G1 on the other hand STILL has flat, 2-D characters who NEVER evolve (well, some Season 3 characters like Rodimus did, but people hated them in favor of shallow S1&2 characters)

I could stand Rodimus if the writers had given him a constant character development (starting out insecure, but finally overcoming his doubts and becoming THE new leader) instead of that lame "competent leader in even, whining loser in uneven episodes" we got thanks to the lack of communication between the writers. Regardless of what you think of the Marvel US comics, at least they were basically all written by the same guy who eventually resolved most of his plot threads and didn't have characters' characterizations totally jump off the track (except Grimlock between "King of the Hill" and "Mechanical Difficulties").

 

and save maybe for RID, is inferior compared to the writing of its predecessors

 

You mean "successors", right? :)

Gah! Thx for pointing that out :)

What is so great about the energon show. Its basically the same thing every episode. The Decepticons attack steal some energon then leave.

 

At least the G1 show had some variation. Now granted the shows were alittle strange but it was for kids and it was about 20 years ago. And I would prefer to watch it over Energon. After you watch a few episodes of energon you just get bored of it. All its about is stealing energon to bring back Unicron.

 

I think it is fun to watch the G1 show to see all the original characters, but My favorite show, hands down, is beast wars. And of course Family Guy

Oh yeah, here's the other thing I notice. The CGI characters don't even look like they are part of the rest of the cartoon either. Someone said it best a while back in a thread. "They float." They just don't look like they are a part of the rest of the cartoon. I still watch it and record it. (for private use of course. :thumb ) I just think that a few improvements and bam, it would be an awesome show. It is not that popular except for people like us. That's why it has a 5:30 am time slot. I just wish they didn't have that posing nonesense. Aaarrgh! It just drives me crazy, yet I still watch it. Hmm....

Watch the episodes again. Count how often Optimus Prime's "Autobots, transform... and roll out!" transformation sequence from MTMTE is recycled. Sometimes it's mirrored, sometimes the sequence is reversed (from truck to robot instead of from robot to truck), sometimes it's using another background... but that doesn't change the fact that (almost) every G1 episode from the first two seasons is recycling Prime's transformation sequence over and over again.

It is still better than that lame-o stuff on Energon. The Decepticons don't do that. That's why I root for them. Yeah!!! Kill those posing bastards!!

I think the cartoon was better for the simple fact that when they transformed, they didn't have that generic pose transform crap that's in the Energon cartoon.  That is so cheap!  I mean c'mon.

nope, they just morphed not to mention they were really poorly drawn. Give me a break people. It doesnt get better than 3D animation with a toon shader. I could careless what they turn into, show is written way better than G1, it doesnt have crape animation and everyone looks like their toys and the characters dont flash rainbow colors on the fly. The trasnformation sequences in RID and Energon are amazingly well done, deal with it....its better than G1. Hell scoobydoo is better than G1 and anyone that cant see that needs to buy, borrow or rent the G1 DVDs and have their memory brought to speed.\

 

 

Trust me, reallity hits when you watchem again. I remembered them all detailed and the storys complex then I watched as an adult and realized that even pokemon is a higher quality show than G1. Sad but true. Children have an incredible imagination.

Whatever dude, I have watched G1 again. They don't say "Optimus Prime Transform." That is terrible. It is my only real gripe about the new cartoon. That generic pose/transform thing sucks major ass. You can't sit here and tell me that is an improvement. They use the same Transform scene with the Autobots, it starts with them talking about themselves in third person like they have Downe Syndrome or something, then they go up, way up in the air with a blurred background, then they transform, then they pose, then they end up on the ground like they never went up in the air and stuff. WTF? The Decepticons don't do that (usually). They just transform. Why the hell do you have to alert the world, just transform.

 

Pokemon higher quality? :roll Right.

How many dozens of times are you going to use that anime pose crit as part of your defense? The pose has zero affect on the quality of the storyline, character development, or toyline...

What is so great about the energon show. Its basically the same thing every episode. The Decepticons attack steal some energon then leave.

AAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA.

Somewhere along the lines, you seem to assume that Generation One WASN'T that plotline...but every single stinking episode up until the movie revolved around Energon theft..and even some season 3 stuff did.

 

The plot to Superlink is much deeper than "steal Energon"....You claiming this just shows how ignorant you are to the show and it's plot.

 

You guys are G1 fans...there goes your credibility immediately...why even argue? you're wrong the moment you open your mouth.

Man, this thread is interesting. Here's where I stand.

 

I like G1; in fact, I'd even say that it is my favorite line. This doesn't necessarily dismiss all other incarnation of TF's as crap. Yes, nostalgic value DOES sway my opinion, but that doesn't mean the importance of G1 is dismissive. G1 did have is problems in animation errors, etc, but many of the characters DID in fact get development over the course of the 3 (or 4) seasons of the show. Many shows, in fact, dealt with individual characters and their own personalities. The problem comes, as others have mentioned, with the lack of a coheasive whole. This stems from the fact that the show did not originally set out to create a mythology or universe. IT WAS CREATED TO SELL TOYS!!! Only after the line came into true success did the mythology begin to come into play (ala the movie and season 3).

The stories improved, but again, you have to remember the time period that this was created in...the 80's. The show was pretty above standard compared to its competators.

The concept of animation has changed over the years as well. It's impossible to compare the original shows animation to Energons mix of anime and CGI. There's just no way. I think that we need to look at the shows on their individual merits. Does the animation in G1 (aside from a few eps and the movie), absolutely. There's just really no excuse for some of the errors throughout the second portion of season 2 especially. But, that's life; it didn't affect the millions of kids who watched it then, nor does it bother me terribly as an adult now. The more recent incarnation of TF's aren't with out their problems either. There have been voice over f'ups in both Armada and Energon (not to say G1 didn't have it as well)..and then there's that pose thing, but I think that it has been covered.

I think that one of the main problems that myself and others who favor G1 have witht he more recent shows are the fact that the show are produced for a Japanese audience and simply ported over and dubbed for the US. With the craptastic voice actors they use for many of these series' many of the them take away from what could be great storylines. (Yes, some of the stuff they come up with in these series is pretty damn cool) It's just ashame its ruined by terrible voice acting, lame PL poses, and ridiculously unecessary comic relief. Ugh.

Part of what made G1 so memorable were the voices that were infused with each of the bots. These had a cathartic effect on the audience that made such memorable characters, even without the greatest stories.

 

As far as popularity...sorry, but I think that G1 has it here. In it's third year as a toy line, it spawned an animated movie (which ended up being a critical and financial failure) but nevertheless, it wouldn't have been released had not the rampant popularity of the toys demanded it. Energon doesn't even come close to what G1 was at its inception. This isn't to say that it isn't popular, just not as much as everyone here believes. My friends who have kids around 6-10 years old are into Power Rangers, TMNT, and Spiderman. And I think it is recognized that G1 OP is THE most recognizable TF, or even 80's toy ever.

 

So until Hasbro gets production rights back to the TF shows, I'll watch them, but I don't think they'll match G1 IN MY OWN MIND. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what ramifications the "G1 based" movie will bring. I just hope that its not like what I hear AVP is going to be - A franchise killer.

Bodycount, you seem to be here simply because you enjoy picking fights. Why don't you try it at a pub instead?

The G1 charachters like someone else posted here had personalities that you could relate to. You knew where each charachter was coming from. The toys from G1 look outdated now but back then they were the coolest things going and even today they still are. G1 is where it all started for me and its where it will end for me as well. Theres nothing like seeing G1 Optimus Prime and Megatron locked in heated battles and lets not forget little Bumblebee trying to be a heroic warrior like Optimus Prime. Or lets not forget Starscream always trying to come up with a plan to take over the Decepticons from Megatron. G1 in my opinion was the best.

 

 

:usa

What this man said.