Narrator: "Many living years ago, life existed but not the life you're thinking of. The Goodtime-bots led by Old Man-Bot raged war with Wabuu-Tron and the evil Dingo-cons. Their conflict would led them to Planet Phelous."
I feel like the Goodtime-bots would easily defeat the Dingo-cons on their own, but being led by OldMan-bot? and going against the mighty Wabuu-tron?? That evens the playing field a bit....
Fun fact: in Japan, Energon Megatron actually *was* called Galvatron throughout the show. The purple form being called Galvatron General. As for Armada in Japan, that Galvatron was simply Megatron S.
Nice to see you dipping into some of the later Transformers series Phelous and the Unicron trilogy is ripe for mockery, despite that it's pretty classic to me. You didn't even get to the planet of giant, Scottish construction equipment or the cars that can drive in space.
Ah yes the unicorn trilogy, the trilogy that wasn't really a trilogy since only Energon was a sequel to Armada. Cybertron was completely unrelated in Japan and was haphazardly marketed as the third installment in English language territories after the fact. The is most obvious in the fact that in Energon Transformers were widely integrated into Earth where as in Cybertron they were back to being "Robots in Disguise" and there weren't any other references to the other two other than a vague description that the black hole threatening Cybertron was created by Unicron...somehow.
Their similar in aesthetics, they had line wide gimmicks and the plot had something to do with unicron. Atleast they tried! (Rest in peace Gilbert Gottfried)
They specifically said that the black hole was created by Unicron being stuck in the Energon Star, the star collapsed, and boom, continuity- and multiverse-eating calamity! Also, Megatron got out and used the remains of Unicrons body to forge the Armor of Unicron for himself. The armor helped the dub explain A LOT of the bizarre shadowy abilities that Megs displayed in the show, including the ability to reformat himself and other Cons that Unicron showed in the Gen 1 movie.
To be fair changing canonicity and continuity between English and Japanese dubs is a long lasting tradition. RID and Armada are still part of G1 continuity in Japan, and Animated shares its Continuity with the Michael Bay movies. This is why exploring the transformers timeline can be like reading a 4 dimensional road map.
Not exactly; Armada is a separate entity from G1, even in Japan, and while Animated was stated in Japan to be part of the Bay-verse, the dub never actually got around to finishing the job. Also, RID wasn't originally part of their G1, but was retconned into it after its release, which must have been a real headache for the Japanese writers to fit it in.
You've never actually seen those shows, have you? The only Sunbow show of that era that I remember actually discussing the Soviets at all cast them as HeroesOfAnotherStory.
I will always be weirded out by the fact that the VA of Eddy of Ed, Edd, n Eddy was ever in a transformers cartoon. That plus the fact that I actually watched the entire Unicron trilogy shows at all.
Buddy, Sam Vincent was also the singing voice of Sonic in Sonic Underground, in addition to being in a lot of Barbie movies... that ship sailed long ago.
After only seeing the first episode of "Armada," I also found it weird hearing Eddy's voice in Transformers. Or at least hearing it come out of a dopey character.
If he hates Optimus Prime without his faceplate. Wait until he sees Transformers Prime, that show Optmus speaking without his faceplate everytime the Autobots are in their base. Same goes Transformers Animated
I like that they did new stuff for the Unicron Trilogy, unlike today where everything had to be based on G1. I mean, it kinda sorta was still based on G1, but it was still more different than it is now.
As some-one who likes Prime and knows more about the original incarnation, along with G4 which re-hashed it, it's interesting to see how experimental Hasbro were with Transfomers through-out the 90's and 2000's. But then Michael Bay and Steven Speilberg came along...
Same, I loved Starscream arc in Armada and the fact Megatron loved fighting Optimus so much he was actually depressed when he died. The story probably could have been tightened a but but overall, it was still very enjoyable.
@@chsparkle aramda megatron is interesting his final battle was more him looking for a glroius death in combat as the new future about to be born had no place for him init
i give this promo video credit for being one of the only pieces of media to actually establish Cybertron as the third part of the trilogy and a follow-up to Armada and Energon. The actual Cybertron show had almost no references to tie it in as part of the series, so the connection was very thinly-veiled.
@@Webshooters1 When where did the black hole come from? Or why were there pieces of destroyed Unicorn in the flashback? And why does Megatron have Unicron arms?
@@genyakozlov1316 The toys and outline were made first, the studio making the anime kinda just did it's own thing and the people making the dub (rushed the whole way though the UT) had to TRY to make it BARELY work. Just a little bit of animation at the very end to connect it.
In this example it would be Sideways before he turned into Unicron. That and Megs trying to dump the dumber menbers (Tidal Wave fell in love with him when he gained a smaller body. DO NOT QUESTION IT.)
I remember stocking these Transformers classic reproductions and new versions on the shelves at Toys R Us in 2002. That was first big year of 80s toy nostalgia.
I can't help but think that Optimus Prime needs to get his priorities straight, when after discovering that a racing trophy might be the key to saving many worlds, he still insists that the Autobots *win* the trophy "fair and square".
yes vs the G` comics which had optimus kill him self for loosing a video game yes him wanting to respect another cultures customs is very bad of him he should have just attacked the peaceful ppl to steal their trophy as they would never believe its a key to stopping a black hole and they dont have any advanced space travel or the like
Wow, Optimus Prime with a mouth - there’s something I never wanted to see! Thank you for finding this, er, treasure and making this fantastic video, Phelous! I love when you cover properties you really enjoy, it makes your videos just that much more engaging. I’d been binging your old TMNT videos (just got through Part 2 of Planet off the Turtleoids!) when I got the notification that you’d uploaded something new, so naturally I rushed to watch, and I’m happy to say that this video is just fantastic. Keep on being amazing! 🖤
bro legit watched ur wrong turn videos and now me and my friend are literally always singing the three finger Song thank you for a good laugh for our last day of school
21:23 That would be the "Burning Heart of Justice", the force of which anime characters can summon their mid-series power-ups through nothing but their force of will, as a Dragonball fan this should be very familiar with this concept.
@@ultramangeed624 Alien robots that turn into Ford and Chevy vehicles that can be maintained with a wrench and use oil. If the characters are flesh and blood then it makes sense but robots....
The Unicron Trilogy was around that time Japan thought they were ready for 3-D animation and they consistently prove that they weren't. They eventually got way better at this but for about 15 years it was rough.
Tell that to any non Japanese people who saw the live-action Sailor Moon series from 2003... Apparently the show is good, but has really cheesy and rough special effects.
For some strange reason, a lot of transformers toys from around this time had DVDs with them. I have vague memories of getting a two pack of Energon Prime and Megatron that had a DVD with it and the same thing for a two pack of their re-released Beast Wars versions. It was really weird too because the episodes, assuming you were lucky enough to get a DVD that didn’t only have one episode on it, didn’t really have anything to do with the toys that were packaged with them. It was almost like they were using the toys to advertise the show, instead of the other way around.
this was in that weird period when transformers didn't know what it wanted to be next. right in the timeframes of the first bay film but before the G1 resurgence the playpattern of the trilogy came back al impossible to actualy get a good read on, and animated over-accessorizing was still on the writing board and let's be honest, they lost hopes into the cartoon early in cybetron's run, of course the toys were advertising the show
Having DVDs with toys/action figures seems to have been a thing. Some figures from the cartoon The Batman included a bonus DVD though I have no clue what was on said DVD.
18:19 The whole plot of the finale of Armada was explaining what the Minicons were... They were basically the DARK ENERGON of Armada. Unicron made them to fuck with the Transformers.
Yeah, the Minicons were sleeper agents deliberately engineered to power up the larger Transformers to escalate the war so the violence and hatred and evil committed would feed him and ultimately weaken them all so he’d have no opposition to eating them all.
Transformers Armada really wasn't that bad, and gave good development for Hotshot and Starscream. I couldn't get into the other parts of the Unicron trilogy, partly due to the animation style. Anyway, this seems less a promo tape and more a greatest hits of the Unicron trilogy, and since it came free with an action figure set , you shouldn't expect much.
@@ladyaceina still it would be funny to see another prime do that . Especially one of the g1 versions as that one has probably died the most just because of the mere amount of g1 styled universes
Optimus: Jetfire has been to our new home and brought back scan data of technical vehicles. This one is called a Veritech! Jetfire: Damnit, Optimus, do you want us to get sued again!?
It's shocking to think armada and energon Toys are now considered vintage, and cybertron will be turning 20 soon too. Kinda surprising you went that entire time without talking about them once that I can remember (though armada starsceam was in the background for a lot of those earlier episodes). Better late then never! OUR WORLDS ARE IN DANGER!
My main memory of the Unicron Trilogy is the fact that trailers for these shows would show up in front of SpongeBob DVDs and VHS Tapes (since Paramount had the home video rights to those shows). One particular moment that sticks out in my head is an ad for Transformers: Cybertron that starts out with a still image of Cybertron, some copyright info, the Paramount logo in the corner, and a monotone voice going “Look For Transformers: Cybertron from Paramount Home Entertainment.” I mean….that’s memorably dull.
I can tell you where that G2 Megatron design WAS utilized in animated form. It was used for the character "Megastorm" in the Japanese-exclusive, "Beast Wars II" anime.
And Thrust had Megatron's plane body from Machine Wars! And BB was the Dreadwing recolor that was supposed to be Megatron! Everybody gets to be a Megatron!
4:30 🎶 Transformers, More than meets an eye... 🎶 🎶 Auto-bots.. Decepticons! 🎶 🎶 Transformers, Transformers, Transformers, what!? 🎶 Is this an early 2000's Disco remix of the theme song to the Transformers...?
If I recall here in the UK Armada aired on a different channel to the one that would end up airing Energon and Cybertron. So perhaps the absence of Armada on the DVD was a licensing issue.
I got to say I prefer the Japanese naming scheme for Megatron in the unicron trilogy. He was Megatron throughout Armada and Galvatron throughout Energon. For Cybertron (which isn't really in continuity with the previous two in the Japanese dub but oh well) he is called Master Megatron and then Master Galvatron. Less going back and forth and the Master title fits Cybertron version.
Man I wish I had ANYTHING still hanging around from that long ago. All of my old DVDs, VHSs and toys are long since gone, with maybe 1% of them having strained down into my nephew's collection and the rest simply lost to the sands of time.
Comixproviderftw 02 you know that one transfomers VHS that lie text crawl with pdup,e text and two of transfomers flying with swords iv seen it but I dint know what was of I think it was just at begging revies I think for transfomers music album or lime transfomers VHS to collect
I don't know Phelous... I liked Alexis and Starscream's relationship. Also: I guess the DVD never brought up the plot point that Mini-Cons are just cells of Unicron? Also, if the Autobots win through teamwork and friendship, explain Armada Wheeljack's Heel turn then.
I liked it too but the English dub did a weird censor with it. We all know Alexis necklace came from the rock Starscream brought from Mars. But the English dub has her saying she just found it on Cybertron. Never understood it.
I honestly really really love Armada. I think Armada holds up as a fun cartoon. I also have to thank Armada for my introduction to the Transformers franchise. Energon however... Ugh. If you are a fan of Armada, Energon is extremely insulting. If you aren't a fan of Armada, Energon is stupid and annoying.
I agree. Armada had far better story and character development than Energon and Cybretron. Better animation even. I hate that Armada gets lumped in with them.
@@HORRIOR1 I wouldn't call being forcibly re-programmed to serve Megatron being loyal. At least Superlink it wasn't Starscream but a clone called Nightscream.
So, for added context, since the DVD doesn't explain anything about the Minicon origins... I should add that eventually we are told that they are literally created from parts of Unicron, specifically his cells... yeah, it's weird but it's the plot twist that's worth mentioning in that
I don't think its right to shit on the unicron trilogy for existing this much, it may not be as truly artful as beast wars but parts of armada in its original japanese are legitimately the deepest transformers has ever gotten and lots of the cybertron dub alternates between fuck-yea moments and the dub making you fall over laughing at the accents or stock footage commentary they added. Overall the 3 shows have undeniably at least as much creative integrity as like g1 or prime, I'd argue more so than either even
"My Autobots put their lives on the line to win the planet key fair and square, because I'd rather they all die and the universe be consumed by Unicron than even *consider* breaking the rules!"
Amazing find! Honestly I like the combo packs for toys. They can be expensive, but it's more convenient to have two related figures to play a scene with a single purchase. Wow, I had forgotten entirely when Bumblebee just disappeared. Reviews of some episodes from these shows would be fun. This thing just reminds me of The Journey Begins Shockwave getting his ass kicked by Fluttershy somehow makes sense. God damn it, Shockwave I remember liking Armada and Unicron. Not sure about that now Although now I'm picturing a Galaxy Warriors promo video.
23:28 Back when they were still allowed to say "Transform and roll out". I saw some packaging that said "Convert and roll out" recently. I've heard that Hasbro has started doing this because they're afraid of the term "Transformer" being genericised and being used by other toy companies or something like that. I would think using the term that way for ~40 years would have already done whatever damage they think is going to happen, but I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know.
I'm wondering if this was a clip show completely made for the DVD or they just happened to have a "we ran out of budget" Japanese clip show that they just dubbed. Like the Japanese version of G1 did in every iteration, especially the ones they did. Still, I don't see why they didn't just dump any given G1 episode on the disk.
Well, since you had fun reviewing every episode of Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation 🐢, I think you'll have just as much fun reviewing every single episode of the 🤖Transformers Unicron Trilogy. 😜
My guess for why the UK removed Armada footage is probably a distribution rights thing - it is possible that Armada and Cybertron were licensed to different channels and/or under different deals. International rights can be a total mess.
The reason the UK version may not have the Armada footage is that it wasn't really on any of the popular kids channels at the time; I certainly can't remember it as an avid Toonami/CNX and Fox kids watcher, only the adverts for the toys spring to mind. When doing a quick Google search it was only on SkyOne and ITV first thing on a Saturday morning, and if the rest of my age bracket was like me back then, we would just lie in until WWE or a Baywatch rerun would air on those channels instead! 😅
Literally yesterday I watched an episode of Tron uprising with my dad and then immediately realised Patel is Starscream and Tezler is Megatron🤣 in terms of dynamic, I couldn’t stop laughing.
The Transformers series from early 2000's was going through an Animation concept where CGI meets Anime. Some say both animation styles clash. Understand that very few Animated shows followed this concept at the time. The only show of that era that followed the same formula was Zoids, Which also had CGI meets Anime Hybrid. Hand drawn frame by frame anime was getting phased out by Anime that was PC (CGI) Exclusive. The trade off is that you lose the Gritty Art style that a lot of the older generation prefers most. New Anime and Animation styles done through CGI tends to be smooth and polished. Personally I always liked The early 2000's Transformers as this opened up ideas for both CGI and Animated TV shows.
The annoying human characters in Armada were nothing compared to Kicker in Energon. That kid was like Daniel x 1000, so irritating. When the Armada kids showed up in Energon they had grown up and I realized that I actually missed them or at least would have tolerated them if it meant Kicker could have been removed from the show entirely.
Amusingly, I ended up with this DVD at one point even though I didn't get this "The Ultimate Battle" set. I actually got it with the 25th Anniversary Optimus Prime. Of course, that was SUPPOSED to come with a DVD containing the full 1984 "More Than Meets the Eye" miniseries, but somebody somewhere along the line had apparently swapped the DVDs. Moreover, what was supposed to be a reproduction of issue #1 of the Marvel series ended up being a cardstock copy of the cover of that issue pasted onto an issue of the Dreamwave Energon comic. All I can say is, it's a good thing I didn't buy that Optimus for those things. The toy was 100% accounted for and the voicebox worked just fine, and I recall that the box did not appear to have been tampered with.
I had that two pack except in the UK it came with a crappy cardboard case for the dvd, just like the ones from the daily mail and their erm "animations" Also thank goodness Hasbro told parents that the dvd isn't a toy, sure that saved a lot of confusion
I'd argue "the best" transformers toy would be from either the WFC trilogy's mvps or the Masterpiece line, but Hasbro did just release a minor upscaled retool of classics 06 Starscream as a leader class toy in the Studio Series line, a line whose whole thing is accuracy to the original show/movie
In my opinion, Cybertron/Galaxy Force is my favorite in the trilogy, mostly due the English theme, 3D models are an improvement compare to Energon, the dub makes the dialogue more fun and human kids more useful, the action scenes, it's just more of a fun anime overall (though I still love the 2nd half of Armada).
Holy hell. I got this toy set in the early 2000's for my birthday. I loved the figures but my brother kept the DVD. We have had it sitting in a toy bin for 18 years and I've always wondered what was on it Now no better way to see what's on there than with you taking a look lol.
What is the deal with Japan and their struggle with CG animation? The Unicron trilogy is the absolutely worst example of it but it didn't get much better for a very VERY long time, only recently they started to pick up the pace a little. Also, amazing timing with this review: i was talking with a friend about this DVD last week, ahr ahr
Well CG is cheaper for really large, detailed characters that can't go off model, so that's why you would see it a lot in mech shows. Anime is made largely by finding creative ways to save mo ey but they don't always work.
You know what would've been cool if this dvd never existed? Have an ultimate crossover between every animated iteration of Optimus Prime and Megatron duking it out while celebrating each iterations. That would've been a better Ultimate Battle then just a random clip show of three Transformers Animes on one package.
Transformers Beast Wars was my introduction to the series but personally, the Unicron Trilogy were my Transformers. I've spent so much time in my childhood (mostly weekday mornings) watching these shows and getting into the story and characters even though there was some nonsense along with it, especially with Energon.
And about Energon...ughh...the worst design of all, did you guys noticed the black lines and outlines in the cell-shading? The black lines seems done in a vector format(that will be my guess) because they don't change size! So if a Transformers is really far away or zoom out it looks like a bunch of big black scribbles and when is in the foreground and really zoomed in, the black lines are barely visible...it's just soooo bad!
It's G1 blasphemy, perhaps... but I think a tank mode fits Megatron so much better than a handgun. I dig G2 Megs' color scheme, too... and I like when he has the shoulder-mounted cannon. Optimus with lips, however... never sat well with me.
I grew up on G1, but could appreciate what they were trying to do with Armada. It was the Transformers for the kids, not for the dad. (I don't have kids, so nephews I guess). If they enjoyed Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles as much as Armada, sure. G1 also had it's share of cheesy stories. The mini cons were a little strange though. Then in Cybertron they had a giant Starscream and a literal Power Rangers Prime. And why would they go super sentai and scream at the enemy, "blaster beam gun go!' as if to tell them, here is my next move, I am going to fire, here I go, blam."
I love Hot Shot and I don't care what anyone says. He was awesome to watch growing up and still is. I still love Transformers G1 but I also love the Transformers Unicron Triology as well.
Fun fact: Hot Shot was going to be one of the main characters in Animated until Hasbro got the rights to Bumblebee again. So instead, Hot Shot ended up as a cameo.
Slightly off topic but Phelous needs to do a chip and dale review. Not only does it have G1 transformers in it, its basically all about making fun of Good times, and other knock offs.
21:46--Remember in the Headmasters series, how the almighty Galvatron was destroyed because of the AWESOME POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!! "The power of freindship conquers EVERYTHING!" 😂
I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now. Phelous is reviewing a piece of MY childhood! That DVD was my first ever exposure to the Transformers franchise. It came packaged with the Classics line versions of G1 Optimus and G2 Megatron. They were my first ever Transformers toys, and I still have them today. Optimus is in very good condition, but I lost his gun a long time ago. Megatron has seen better days, he lost his right arm/cannon many years ago, and I never found it again.
Now I just want Linkara to do a crossover with Phelous on something Transformers toy related. Not sure if he'd still be that enthused, but I remember his favorite is Soundwave, so...
Narrator: "Many living years ago, life existed but not the life you're thinking of. The Goodtime-bots led by Old Man-Bot raged war with Wabuu-Tron and the evil Dingo-cons. Their conflict would led them to Planet Phelous."
I feel like the Goodtime-bots would easily defeat the Dingo-cons on their own, but being led by OldMan-bot? and going against the mighty Wabuu-tron??
That evens the playing field a bit....
Old Man-us Primes wheeeeey!-canon vs Wabuu-trons stüüüpid-blaster #fireworks
Gasp!
Instead of "many living years ago..." I suggest "Earlier, yes, earlier..."
@wstine79
Wabuu-Tron: "Intergalactic wars are sooo stupeeed!".
when G1 Shockwave burns you, you have hit rock bottom
Fun fact: in Japan, Energon Megatron actually *was* called Galvatron throughout the show. The purple form being called Galvatron General. As for Armada in Japan, that Galvatron was simply Megatron S.
Intresting.
Also Tidal Wave was called Shockwave in Japan so that's partly why the name ShockBlast exists
and Cybertron was not even a sequel to Energon, it was a separate continuity
Nice to see you dipping into some of the later Transformers series Phelous and the Unicron trilogy is ripe for mockery, despite that it's pretty classic to me. You didn't even get to the planet of giant, Scottish construction equipment or the cars that can drive in space.
An entire planet of scottys from star trek. Why? Because it would be funni
@@diegodankquixote-wry3242 Hey if I learned anything from Power Rangers, it's that the Scottish and robots and go hand in hand.
@@Webshooters1
Aye. That be true.
And now they're remaking that Scottish Metroplex in the Legacy line. Go figure.
The third show was my first experience with transformers
Ah yes the unicorn trilogy, the trilogy that wasn't really a trilogy since only Energon was a sequel to Armada. Cybertron was completely unrelated in Japan and was haphazardly marketed as the third installment in English language territories after the fact. The is most obvious in the fact that in Energon Transformers were widely integrated into Earth where as in Cybertron they were back to being "Robots in Disguise" and there weren't any other references to the other two other than a vague description that the black hole threatening Cybertron was created by Unicron...somehow.
Their similar in aesthetics, they had line wide gimmicks and the plot had something to do with unicron.
Atleast they tried! (Rest in peace Gilbert Gottfried)
They specifically said that the black hole was created by Unicron being stuck in the Energon Star, the star collapsed, and boom, continuity- and multiverse-eating calamity!
Also, Megatron got out and used the remains of Unicrons body to forge the Armor of Unicron for himself. The armor helped the dub explain A LOT of the bizarre shadowy abilities that Megs displayed in the show, including the ability to reformat himself and other Cons that Unicron showed in the Gen 1 movie.
@@AquaLantern Was Unicron like immortal? Like he keeps reforming himself because is the "chaos bearer" or something like that?
To be fair changing canonicity and continuity between English and Japanese dubs is a long lasting tradition.
RID and Armada are still part of G1 continuity in Japan, and Animated shares its Continuity with the Michael Bay movies.
This is why exploring the transformers timeline can be like reading a 4 dimensional road map.
Not exactly; Armada is a separate entity from G1, even in Japan, and while Animated was stated in Japan to be part of the Bay-verse, the dub never actually got around to finishing the job. Also, RID wasn't originally part of their G1, but was retconned into it after its release, which must have been a real headache for the Japanese writers to fit it in.
i love the 80's Cartoons:
"BUY ME!
BUY ME!
OR THE COMMUNIST WIN!"
"I'M POLLUTING THE ENVIRONMENT FOR NO REASON!"
@@rambler2701 u got me pal ;)
You've never actually seen those shows, have you? The only Sunbow show of that era that I remember actually discussing the Soviets at all cast them as HeroesOfAnotherStory.
@@boobah5643 ) "you can't joke about my childhood shows!"
procedes to "joke" about "modern" cartoons.
I will always be weirded out by the fact that the VA of Eddy of Ed, Edd, n Eddy was ever in a transformers cartoon. That plus the fact that I actually watched the entire Unicron trilogy shows at all.
Buddy, Sam Vincent was also the singing voice of Sonic in Sonic Underground, in addition to being in a lot of Barbie movies... that ship sailed long ago.
Also Matt Hill (Ed) voice Carlos in Armada and Ironhide in Energon.
The voice of Ed is in this too. Canadian VAs are cheap.
After only seeing the first episode of "Armada," I also found it weird hearing Eddy's voice in Transformers. Or at least hearing it come out of a dopey character.
Wasn't he also Dex from the Rockman.exe dub and Ace from the Powerpuff Girls Z dub?
with Phelous dipping into more Transformers stuff, I'm hoping he gets to talk about Animated and Prime before long
If he hates Optimus Prime without his faceplate. Wait until he sees Transformers Prime, that show Optmus speaking without his faceplate everytime the Autobots are in their base. Same goes Transformers Animated
I like that they did new stuff for the Unicron Trilogy, unlike today where everything had to be based on G1. I mean, it kinda sorta was still based on G1, but it was still more different than it is now.
I enjoy my G1 toys a lot, but those toys cannot be updated enough.
yeah, the G1 resurgence has bought back some nice stuff, but up to prime there was some nice and entertaining concepts
As some-one who likes Prime and knows more about the original incarnation, along with G4 which re-hashed it, it's interesting to see how experimental Hasbro were with Transfomers through-out the 90's and 2000's.
But then Michael Bay and Steven Speilberg came along...
Same, I loved Starscream arc in Armada and the fact Megatron loved fighting Optimus so much he was actually depressed when he died. The story probably could have been tightened a but but overall, it was still very enjoyable.
@@chsparkle aramda megatron is interesting his final battle was more him looking for a glroius death in combat as the new future about to be born had no place for him init
UK = "We can't expose children to cel animation!"
But that was digital animation, though.
i give this promo video credit for being one of the only pieces of media to actually establish Cybertron as the third part of the trilogy and a follow-up to Armada and Energon. The actual Cybertron show had almost no references to tie it in as part of the series, so the connection was very thinly-veiled.
That's because the show Cybertron was based on, Galaxy Force was entirely unrelated to Micron Legend and Superlink.
@@Webshooters1 When where did the black hole come from? Or why were there pieces of destroyed Unicorn in the flashback? And why does Megatron have Unicron arms?
@@genyakozlov1316 The toys and outline were made first, the studio making the anime kinda just did it's own thing and the people making the dub (rushed the whole way though the UT) had to TRY to make it BARELY work. Just a little bit of animation at the very end to connect it.
The real ultimate battle between Megatron and Optimus was the court case over the custody of Blitzwing, neither side wanted him
In this example it would be Sideways before he turned into Unicron.
That and Megs trying to dump the dumber menbers (Tidal Wave fell in love with him when he gained a smaller body. DO NOT QUESTION IT.)
I remember stocking these Transformers classic reproductions and new versions on the shelves at Toys R Us in 2002. That was first big year of 80s toy nostalgia.
Armada was worth it for the Starscream plots and for that loveable spawn of Unicron Sideways
I can't help but think that Optimus Prime needs to get his priorities straight, when after discovering that a racing trophy might be the key to saving many worlds, he still insists that the Autobots *win* the trophy "fair and square".
yes vs the G` comics which had optimus kill him self for loosing a video game
yes him wanting to respect another cultures customs is very bad of him he should have just attacked the peaceful ppl to steal their trophy as they would never believe its a key to stopping a black hole and they dont have any advanced space travel or the like
Optimus: My english voice actor also played a gorilla called Silver who fought five obnoxious braindead "ninja" turtles.
Wow, Optimus Prime with a mouth - there’s something I never wanted to see!
Thank you for finding this, er, treasure and making this fantastic video, Phelous! I love when you cover properties you really enjoy, it makes your videos just that much more engaging. I’d been binging your old TMNT videos (just got through Part 2 of Planet off the Turtleoids!) when I got the notification that you’d uploaded something new, so naturally I rushed to watch, and I’m happy to say that this video is just fantastic. Keep on being amazing! 🖤
In some places in the UK Armada only had 10 episodes. So that might have something to do with that.
Really, that is actually something I didn’t even know about
bro legit watched ur wrong turn videos and now me and my friend are literally always singing the three finger Song thank you for a good laugh for our last day of school
16:26 How to get the kids interested in Transformers?
Describe a FILLER EPISODE
21:23 That would be the "Burning Heart of Justice", the force of which anime characters can summon their mid-series power-ups through nothing but their force of will, as a Dragonball fan this should be very familiar with this concept.
I hate that trope, especially when the show is about robots.
@@viraticwars alien robots....that literally met their God.
@@ultramangeed624 Alien robots that turn into Ford and Chevy vehicles that can be maintained with a wrench and use oil. If the characters are flesh and blood then it makes sense but robots....
@@viraticwars G1 abused Hammerspace to a comical degree. Why not? Also they used Super Robot logic which is just "rule of cool"
All I could think of the Autobot Headmasters killing Galvatron with the power of FRIENDSHIP! 😂
The Unicron Trilogy was around that time Japan thought they were ready for 3-D animation and they consistently prove that they weren't. They eventually got way better at this but for about 15 years it was rough.
Tell that to any non Japanese people who saw the live-action Sailor Moon series from 2003... Apparently the show is good, but has really cheesy and rough special effects.
I don't really agree, while a lot of anime that used 3D did look very rough, 3D movies and videogame cinematics did look really good even at the time.
HA glad you brought back Shockwave's voice
"MegatroOoOn, where are yoOoOu?"
@@rodrolliv I meant REAL Megatron, not Yoooou
For some strange reason, a lot of transformers toys from around this time had DVDs with them. I have vague memories of getting a two pack of Energon Prime and Megatron that had a DVD with it and the same thing for a two pack of their re-released Beast Wars versions. It was really weird too because the episodes, assuming you were lucky enough to get a DVD that didn’t only have one episode on it, didn’t really have anything to do with the toys that were packaged with them. It was almost like they were using the toys to advertise the show, instead of the other way around.
this was in that weird period when transformers didn't know what it wanted to be next. right in the timeframes of the first bay film but before the G1 resurgence
the playpattern of the trilogy came back al impossible to actualy get a good read on, and animated over-accessorizing was still on the writing board
and let's be honest, they lost hopes into the cartoon early in cybetron's run, of course the toys were advertising the show
@@serPomiz yeh rember the VHS that like had transfomers lruplectext czrawknsoundtrack with trwnsfomers duling withvswords
Having DVDs with toys/action figures seems to have been a thing. Some figures from the cartoon The Batman included a bonus DVD though I have no clue what was on said DVD.
18:19 The whole plot of the finale of Armada was explaining what the Minicons were...
They were basically the DARK ENERGON of Armada. Unicron made them to fuck with the Transformers.
Unicron: "Watch this Primus, it's going to be fucking hilarious."
@@tf2godz "And then he made little Transformers that activated other Transformers' gimmicks. Funniest shit I've ever seen."
Yeah, the Minicons were sleeper agents deliberately engineered to power up the larger Transformers to escalate the war so the violence and hatred and evil committed would feed him and ultimately weaken them all so he’d have no opposition to eating them all.
Transformers Armada really wasn't that bad, and gave good development for Hotshot and Starscream. I couldn't get into the other parts of the Unicron trilogy, partly due to the animation style. Anyway, this seems less a promo tape and more a greatest hits of the Unicron trilogy, and since it came free with an action figure set , you shouldn't expect much.
I'm surprised Optimus didn't monologue over footage of his countless deaths.
he only died once in the unicron trillogy
@@ladyaceina still it would be funny to see another prime do that . Especially one of the g1 versions as that one has probably died the most just because of the mere amount of g1 styled universes
"I died that one time, not a bigge."
6:28 To be fair, younger viewers might recognise Hot Shot as one of the main protagonists of Rescue Bots Academy.
Yeah.
Is it a sin I like Armada Hot Shot more then G1 Bumblebee?
12:46 RIP the Dinobot in the Unicorn Trilogy they don’t exist outside of the third season
Optimus: Jetfire has been to our new home and brought back scan data of technical vehicles. This one is called a Veritech!
Jetfire: Damnit, Optimus, do you want us to get sued again!?
It's shocking to think armada and energon Toys are now considered vintage, and cybertron will be turning 20 soon too. Kinda surprising you went that entire time without talking about them once that I can remember (though armada starsceam was in the background for a lot of those earlier episodes). Better late then never! OUR WORLDS ARE IN DANGER!
I feel old.
TO SAVE THEM AND THE GALAXY WE MUST FIND THE FOUR CYBER PLANET KEYS, BEFORE THE DECEPTICONS CAN USE THEM FOR EVIL.
@SuperSentaiFanBoy HOT SHOT! JETFIRE! LANDMINE! VECTOR PRIME! SCATTERSHOT! OPTIMUS PRIME!
*TRANSFOOOOORM AND ROLL OUT!*
@SuperSentaiFanBoy AUTOBOTS! DECEPTICONS!
This DVD is insane! When Godzilla took a bite out of Optimus Prime
like Scruff McGruff took a bite out of crime, I couldn't believe my eyes.
"This could save so many worlds...so we'll give it our best shot at playing fair and if it doesn't work out that's just too bad for those worlds"
My main memory of the Unicron Trilogy is the fact that trailers for these shows would show up in front of SpongeBob DVDs and VHS Tapes (since Paramount had the home video rights to those shows).
One particular moment that sticks out in my head is an ad for Transformers: Cybertron that starts out with a still image of Cybertron, some copyright info, the Paramount logo in the corner, and a monotone voice going “Look For Transformers: Cybertron from Paramount Home Entertainment.”
I mean….that’s memorably dull.
I can tell you where that G2 Megatron design WAS utilized in animated form. It was used for the character "Megastorm" in the Japanese-exclusive, "Beast Wars II" anime.
And Thrust had Megatron's plane body from Machine Wars! And BB was the Dreadwing recolor that was supposed to be Megatron! Everybody gets to be a Megatron!
4:30 🎶 Transformers, More than meets an eye... 🎶
🎶 Auto-bots..
Decepticons! 🎶
🎶 Transformers, Transformers, Transformers, what!? 🎶
Is this an early 2000's Disco remix of the theme song to the Transformers...?
If I recall here in the UK Armada aired on a different channel to the one that would end up airing Energon and Cybertron. So perhaps the absence of Armada on the DVD was a licensing issue.
I got to say I prefer the Japanese naming scheme for Megatron in the unicron trilogy.
He was Megatron throughout Armada and Galvatron throughout Energon.
For Cybertron (which isn't really in continuity with the previous two in the Japanese dub but oh well) he is called Master Megatron and then Master Galvatron.
Less going back and forth and the Master title fits Cybertron version.
Man I wish I had ANYTHING still hanging around from that long ago. All of my old DVDs, VHSs and toys are long since gone, with maybe 1% of them having strained down into my nephew's collection and the rest simply lost to the sands of time.
Transformers Armada was the one that made me into a Transformers fan when I was a kid.
Comixproviderftw 02 you know that one transfomers VHS that lie text crawl with pdup,e text and two of transfomers flying with swords iv seen it but I dint know what was of I think it was just at begging revies I think for transfomers music album or lime transfomers VHS to collect
This video had multiple references to “Leader One”, and yet not one of them was from “Go-Bots”.
I don't know Phelous... I liked Alexis and Starscream's relationship.
Also: I guess the DVD never brought up the plot point that Mini-Cons are just cells of Unicron?
Also, if the Autobots win through teamwork and friendship, explain Armada Wheeljack's Heel turn then.
I liked it too but the English dub did a weird censor with it. We all know Alexis necklace came from the rock Starscream brought from Mars. But the English dub has her saying she just found it on Cybertron. Never understood it.
Starscream!!!!!❤
I would love to hear Phelous' take on Transformers: Animated & Transformers: Prime!
1:39 This was Optimus Prime I not only had as a kid, but is one I still own today
14:14 ah, I see they've learned from the *Prometheus* school of running away in a straight line from an object that's falling down on top of them.
I honestly really really love Armada. I think Armada holds up as a fun cartoon. I also have to thank Armada for my introduction to the Transformers franchise.
Energon however... Ugh.
If you are a fan of Armada, Energon is extremely insulting. If you aren't a fan of Armada, Energon is stupid and annoying.
Good thing we got Super Link which fixes most of the animation errors and gives a more interesting and detailed plot.
I agree. Armada had far better story and character development than Energon and Cybretron. Better animation even. I hate that Armada gets lumped in with them.
@@darkwoods1954 Also it's the ONLY show to actually do something different with Starscream.
@@Webshooters1 Actually Energon did that as well. It was the only one where Starscream was loyal to the end.
@@HORRIOR1 I wouldn't call being forcibly re-programmed to serve Megatron being loyal. At least Superlink it wasn't Starscream but a clone called Nightscream.
I didn't think we'd ever get a sort-of review of the TF Unicron trilogy, and now that we have, that's probably enough. God, that animation...
So, for added context, since the DVD doesn't explain anything about the Minicon origins... I should add that eventually we are told that they are literally created from parts of Unicron, specifically his cells... yeah, it's weird but it's the plot twist that's worth mentioning in that
You tell Phelan! Starscream will ALWAYS outdo ol' Floptimus and Megabum! :D Awesome as always, bud
Also Armada Starcream is a very well done character so it works even more here.
Despite being in that "No Bumblebee" period...the Japanese name for the Minicon-combiner Perceptor was actually Bumblebee. Go figure.
And then their -Energon- Super Link body was called Cliffjumper!
Man, I remember watching this many years ago when I was a kid, and found myself enjoying it.
I don't think its right to shit on the unicron trilogy for existing this much, it may not be as truly artful as beast wars but parts of armada in its original japanese are legitimately the deepest transformers has ever gotten and lots of the cybertron dub alternates between fuck-yea moments and the dub making you fall over laughing at the accents or stock footage commentary they added. Overall the 3 shows have undeniably at least as much creative integrity as like g1 or prime, I'd argue more so than either even
"My Autobots put their lives on the line to win the planet key fair and square, because I'd rather they all die and the universe be consumed by Unicron than even *consider* breaking the rules!"
Amazing find!
Honestly I like the combo packs for toys. They can be expensive, but it's more convenient to have two related figures to play a scene with a single purchase.
Wow, I had forgotten entirely when Bumblebee just disappeared.
Reviews of some episodes from these shows would be fun.
This thing just reminds me of The Journey Begins
Shockwave getting his ass kicked by Fluttershy somehow makes sense. God damn it, Shockwave
I remember liking Armada and Unicron. Not sure about that now
Although now I'm picturing a Galaxy Warriors promo video.
23:28 Back when they were still allowed to say "Transform and roll out". I saw some packaging that said "Convert and roll out" recently. I've heard that Hasbro has started doing this because they're afraid of the term "Transformer" being genericised and being used by other toy companies or something like that. I would think using the term that way for ~40 years would have already done whatever damage they think is going to happen, but I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know.
what! no Kicker! we were robbed of phalous's reaction to the worst human sidekick ever
I'm wondering if this was a clip show completely made for the DVD or they just happened to have a "we ran out of budget" Japanese clip show that they just dubbed. Like the Japanese version of G1 did in every iteration, especially the ones they did. Still, I don't see why they didn't just dump any given G1 episode on the disk.
Man the only thing I remembered from this entire show, was the story arc about some autobot turning into a lion.
Well, since you had fun reviewing every episode of Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation 🐢, I think you'll have just as much fun reviewing every single episode of the 🤖Transformers Unicron Trilogy. 😜
i'd literally patreon for this
or just energon
@@Exospray *just armada and energon
Are you trying to kill phelous?! He won’t survive it!
@@lucaschannel726 Maybe 😏😜
But seriously, I think 🤔 he could do it and make it work great.
I actually got this for my birthday, I was so happy I actually gotten a Optimus prime toy.
My guess for why the UK removed Armada footage is probably a distribution rights thing - it is possible that Armada and Cybertron were licensed to different channels and/or under different deals. International rights can be a total mess.
*OUR WORLDS ARE IN DANGER.*
I never actually watched the 2 other sequel shows in this trilogy. Armada is my childhood Transformers show.
All this DVD does is remind me that Energon exists.
I never wanted to be reminded that show exists.
The reason the UK version may not have the Armada footage is that it wasn't really on any of the popular kids channels at the time; I certainly can't remember it as an avid Toonami/CNX and Fox kids watcher, only the adverts for the toys spring to mind.
When doing a quick Google search it was only on SkyOne and ITV first thing on a Saturday morning, and if the rest of my age bracket was like me back then, we would just lie in until WWE or a Baywatch rerun would air on those channels instead! 😅
Dear God this (along with the figures) was the first Transformers thing I ever owned!
Literally yesterday I watched an episode of Tron uprising with my dad and then immediately realised Patel is Starscream and Tezler is Megatron🤣 in terms of dynamic, I couldn’t stop laughing.
The Transformers series from early 2000's was going through an Animation concept where CGI meets Anime.
Some say both animation styles clash. Understand that very few Animated shows followed this concept at the time.
The only show of that era that followed the same formula was Zoids, Which also had CGI meets Anime Hybrid.
Hand drawn frame by frame anime was getting phased out by Anime that was PC (CGI) Exclusive. The trade off is that you lose the Gritty Art style that a lot of the older generation prefers most.
New Anime and Animation styles done through CGI tends to be smooth and polished.
Personally I always liked The early 2000's Transformers as this opened up ideas for both CGI and Animated TV shows.
The annoying human characters in Armada were nothing compared to Kicker in Energon. That kid was like Daniel x 1000, so irritating. When the Armada kids showed up in Energon they had grown up and I realized that I actually missed them or at least would have tolerated them if it meant Kicker could have been removed from the show entirely.
"Care Bears Megatron"
Please tell me someone drew this.
Starscream: (uses minicon to blow up the forest)
Later...
Starscream: ...we won...
Swindle: against the forest?
Maybe the real final battle was the friends we made along the way.
Tien: As a matter of fact... it isn't.
Amusingly, I ended up with this DVD at one point even though I didn't get this "The Ultimate Battle" set. I actually got it with the 25th Anniversary Optimus Prime. Of course, that was SUPPOSED to come with a DVD containing the full 1984 "More Than Meets the Eye" miniseries, but somebody somewhere along the line had apparently swapped the DVDs. Moreover, what was supposed to be a reproduction of issue #1 of the Marvel series ended up being a cardstock copy of the cover of that issue pasted onto an issue of the Dreamwave Energon comic.
All I can say is, it's a good thing I didn't buy that Optimus for those things. The toy was 100% accounted for and the voicebox worked just fine, and I recall that the box did not appear to have been tampered with.
I had that two pack except in the UK it came with a crappy cardboard case for the dvd, just like the ones from the daily mail and their erm "animations"
Also thank goodness Hasbro told parents that the dvd isn't a toy, sure that saved a lot of confusion
I'd argue "the best" transformers toy would be from either the WFC trilogy's mvps or the Masterpiece line, but Hasbro did just release a minor upscaled retool of classics 06 Starscream as a leader class toy in the Studio Series line, a line whose whole thing is accuracy to the original show/movie
That disco remix is a straight up BANGER!
In my opinion, Cybertron/Galaxy Force is my favorite in the trilogy, mostly due the English theme, 3D models are an improvement compare to Energon, the dub makes the dialogue more fun and human kids more useful, the action scenes, it's just more of a fun anime overall (though I still love the 2nd half of Armada).
I owned gun Megatron way back as a kid. Kinda wished I would have kept it.
Holy hell. I got this toy set in the early 2000's for my birthday. I loved the figures but my brother kept the DVD. We have had it sitting in a toy bin for 18 years and I've always wondered what was on it
Now no better way to see what's on there than with you taking a look lol.
Oh hey, I got this dvd along with the two figures. Lost them both, but still got the old dvd
What is the deal with Japan and their struggle with CG animation? The Unicron trilogy is the absolutely worst example of it but it didn't get much better for a very VERY long time, only recently they started to pick up the pace a little.
Also, amazing timing with this review: i was talking with a friend about this DVD last week, ahr ahr
Well CG is cheaper for really large, detailed characters that can't go off model, so that's why you would see it a lot in mech shows. Anime is made largely by finding creative ways to save mo ey but they don't always work.
You know what would've been cool if this dvd never existed?
Have an ultimate crossover between every animated iteration of Optimus Prime and Megatron duking it out while celebrating each iterations. That would've been a better Ultimate Battle then just a random clip show of three Transformers Animes on one package.
please do that for the 40th.
The Autobots Can't Beat The Decepticons Without Their Metal Arms!
Good old pack in DVDs, back when packing in a DVD was still a feature.
I remember getting that set as a birthday gift. I had no idea what this DVD was about, but I watched it a lot because I was bored I think lol
Transformers Beast Wars was my introduction to the series but personally, the Unicron Trilogy were my Transformers. I've spent so much time in my childhood (mostly weekday mornings) watching these shows and getting into the story and characters even though there was some nonsense along with it, especially with Energon.
And about Energon...ughh...the worst design of all, did you guys noticed the black lines and outlines in the cell-shading? The black lines seems done in a vector format(that will be my guess) because they don't change size! So if a Transformers is really far away or zoom out it looks like a bunch of big black scribbles and when is in the foreground and really zoomed in, the black lines are barely visible...it's just soooo bad!
Yes, and _that_ is the jarring part about jumping between Energon and Cybertron clips!
And the Unicron Trilogy has always been my favorite of the Transformers continuities.
Oh hey, I own this and have never bothered to watch it, so thanks for saving me some time whilst also being more entertaining
"after this i never want to watch the unicron trilogy ever again" well that's upsetting but understandable.
To be fair Cybertron and the second half of Armada are pretty decent.
It's G1 blasphemy, perhaps... but I think a tank mode fits Megatron so much better than a handgun. I dig G2 Megs' color scheme, too... and I like when he has the shoulder-mounted cannon. Optimus with lips, however... never sat well with me.
A tank was the logical step from gun. What is a tank but a gun that can move around? Now he doesn't need Starscream to hold him.
I grew up on G1, but could appreciate what they were trying to do with Armada. It was the Transformers for the kids, not for the dad. (I don't have kids, so nephews I guess). If they enjoyed Power Rangers and Ninja Turtles as much as Armada, sure. G1 also had it's share of cheesy stories. The mini cons were a little strange though.
Then in Cybertron they had a giant Starscream and a literal Power Rangers Prime.
And why would they go super sentai and scream at the enemy, "blaster beam gun go!' as if to tell them, here is my next move, I am going to fire, here I go, blam."
I love Hot Shot and I don't care what anyone says. He was awesome to watch growing up and still is. I still love Transformers G1 but I also love the Transformers Unicron Triology as well.
Fun fact: Hot Shot was going to be one of the main characters in Animated until Hasbro got the rights to Bumblebee again. So instead, Hot Shot ended up as a cameo.
Another fun fact: Bumblebee ended up taking half of Hot Shot and Hot Rod's motives and personalities in later iterations of Transformers.
I prefer Hot Shot to Bumblebee.
Slightly off topic but Phelous needs to do a chip and dale review. Not only does it have G1 transformers in it, its basically all about making fun of Good times, and other knock offs.
Well, this was made during a time where Hasbro didn’t care enough to make the TF continuity coherent like it is now.
21:46--Remember in the Headmasters series, how the almighty Galvatron was destroyed because of the AWESOME POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!!
"The power of freindship conquers EVERYTHING!" 😂
To be fair, cybertron is the 2nd transformer show I ever seen, 1st was briefly beast wars so this is somewhat appropriate nostalgia for me.
I can’t believe what I’m seeing right now. Phelous is reviewing a piece of MY childhood! That DVD was my first ever exposure to the Transformers franchise. It came packaged with the Classics line versions of G1 Optimus and G2 Megatron. They were my first ever Transformers toys, and I still have them today. Optimus is in very good condition, but I lost his gun a long time ago. Megatron has seen better days, he lost his right arm/cannon many years ago, and I never found it again.
Now I just want Linkara to do a crossover with Phelous on something Transformers toy related. Not sure if he'd still be that enthused, but I remember his favorite is Soundwave, so...
20:10 Mini-Cons truly are the NEW WAY!