Platform: Playstation 2

Genre: Puzzle

Number of Players: 1 - 2

Fantavision is an interesting game to say the least. Although it is in fact a puzzle game, it definitely isn’t another Tetris clone. In Fantavision, players take control of a fireworks display and a variety of landscapes ranging from cities to outer space. It may sound like an odd concept, but it’s really quite simple. Just link together three rockets of the same color (red, blue, or green) and either detonate them, or continue building the chain with the same colors or rockets of new colors. It is important however to pay attention to the rockets in your chain however as they fade after being on screen of a short time. Occasionally, the fireworks will leave behind flares, which can then be used to ignite rockets of the same color without having them linked. If you miss fireworks though, it drops the interest bar at the bottom of the screen that informs you of how interested the spectators are in the display you’re providing them. If your bar drops to zero, it’s game over.

Overall, the learning curve for Fantavision is pretty easy, even if you ignore the tutorials all together. However, novice players may get a bit frustrated trying to use a combination of quick on-screen movements and color linking. Once players get a feel for the gaming mechanics, understanding the appropriate timing as well as the tricks to get bonus items becomes nothing more than a though. The game can even be played in a two-player mode, which pits players head-to-head against one another in a battle to reach a certain number of detonations.

Graphically, the game is quite beautiful to behold. The colors blend with each other perfectly and the only real slow down is on the last few levels. Complete with a somewhat trance style soundtrack, the game more or less becomes a sort of hallucinogenic gaming experience. Nonetheless, Fantavision gives the player a slight taste of what the PS2 is capable of. Players also have the option of saving replays of the levels they’ve completed and can view levels at different angles and throw on various effects including things such as rain and snow.

The only downside of Fantavision is that it’s far too short. There are only eight levels in the game and although they do tend to be a bit lengthy, once the end is reached, the overall feeling of completion is really nothing more than that of let down. Additionally, there are only two modes of play, normal and hard, in single player mode and there is little variation between the two. Despite its drawbacks however, Fantavision is a game that can be enjoyed by most PS2 fans, and is definitely one of the quirkier PS2 titles out there.

 -mike-