Well all good things come too an end...which is why we miss Startrek the Next Generation....but I digress...

 

Energon/Superlink, the follow-up to Armada is reaching it's end game. So I figured it's time to give it a healthy review, for those who may have missed it and are thinking about getting it on DVD or what not...

 

Let's first go over the Pros and Cons

 

Pros:

Continuing story! We don't have to have "oh no! a giant robot! is he good or evil!"

We have an established continuity, we know who the major players are. And while there are new faces, there are old characters as well, including a VERY improved Hot Shot, and made Tidawave (TIDALWAVE!!!) the equivilent of Devestator.

 

New designs! One of the things that shined was the character/toy designs. Not counting the redecos (Treadbolt and Rapidrun), each toy was a fun purchase. Not a single "Armada Sideswipe" in the batch. Nice gimics as well, the kind that expand the play value, not limit. Terrorcons and omnicons came with weapons that all figures could use (and nicely priced). Powerlinking that you could mix and match autobots. Hypermodes that well...ummm, ok, they had missles...Scorpinok with his fan modes, Landmine with his cool articulation...Prime with...well...when you get Wingsabre he looks cool.

and another nice thing about these new designs for us oldschoolers...

 

G1 Homages out the wazzoo!

From Omega Supreme, to Wheeljacks face, a Quitesson to a Purple Galvatron. Scorpinoc, Bruticus, Superion, and Shockblast and Sixshot. All the things to appease old fanboys...

 

neat CG and animation...knows when to tone it down (the Megatron yawning is priceless)

 

Faceless minions! Both Autobot and Decepticons had random faceless guys that would get wasted by main characters. I liked this because it showed that a main character WAS a warrior better than others. Tidalwave went on a nice homicidal spree in early episodes.

 

A nice moving story. While Armada really only got good with Unicron in the end, Unicron is the main focus for 3/4s of the show. And he looks GREAT with the CG

Also a little more mature. Not RID kiddie...and definitly not "gotta catch em all!"

 

Optimus Prime:

one of THE toughest ever. From chewing out or even knocking out his soldiers when they don't follow orders, to taking the battle unto himself. This Prime has the steel ones for sure. He definitly knows the time to fight (see him vs Starscream).

and finally

NOT Armada lol. Which also means no kids. Yes there is Kicker, but he at least isn't a walking hostage/target. With the Energon Sabre he could hold his own.

 

 

Cons

Lose ends left and right...The story while moving and a continuation of armada, still left and leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Where did Unicron come from? What was that Energon Blaster? (seen once, then made into a bad toy)

 

Lack of characterization. While I am not the poster child for the Armada fan club, it did have one very high point: Starscream. He was one of THE most developed characters ever in kids television. My room mate wasn't a fan of the show, but even he couldn't stop watching the episode when Unicron took him out. Energon doesn't have anyone like that. Almost with Alpha Q and Scorpinok...but that hit a brick wall.

 

Direction...yes I loved the story with Unicron. But now the show seems to lose direction.

 

Deus ex Machina: unfortunatly this is employed in too many transformer shows in general, so I can't hold it against this show...but the do use it! From a sudden reformating just in time (wing sabre) to Primus himself bringing warriors from no where or joining the battle directly. Even Omega Supreme's main attacks weren't physical...he had these tractor beams from his hands. rarely used his actual weapons.

 

Minicons? They were the driving story in Armada, and crucial in the final battle against Unicron...yet only 3 appeared...guess they weren't so pivotal in the war after all.

 

Optimus Prime: Yes he was a pro..but also is a con. While a fantastic character, one of the more dissapointing toys and physical appearace. From useless trailer, to mis poportioned normal mode, he is not a fan favorite toy. Looks best when you buy the Wing Sabre figure for combination. And his mini version? don't get me started...

 

Now I actually was going to have a few more cons...but they addressed these perfectly with the Special Episode that really gets it's own catagory. The special was made for nitpickers...from transformations they pretty much left out of the show (tell me when we see Demolisher's Truck alt form?) or the combiners combining...this has it all. Energon/Superlink gets bonus points for this.

 

So for my final grade, I WAS going to give it a b-, but with bonus points it's bordering on b+/a- depending on the final ending...

Demolishor Transformed alot...they just dont usually do a splash segment for the Decepticons, considering they aren't the big heroes..Galvatron had one, and maybe Shockfleet.

 

Also...Energon won't be over until a few months...

I really didn't like Energon much at all, while the stories them selves were for the most part quite good, the elements that that the writers and artist decided to put into the show often ended up taking me out of the show and left me feeling frustrated if not disgusted.

 

I really hated all the “transformation splash screens�, Prime the most, I really didn’t see the point of hear Optimus Prime say all the parts that were connecting to him over and over for the one show.

 

Also I really hated the voices for quite a few of the characters, though the two biggest offenders has to be Demolisher and Cyclonus who’s voices were like listening to someone drag their finger nails on a chalkboard.

 

Though to me the worst element has to be Kicker, why oh why did this punk kid think he could tell the autobots what to do is beyond me, but even worse is that fact that not only did the autobots put up with him but half of the time it seems like they actually needed his input and what have been lost without him, and that includes Prime.

 

Overall Energon spawned quite a few cool toys, which we should be grateful for but as far as cartoon excellence goes it came up way short.

If you're referring to the dub..yes...they put some of the worst voice actors on there...Kicker was annoying.

On the otherhand, Superlink is the best TF series hands down...the voice actors are great, the comedy was perfect, the drama was done at the right times, and the VA's always handled it as it should be.

I love Kicker and Roadbuster in SL.

 

I hate Kicker and Ironhide in Energon....

 

As for the splash scenes, I think they're neat...it's just an anime staple. And the thing with Prime calling out his limbs...he sorta has to. They're just radio controlled drones, so he uses voice commands to initiate their combination....

Interesting review.

 

I enjoy Energon for what it is. A kids show for one of my favorite toy lines. Have no real pet peeves about anything.

I am realy hoping for another Ichikawa Manga(ala Linkage) to flesh Omega Supream's and the Combiners past, mabie throw in Unicron Team Rodimus and Planet Q?

My assesment:

cool toys for the most part

crappy show for the most part

Well I think the show is just really starting to get good so I won't judge it until the end. Though I'm still not too thrilled over the fact that the Hulk has more personality than unicron does. :wtf

 

The figures I think are some of the best ever and from the looks of it it's going to get even better. :thumb

Just wondering BC do you speak/understand Japanese well? Since you watch Superlink I'm assuming you do.

 

Well I like Energon, it has a lot of good toys and a decent show.

I'm not going to go too indepth as we in North America still have six months left of the series.

But I feel the toys were solid, wonderful homages that still managed to do something different.

 

Cartoon leaves much to be desired, but it has been thus far superior to Armada (at the same point in episodes), and despite the dub issues, they have still been better than Armada.