The game's objective is to use a cursor to select three or more launched fireworks (called "flares") of the same color in a row and then to detonate them to increase the player's score.

After successfully pitching the project to Sony, Fantavision was supervised by the company's first-party development head Shuhei Yoshida and was completed by a small team in a short time frame.

The game consists of a series of stages set in darkened, 3D environments where brightly colored fireworks called '"flares" are launched onto the screen and will hover for a period of time before disappearing.

[8][9][10] Different types of flares can be encountered including "peonies", which explode in a circular fashion; "willows", which have sparks that descend downward in dome shape; and "multiflares", which break apart into smaller pieces that can be detonated a second time.

If flares are continuously captured and detonated for a specific period of time while keeping this meter from depleting, the player eventually advances to the next stage.

If the player captures it and detonates it with at least three colored flares, a time-limited bonus stage is entered where a large number of fireworks appear at a rapid pace.

[17] Kanetaka admitted to having no experience programming, but prototyped Fantavision on the computer application Klik & Play and refined the idea through much trial and error.

With the PS1 technically incapable of displaying the sheer number of desired visual effects on-screen simultaneously, the director felt the impending release of the PS2 was the right time to pitch the game.

After witnessing more fireworks demonstrations for research, the game's creators were still not initially confident they could replicate the more complex portions of the shows as no technological precedent existed.

[17] Ultimately, Fantavision was marketed to showcase the PS2's ability to provide particle effects through its graphics accelerator and trademark Emotion Engine.

[1][21] Despite this, Yoshida claimed that both he and his team were "ridiculed" within the company for working on a seemingly small-scale puzzle game during Sony's move to newer hardware.

[25][26] Yoshida explained that this was because Sony did not want to rush a large number of its products and compete with the slew of high quality, third-party support the console was receiving at the time.

[2] To promote the game during the following months, Fantavision was featured at the Tokyo Game Show in April,[30] at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in May,[31] at the Tokyo Big Sight as part of the main event of the 21st Century Dream Technology Exhibition from July into August[32] and at Olympia London for the European Computer Trade Show in September.

[11][34] An updated version titled Futari no Fantavision was released in Japan on July 4, 2002, and included a two-player mode and a remixed soundtrack.

[8][9][47][48][51][59] Eric Bratcher of Next Generation lauded, "The screen constantly erupts in blossoms of bright, overloaded color and even the backgrounds pack a visual punch as you move from Earth to outer space and beyond.

"[51] GameSpot writer Mark Davis complimented the backdrops as "teeming with detail" and how the game maintained a consistently high framerate, even during its most intense fireworks displays.

[8][9][44][50] Paul Fitzpatrick of PlayStation Official Magazine – UK inferred that its comprisal of only eight levels (16 counting hard mode) was one of the game's few yet major shortcomings, but nonetheless acknowledged it as "addictive, innovative, and very playable.

[44][57] Frost, Fitzpatrick, Perry, IGN's Marc Nix, and Game Informer's Jay Fitzloff all likened Fantavision to a simple technology demonstration.

Hill called this mode "hugely entertaining"[67] while the staff of Edge declared that its inclusion "cements Fantavision's status as an addictive, creative, and excellent title".

[59] Though he enjoyed the two-player option in Fantavision, Semerad felt it was not as entertaining as similar experiences in other puzzle games possibly due to its "abstract" gameplay.