | ||||||||
| 2. | "potal ~ vs stage 1, 2 [evening seaside]" | 4:13 | ||||||||
| 3. | "gigantic ~ vs stage 3, 4 [out of orbit]" | 4:00 | ||||||||
| 4. | "pagoda ~ vs stage 5, 6 [planetasia]" | 3:50 | ||||||||
| 5. | "tubular ~ vs stage 7, 8 [strange space-time]" | 3:47 | ||||||||
| 6. | "starlight ~ single starmine" | 1:29 | ||||||||
| 7. | "starshell ~ single stramine" | 1:57 | ||||||||
| 8. | "starmine ~ vs starmine" | 1:25 | ||||||||
| 9. | "admire ~ vs replay" | 3:18 | ||||||||
| 10. | "coupler ~ intermission" | 0:16 | ||||||||
| 11. | "integral [advanced] ~ instruction" | 1:53 | ||||||||
| 12. | "southisland [advanced] ~ single stage 1, 2 [evening seaside]" | 4:02 | ||||||||
| 13. | "subspace [advanced] ~ single stage 3, 4 [out of orbit]" | 4:07 | ||||||||
| 14. | "moony [advanced] ~ single stage 5, 6 [planetasia]" | 3:55 | ||||||||
| 15. | "infinity [advanced] ~ single stage 7, 8 [strange space-time]" | 3:54 | ||||||||
| 16. | "expositor [advanced] ~ single replay" | 2:58 | ||||||||
| 17. | "comfort ~ game over" | 0:54 | ||||||||
| 18. | "fantavision [display] ~ opening" | 2:35 | ||||||||
Reception
On release, Famitsu magazine scored the original PlayStation 2 version of the game a 31 out of 40,[1] and gave Futari no FantaVision a 30 out of 40.[2]