Transformers Animated: The Game

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Transformers Animated: The Game
In A.D. 2101 War was beginning.
Developer	Artificial Mind and Movement
Publisher	Activision
Platform	Nintendo DS
Release date	October 21, 2008 (NA) 28 October 2008 (EU) 26 November 2008 (AU)
Ratings	ESRB: E PEGI: 7+

Transformers Animated: The Game is a puzzle-based platform game published by Activision for the Nintendo DS handheld console. Released in both the United States and the United Kingdom on the week of October 20, 2008, the game is fully voice acted by the cast of the animated series, and features a story and dialogue scripted by Marty Isenberg.

Gameplay

"All your base are belong to us."

Widely described by just about everyone as "The Lost Vikings with Transformers", the Animated game puts the player in control of a three-man Autobot team consisting of Optimus Prime, Bulkhead and Bumblebee. The player controls one character at a time, switching back and forth between the three at their discretion in order to use their individual special powers to solve a series of button-pushing, block-pulling, obstacle-smashing puzzles and guide the entire group through 24 levels set in a Sumdac Systems manufacturing plant, the Decepticons' coal mine base and on Cybertron itself. Cannon-fodder opponents take the form of numerous automatons, and players can repair the damage they cause to their characters' health by collecting the energon cube pick-ups that litter the levels. The team has three "lives" shared between them; if any character's health is reduced to zero, Sari appears to restore them with her AllSpark Key, using up one life. In later levels, a transmitter drone charged with the power of her Key takes her place. Ratchet grumpily offers play tips on the top screen throughout the game.

"You are on the way to destruction."

Optimus Prime can use his grapplers to access higher platforms and hurl his axe to hit buttons that are otherwise inaccessible. Bulkhead's strength and size are his main attributes, giving him the ability to break open doors, push and pull heavy objects and activate switches by standing on them. Bumblebee, meanwhile, is the only member of the team who can jump, and can use the ability to "wall jump" to areas the rest of the team cannot reach, while also being able to use his electrical stingers to power up certain machines, like elevators and hover-platforms. In terms of combat, Prime can slash with his axe and Bulkhead can punch, but players can also fight using the DS stylus to throw Prime's axe, or activate Bulkhead's wrecking ball, allowing the heroes to pummel their opponents from a safe distance. Bumblebee relies on his stingers, which fire sustained beams of electricity and can be aimed using the d-pad or the stylus.

The game also features a small number of head-on "driving" levels, as the Autobots switch between vehicle and robot forms at the player's command to navigate the highways of Detroit. For two of these levels, control of Prowl is placed in the player's hands; Optimus Prime and Bumblebee also hit the road at various points throughout the game. These levels are the only points during the game in which the characters transform.

The game features no exploratory play, with environments dedicated only to the puzzles at hand. There are no hidden areas or special items to collect; the only unlockable content comes in the form of fourteen (highly compressed) videos taken from the cartoon series, the first ten of which all play at relevant moments in-game. The videos include: the opening sequence, stock footage of Prowl, Prime, Bumblebee and Bulkhead transforming to vehicle and robot mode, Megatron transforming to robot mode, and Prime, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Prowl activating their special weapons. The four "special weapons" videos are viewable after the game is completed.

Synopsis

"Take off every 'ZIG'!!"

While Optimus Prime is in the midst of running Bumblebee and Bulkhead through some training exercises in their base, Ratchet suddenly detects a Decepticon energy signal nearby. While Prowl hits the highway to track down the signal, Prime, Bumblebee and Bulkhead make haste to a Sumdac Systems assembly plant, where malfunctioning drones are causing chaos. Just as the trio trace the malfunction to a shard of the AllSpark embedded in the machinery, Prowl reports in that the signal belonged to a Decepticon Transmitter Drone, which was being used by Megatron to converse with Lockdown. The Decepticon leader has hired the bounty hunter to track down AllSpark fragments for him, which he plans to use to power up his newly constructed space bridge, enabling him to warp himself and his Decepticon armies into the heart of Cybertron.

Vowing to stop Megatron's plan, the Autobots realize that they will require AllSpark fragments of their own in order to power up Megatron's space bridge and pursue him to Cybertron. With the help of Sari and her AllSpark Key, the heroes track down some more fragments in the factory, while Ratchet tracks the Transmitter Drone's signal, leading the Autobots right to the Decepticons' hidden coal mine base. A complex battle with Megatron ensues, but the Autobots eventually emerge victorious, only to have Megatron vanish through the space bridge. The Autobots use their fragments to power up the space bridge, but only Prime and Bulkhead are able to make it through the portal before the power gives out, leaving Bumblebee behind.

"For great justice."

Sari helps Bumblebee to locate some more AllSpark fragments, but before they can make it back to the Decepticon base, they are attacked by Lockdown, who wants the fragments for himself, to sell on the highest bidder. Thanks to a timely assist from Prowl, Bumblebee reclaims the fragments and quickly rejoins his teammates on Cybertron. With Decepticons armies rising up all across the rim of the galaxy and Megatron poised to activate the space bridge network and warp them all to the planet, the Autobots fight their way across Cybertron and finally engage Megatron in a protracted final battle. Defeated, the Decepticon leader once again vanishes through the space bridge, disappearing to some unknown far-flung location.

Ultra Magnus commends Optimus Prime for his efforts and suggest that it might be time that he join the ranks of the Elite Guard. Prime thanks him for the offer but turns it down, dedicating himself instead to recovering the lost fragments of the AllSpark and defeating the Decepticons left on Earth. The team returns to Earth, where Ratchet and Prowl can't believe that Prime passed up such an opportunity. Bumblebee's disbelief, however, is centred on the fact that Sari has snagged the newest version of the Mage Master Maze Knight video game two weeks before release, and he eschews rest for play-time. Ratchet grumbles that if the AllSpark had intended for them to play video games all the time, it would have programmed them into one, prompting Bumblebee to inquire: how does he know they're not in some kind of video game right now...?

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Quotes

"I already got plenty of training! In fact, I'm up to level 12."
"I don't think video games count as training, Bumblebee."

—Bumblebee and Bulkhead

"Three weak and inexperienced Autobots versus one heavily-armed, battle-hardened Decepticon. This should be most amusing."
"Do you hear us laughing?"
"I will hear you screaming for mercy, and I won't even need weapons to do it."

—Megatron and Optimus Prime

"Alright, I'll go first. Just in case Megatron's waiting for us on the other side."
"And I'll go last, so I can hide behind Bulkhead. Just kidding, big guy."

—Optimus and Bumblebee prepare to use the Space Bridge

"Hah, don't you worry. Careful is my middle name."
"Do Autobots even have middle names?"

—Bumblebee and Sari

Reception

Professional reviews of the game were generally positive, admitting that while the game is not especially creative or original, and has virtually zero replay value, it remains a surprisingly solid, thoughtful puzzle challenge, especially for a game nominally _targeted at children.^[1] Not a small number of Transformers fans, conversely, proved dissatisfied with the fact that the "puzzle" approach was taken instead of a third-person shooter in the style of the previous year's movie-based games, and the short-play time only compounded that. Both groups, however, agreed that the minimal use of transformation was a misstep in the game's design, feeling oddly tacked on in a game based on a franchise where transformation is the key concept.

Notes

• Despite being penned by Marty Isenberg, the story of the game cannot fit into the animated series timeline. It shares its basic plot with season 2 of the series, focusing as it does on a plan by Megatron to use the space bridge network to invade Cybertron, but its events unfold very differently. Intriguingly, it is noted in passing that Professor Sumdac provides the robots the Autobots use for training, indicating that he was never captured by Megatron, so perhaps the game could be considered an "alternate" version of season 2, showing how the events of the season would have played out had Sumdac never fallen into Megatron's clutches.
• If the DS is closed during play, the classic transformation sound effect plays. When the player re-opens the DS, the sound plays once more.

References