Unlike a majority of their ‘80s contemporaries, The Transformers have managed to maintain their popularity by continuously reinventing themselves over the years. Their small-screen adventures have fuelled the imaginations of children and adults alike since 1984, and although some things may change from show to show, you can always count on an Optimus Prime to stand against a Megatron in a final battle.
Although some versions of the Cybertronian wars were excellent, some were quite poor, so jump into the Space Bridge as we present 5 of the best Transformers TV shows and 5 of the worst.
10 BEST: Rescue Bots
In much the same vein as Marvel Superhero Adventures and Justice League Action, Transformers: Rescue Bots is a light-hearted introduction into the Transformers mythos for young children. Not quite ready to fight Decepticons, Optimus Prime charges Autobots Chase, Heatwave, Blades and Boulder to learn more about humanity while serving as rescue and law-and-order agents in a small East Coast community.
To aid in that end, the Autobots are paired with human liaisons and advisors. Teaching youngsters safety tips and procedures, Rescue Bots is a cheerful and carefree romp.
9 WORST: Beast Machines
A follow-up to the widely popular and acclaimed Beast Wars series, Beast Machines relocated the action to Cybertron, where Megatron had conquered the planet. Reducing all Cybertronians to mindless Vehicons, the surviving Maximals launched a guerrilla (pardon the pun) war against Megatron for control of the planet.
The series was well done and felt like a more mature continuation of the Beast Wars story, but several elements detracted from its overall quality. Firstly, the fate of Rhinox, though an interesting twist, seemed too out of character from what came before despite the series’ rationalization of it. Also, the mystical bent of the Transformers’ sparks as well as the revelation of Cybertron having once been organic seemed to fly in the face of previous continuity and wasn’t particularly well-received.
8 BEST: Transformers: Animated
Transformers: Animated garnered some backlash when it was announced, with fans citing a more rounded design to the characters as too ‘cartoonish’ and geared for too young an audience. While there’s no doubt the series appealed to youngsters, there was enough freshness and quality to appease older fans.
Aside from their heavily G1-inspired aesthetics and references both overt and subtextual, the series provided great narrative twists, such as the hidden Decepticon amongst the Autobots’ ranks and the secret of the Autobots’ spaceship. The series’ explanation for the Seekers’ similar design was inspired, as was the idea to have the Decepticons tower over the Autobots, adding more urgency to their battles.
7 WORST: Transformers: The Movie
Technically not a TV series, Transformers: The Movie was a bridge between Season 2 and 3 of the original cartoon show and only stayed in theatres for about a month. It had more life on TV during the late ‘80s being aired on ‘special’ weekends during the afternoon, so it’s fair to place it on this list.
The film introduced youngsters to a whole new generation of Autobots and Decepticons like Ultra Magnus, Hot Rod, and Galvatron, as well as the planet-gobbling world Unicron. However, it is infamously most remembered for scarring a generation of children by viciously eliminating most of the Autobots and Optimus Prime in the most visceral ways possible. If only for this reason, it earns its “worst” spot on this list.
6 BEST: Transformers: Prime
The announcement of a new Transformers series is usually met with hesitant optimism. When Prime was announced, fans were thrown into a frenzy, as it was revealed that the iconic voice actors of the G1 Optimus Prime and Megatron, Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, would be reprising their respective roles for the series.
The series itself was well-paced and beautifully rendered in CGI. Like most Transformers series, there were nods to previous generations, but Prime did it without having to bash it over fans’ heads. Lastly, keeping the Autobot and Decepticon contingents small in number lent itself to greater characterization and storytelling.
5 WORST: Unicron Trilogy
The Unicron Trilogy refers to three series that began with Transformers: Armada (2002), led to Energon (2004) and concluded with Cybertron (2005). The series introduced the concept of Mini-Cons, small Transformers who when joined to their larger compatriots could unleash tremendous power. The universal existential threat of Unicron would figure prominently as well.
Armada did well enough initially with young children while reactions amongst longtime fans were lukewarm, these got worse with Energon and Cybertron. Although sporting great animation, the concept of Mini-Cons was never met with great excitement and the constant format changes and upgrades of the robots themselves was too frequent to serve any other purpose than selling toys.
4 BEST: The Transformers (G1)
The granddaddy that started them all, the original Transformers (G1) cartoon is notable for having introduced the key characters, concepts and overall world of the Transformers that would influence every iteration of them for generations to come.
Aside from nostalgic appeal, the series had some stellar episodes that highlighted the heroic nature of the Autobots and the evil extent the Decepticons would go to in their quest to rob the Earth of all its resources. Some standout episodes of the second season include “The Golden Lagoon,” “War Dawn” and “Cosmic Rust,” but the 13 episodes of the first season are almost all impeccably done.
3 WORST: Robots in Disguise (2001)
Robots in Disguise was the first Transformers series that did not tie into G1 continuity, existing in a reality all its own. The action involved the vehicle-based Autobots vying to stop the animal-form Predacons from stealing Earth’s energy. Eventually, the Predacons created a sub-group from Cybertronian proto-forms and named them Decepticons, who are clearly modeled after the G1 Combaticons.
The series had an interesting premise, but the animal vs car angle was always jarring and never gelled just right. Further, the voice-overs never seemed to synch up with the animation. Overall, the series felt like a feeble attempt to continue the Transformers' legacy.
2 BEST: Beast Wars
The first substantial attempt to reimagine the Transformers franchise (in the West at least) Beast Wars was a huge critical and financial success. Presenting a future where the Autobots and Decepticons respectively reformatted themselves into Maximals and Predacons, the action took place on a planet that was eventually revealed to be prehistoric Earth.
Taking organic shapes as their alternate modes to avoid Energon overloads, the Maximals and Predacons clashed in a series that never shied away from excellent characterization and quality storytelling. Packed with humor, pathos and a healthy respect for G1 lore, Beast Wars is about as good as Transformers gets.
1 WORST: Generation 2
As a cartoon and toyline, Transformers began to lose steam in the late ‘80s, partially due to Takara slowly withdrawing from toy design and mostly from the bonehead idea of killing off Optimus Prime. A relaunch was attempted in the mid-'90s under the banner Generation 2, which for the first year of toys consisted of repainted and re-accessorized G1 figures.
In much the same way, the old G1 cartoon was reworked with a few CGI framing screens and some new music and aired under the same banner. As great as it was to see the old episodes on air again, the CGI was loud and distracting and the characters didn’t match their toy color schemes. Overall, some originality in the whole line would have been appreciated in what must be the laziest attempt at a Transformers relaunch to date.