Gauntlet's Guide to Beast Wars and Best Machines

First off, let me state that I've been a great fan of the Transformer series since I was a little kid. I watched all their adventures from day one. And so I can say what was done right and wrong with the reinvention of the series.

Now, for those of you unfamiliar, Transformers was a series where robots would transform into cars, guns, trucks, etc. Led by Optimus P rime of the Autobots against Megatron of the Decepticons. The characters had fleshed-out personalities and, despite the fact that it was based more on the toy line than anything else, it had terrific writing.

However, for a number of reasons I won't get into here, it ended. Well, it was continued in comic books and had a complete series in Japan, but it's days in North America were totally over.

Until a few years back that is. The series would be reinvented with computer gra phics no less! Now, instead of the old machines deal, we would see transforming animals. At first this disappointed me. The machines were such a vital part of the series. That's what made them cool. I didn't know if I could like them as animals. But I stayed on and watched. The idea didn't repulse me after a few shows. The show had good points and bad points.

First the good. No one can question the effects. Wholly superior to cell animation, the computer generated "Maximals" were a step in the right direction. The robot designs started off good and got even better (with only a few exceptions). There was an actual storyline! And it was pretty good too! The characters (for the most part) were well made and thought out. All were given nice, distinctive quirks which made the series great. Dinobot, the rogue Predacon, being my own personal favorite. I liked the show very much and was sad when it ended prematurely with some loose ends never answered.

But the show had it's bad points as well. Naturally, that's what I tend to focus on in these rants. First, and most immediately noticeable, is that the leaders were once again Optimus Prime and Megatron. Now I've said it before and I'll say it again, it does them no good to reproduce the first greats into endless amounts of copies. These new versions really didn't act like their G1 counterparts either, adding insult to injury. With Optimus being wholly defensive and Megatron being nutty. Now it ha s been argued well that Optimus and Megs are icons of the series, I counter with the fact that before Beast Wars the Japanese had many other leaders that were NOT Optimus or Megatron. In fact, they had a great deal of leaders before then. Beast Wars did, however, bring them back to Japan and they are now duplicated endlessly. As only copies of the original, they cannot aspire to be greater. Megatron and Optimus were the best leaders. You cannot copy them and expect to make something equall y as good, you must try something different!

The second most noticeable fault was that most of the other characters were derivatives of G1 names as well! Inferno, Silverbolt, Dinobot, they and more were named from characters of the original series, however their personality was completely different to the previous versions! While this may not bother new fans much, it nags at the fans who know them well from the earlier series. Along the same lines is the fact that the "Autobot " and "Decepticon" names were altered to that of "Maximal" and "Predacon" and later (in another series) "Vehicon". The change REALLY annoyed older fans. No longer were the tried and true symbols used, but were changed to something wholly unnecessary!

The second most noticeable fault is that the main villain - Megatron - was just silly. He has baths with his rubber ducky, was defeated by a FART (of all things) and managed to blow away his own troops at the end of the series! Such a villain cannot be taken seriously at all. For minor villains, silliness is good, but for the big, major villains, such actions are inappropriate.

The lack of characters also hurt the series. While it gave more focus to it, it made the toyline seem phony. One aspect of Transformers that always made it strong was it's connection to the toyline. The toys were actually in the series, even if they had a minor part. No longer is this true. However, for all it's faults, I can't say Beast Wars was totally horrible. In fact, I even liked it. The stories were well crafted, the characters well-rounded (maybe not the villains), and the designes were great. I think the show was a great cotinuation of the seires even with it's faults.

And now to Beast Machines. Hooo-BOY! Where to start?

Well, first the good. The desi gns had a real techno-punk feel to them. Most were pretty good. A few were even great. The character development within the series was done with style. The plots were riveting and enticing. Having Rhinox go bad was something I'll bet nobody saw coming! Cheetor developed nicely from being the kid in Beast Wars to the capable leader at the end of Beast Machines. The plots were fast paced, and exciting.

But, perhaps the plots were a bit TOO fast paced. Miss one, and you are lost for th e entire series. Lord knows I felt lost after missing one key episode and wondering for the rest of the series how Tankor got the key to Vector Sigma. They also lacked the episodes that were pure character development, like Beast Wars had. Such episodes allowed one to like the characters better. Maybe Black Arachnia's total wimpyness would have been easier to swallow if there was an episode dedicated to her feelings. And maybe Rattrap's personality could be salvaged some from Beast Wars if we find out WHY he's acting like such a wimp and WHERE his tech knowledge came from (it was always Rinox's field, or Black Arachnia's).

While character development within the series was excellent, the transition from Beast Wars to Beast Machines was done poorly. Even shabbily. Rattrap went from being the confident, cocky demolition expert to the wimpiest sap ever seen in either series. Black Arachnia went from the flippant warrior to some sorrowful wishy-washy lover girl. All her technical expertise lost and somehow given to Rattrap. Optimus Primal became totally different. Once a military commander, he's now some sort of shaman guy. While I don't really mind that aspect, it's very different from what he once was. On the good side, Megatron has totally lost it in between series. Which makes him a lot more believable as a villain when he's not talking to his rubber ducky in the bath tub. Megatron lost all the humor which was once in the character and, while I miss h im constantly saying "yessssss" to himself, I like the fact that he's an actual threat that only Optimus can face alone, something that was lacking in Beast Wars. However, the series' total disregard for the character development in Beast Wars angered fans of that series greatly.

While some character designs were gold (Jetstorm, Cheetor, Thrus t to name a few), others were just plain horrible (Nightscream, Black Arachnia). Rattrap became, what I kindly refer to as, the "British school chum" (no offense meant to any British people who may be reading this). His face just looks like it came out of those uniform schools I see on TV. "Oh, no Optimus, I lost me knickers!" I dunno WHAT they were thinking when they came up with that design. And Botanica ..... She goes from odd plant-like robot to .... prettier, bu t still odd plantlike robot! What a useless design. And such a contrived character. I saw that "bold new character" coming from miles away. But lastly, the character design I liked least was Optimus Primal's. Why? He did not have the Optimus hat. Seriously. There's absolutely nothing connecting him with the "Prime" name. All the Optimuses in all the series had that hat (Lio Convoy, God Ginari, Black Convoy, etc), it's what made the Optimus' who they were. Without it, he 's just some smuck monkey! Which brings me to my next point: the characters had totally different features than the Beast Wars versions. Much is to be said about having the same face as a way of establishing who someone is. Megatron had the same face as Galvatron and all of his toy counterparts. Optimus had his hat and face cover. While the bodies may change beyond recognition, the faces remained the same so characters could be easily recognized. Why not continue to do that? Certainly Ratt rap's old face is superior to the "British school chum" look!

The lack of good villains also hurt the series. Megatron's forces usually consisted of three generals and a number of drones. Totally lacking in personality. The series needed more variety of villains. I know Megs was all hyped up on conformity, but maybe it wouldn't have to be one of his forces. It may be nice to have a different enemy. Lord knows that the toy line wasn't referenced! But fighting w ith such overpowering odds does not help the story.

The end of the series was a complete shock to everyone, I'd say. The planet Cybertron becomes totally technorganic and everyone has a technorganic beast mode. While that's a fine ending for fans of that particular series, to old G1 fans it was a complete slap in the face. We've always loved the "robots-as-machines" aspect. While the new robots as animals deal was all right, the variety was the best part of the f ranchise. So, basically, if you're new to the TF series, Beast Wars/Machines is a great series you should look into with some great character development and great plots. However if you are a loyal fan of the G1 stuff it's almost an insult, so stay away from Beast Machines!

I am Gauntlet and this has been Gauntlet's guides.

Affiliates

Blyka's Door
E-Can Factory
MMAyla
MM BN Chrono X
MM PC Website
Protodude's RM Corner
Reploid Research Lavatory
RM AMV Station
RM EXE Online
RM EXE Zone
RM:Perfect Memories
Sprites INC