Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals | |
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Series | Transformers |
Platform(s) | Nintendo 64, PlayStation |
Release | Nintendo 64PlayStation |
Genre(s) | Fighting |
Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals is a 1999 3D fighting game based on the Transformers: Beast Wars cartoon series and toy-line for the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. Each version features different mechanics and playable characters.
The Nintendo 64 version of the game was known as Transformers: Beast Wars Metals 64 (ビーストウォーズメタルス64) in Japan. It contains arcade mode endings for all characters and several mini-games, and was a Blockbuster Video exclusive that was initially only available for rental.
The PlayStation version of the game was known as Transformers Beast Wars Metals: Gekitotsu! Gangan Battle (ビーストウォーズメタルス 激突!ガンガンバトル) in Japan. It features alternate story campaigns for the Maximal and Predacon factions.
In both games, players take control of one of the Maximals or Predacons in a 1-on-1 battle and attempt to deplete their opponent's life through the use of projectile and melee attacks. Each character can change between three different modes: a Beast Mode, a Vehicle Mode, and a Robot Mode. Players can battle against CPU opponents in each game's single player mode, or against a second player in versus mode.
In the Nintendo 64 version, gameplay takes place in a flat 3D arena. Each of the three character modes has different strengths and weaknesses: Robot Mode is the strongest, but usage depletes an "energon resistance gauge" that will prevent the character from attacking when fully depleted. Beast Mode recharges the gauge, but can only use weak melee attacks. Vehicle Mode has higher mobility and does not charge or drain the gauge, but uses projectile attacks that are easily avoided. The game features a single-player arcade mode, with unique text-based endings for each character. A versus mode, team battle mode and several mini-games are also available for play. [1]
The PlayStation version features a top-down viewpoint. Characters move around 3D battlefields, each of which features various interactable objects and environmental hazards that can deal additional damage to the combatants. Dealing and receiving damage will also build up each character's super meter, allowing them to use powerful super attacks. The game features a single player story mode, in which each faction attempts to move across a map to reach the opposing faction's base, participating in battles along the way. Story mode is split between Maximal and Predacon campaigns, and features FMV cutscenes. The game also includes versus, survival and training modes, while various images and videos can be unlocked in an in-game gallery. [2]
The original Japanese releases each feature eight playable characters, including three characters exclusive to each version. This was expanded to 12 each for the North American releases through the addition of four secret characters, all of which are palette-swapped versions of existing characters given unique voice lines. The Nintendo 64 version features an original character, Megatron X, who appears as a secret boss in the arcade mode. In the Japanese release, Megatron X can be unlocked as a playable character by connecting to Kettō Transformers Beast Wars: Beast Senshi Saikyō Ketteisen via the Transfer Pak. [3] [4] In addition to the playable cast, the Maximal Rhinox appears as a non-player character in the PlayStation version's story mode.
Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals is set in an alternate version of the second season of the animated series, following the introduction of the Transmetals and Fuzors. While being transported back to the planet Cybertron after his defeat, as depicted in the final episode of Beast Wars, Megatron sends a message through time to his past self, warning him of his own defeat. This action creates a divergent timeline in which several Maximals and Predacons gain new Transmetal forms and resume their battles on prehistoric Earth.
The Nintendo 64 version features unique story endings for each character, detailing their actions after defeating the opposing faction leader. The PlayStation version features two story campaigns: the Maximal campaign, in which Optimus Primal leads a team to infiltrate the Predacon ship and retrieve the stolen Golden Disk; and the Predacon campaign, in which Megatron and his henchmen lure the Maximals out of their ship in an attempt to finish them.
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (March 2020) |
Aggregator | Score | |
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N64 | PS | |
GameRankings | 48.67% [5] | N/A |
Publication | Score | |
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N64 | PS | |
GameFan | 55% [6] | N/A |
IGN | 3/10 [1] | 3/10 [2] |
Nintendo Power | 6.1/10 [7] | N/A |
The game was met with negative reception upon release, with the Nintendo 64 version receiving a score of 48.67% from review aggregator GameRankings. [5]
Megatron is a fictional character who serves as the main antagonist of the Transformers media franchise produced by toy companies Hasbro and Takara Tomy. He is the cruel and tyrannical leader of the Decepticons, a faction of sentient, war-mongering robotic lifeforms that seeks to conquer their home planet of Cybertron and the rest of the known universe. He serves as the archenemy of Optimus Prime, the leader of the rival Autobot faction. As with all Cybertronians, Megatron has the ability to transform between his robot form and various vehicles or weapons. His alternate modes have ranged from a Walther P38 handgun, a particle-beam weapon, a telescopic laser cannon, and a Cybertronian jet, depending on which continuity he is depicted in.
The Decepticons are a fictional faction of sentient robots in the Transformers multimedia franchise.
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Beast Wars: Transformers is a computer-animated television series that debuted on September 16, 1996 and ended on May 7, 1999, serving as the flagship of the Transformers: Beast Wars franchise. It was one of the earliest fully CGI television shows. The series is set in the future of the "original" Transformers franchise, 300 years after the events of The Transformers, and features the Maximals and Predacons, descendants of the Autobots and Decepticons respectively. While engaged in battle, small teams from each faction crash land on an unknown planet, and must find a way to return home while continuing their war.
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Transformers is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two alien robot factions at war that can transform into other forms, such as vehicles and animals. The franchise encompasses toys, animation, comic books, video games and films. As of 2011, it generated more than ¥2 trillion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
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Beast Wars: Transformers is a third-person shooter developed by SCE Cambridge Studio and published by Hasbro Interactive on December 5, 1997 for PlayStation and May 31, 1998 for Microsoft Windows. It is based on the Beast Wars: Transformers animated series, specifically the first season, after the introduction of Airazor and Inferno.
Transformers: Beast Wars is the name of several comic book series by IDW Publishing, based upon Hasbro's toy line and the original television series.
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Transformers: Cybertron Adventures is an action-adventure video game based on the Transformers franchise, developed by Next Level Games and published by Activision. It is a companion game to High Moon Studios' Transformers: War for Cybertron, released exclusively for the Wii in June 2010. Like War for Cybertron, it features separate campaigns for the Autobots and the Decepticons, with the player being able to choose either faction to play as. The game received mixed to negative reviews from critics.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is an action-adventure video game based on the 2011 film of the same name. It is the sequel to 2009's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and the third video game adaptation of the live-action Transformers film series. Unlike the first two games, Dark of the Moon follows an original story, set before the events of the film it is based on, and features only one campaign, which alternates between the Autobots and the Decepticons. A spin-off, Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark, was released in June 2014.
Beast Wars II: Lio Convoy in Imminent Danger! is a 1998 anime film based on the Beast Wars II: Super Life-Form Transformers anime series, a Japan-only spin-off of the Beast Wars television show. The film was never released outside Japan because Beast Wars II aired only in Japan, as a filler series that aired between dubbing the first and second seasons of Beast Wars in Japan. It was released as part of Beast Wars Special Super Lifeform Transformers, as one of three features within it. The others are Clash! Beast Warriors, which is a clip show that recaps the first season of Beast Wars, and Beast Wars Metals, which was the Japanese dubbed version of the Beast Wars season 2 episode "Bad Spark". The entire special was distributed to Japanese theatres by Toei Company, though Ashi Productions provided the animation for the Beast Wars II portion of the movie.
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Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark is a video game based on the Transformers franchise, developed by Edge of Reality and WayForward, and published by Activision. It is the third and final entry in the Cybertron series, following War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron, and acts as a spin-off and crossover with the live-action Transformers films. One portion of the game takes place in the timeline divergent from the one where the films take place, serving as an alternative to the events of Age of Extinction, and follows the Autobots as they try to retrieve a Cybertronian artifact called the Dark Spark from the mercenary Lockdown. The other portion, set between the first two Cybertron games, depicts the Decepticons' attempts to use the Dark Spark to win the war against the Autobots, and the latter's efforts to stop them.
Dinobot is a fictional character from Beast Wars in the Transformers universe. He debuted in the series premiere as a subordinate of Megatron, leader of the villainous Predacons. However, Dinobot challenges Megatron's leadership, and is shortly expelled from his crew. He eventually joins the ranks of Optimus Primal and the Maximals. He is driven by a code of honor somewhat modeled on samurai bushido. He fights alongside the Maximals as part of their crew before ultimately sacrificing himself to save a group of primates from a Predacon onslaught. In the following season, Megatron creates a new Dinobot with the show’s transmetal technology, who is completely loyal to Megatron before rebelling against him once more. Outside of the television series, Dinobot's likeness was used to create several toys. The character was one of the most complex in the series and proved to be a much bigger hit than the creators expected.