|
REVIEW:
"With their homeworld under threat by the giant black hole left by the destruction of Unicron, the Autobots and the Decepticons have secretly moved their bases of operation to Earth. "With the help of Vector Prime and a few humans that have discovered their presence on Earth, the Autobots must race against time and battle an unbelievably more powerful Megatron and his new army of Decepticons to recover the Planet Keys, ancient artifacts missing for eons. What few realize is that this little planet called Earth has played a vital role in the history of Cybertron for millions of years." It's no great surprise that the Cybertron concept is being allowed to carry on through most of 2006. The concept is very well thought-out with many interesting features, such as a wide range of planets involved in the concept, coded imagery in the toys as to which robots work best on which planets, Cyber Planet Keys to collect and which can activate special features on the toys, and the number and variety of robots being made available in the toy stores is considerable. Even the Mini-Cons are still hanging around (although they still get something of a mixed reaction from longtime fans). Transformers Cybertron has a lot to offer any Transformers fan, young or old. Now let's turn our attention to MEGATRON. Three things immediately
capture one's notice. (1) He doesn't look much like the classic Megatron. It could be argued that Megatron is a little more versatile then Optimus Prime as far as what you can do with the design. Let's face it, the classic Megatron wasn't the most visually-inspiring character. The original Megatron toy was a gun, a fairly realistic representation of a pistol -- which is why you'll never see it re-released in the United States. This, however, tended to give Megatron in robot form a somewhat plain and not overly complicated or ornate appearance. Personality-wise, there was certainly no question of his position as leader of the Decepticons, and combat-wise he was almost the equal of Optimus Prime, and a good bit more ruthless, but in appearance, he just wasn't quite as impressive. A side note: I always appreciated the fact that in Generation Two, Megatron switched his alternate mode from a gun to a tank, even if the green and purple color scheme was a bit bizarre. This always made more sense to me, given that Optimus Prime's alternate mode was a truck. A tank vs. a truck seems like a much more even fight than a gun vs. a truck. Although I don't expect it to happen, as such time as the classic Megatron returns, if he were to take on a tank mode as his non-robot mode permanently, it wouldn't bother me. But, moving on down the timeline, subsequent Megatrons have tended to be a bit more flamboyent in appearance, and for whatever reason, better able to get away with it than Optimus Prime could've. Let's consider the Megatron from Transformers Cybertron. First off, there's his color scheme. It's all secondary colors. The toy has a fair amount of purple, orange, and a turquoise-green on him, along with grey and black. This sets him off rather well from the primary-colored Optimus Prime, whose main color scheme is red and blue, although Op does have a slight hint of yellow, as well. Secondly, there's Megatron's robot form. It just looks mean. And mysterious. Sort of makes sense for a Decepticon, if you think about it. You can sort of tell that Optimus Prime is going to transform into something recognizable. But looking at Megatron, there's no real way of knowing what the heck he's going to turn into, only that it's likely to be unpleasant and quite possibly painful. Unlike Optimus Prime's detachable "backpack" which pretty much becomes his trailer and largest weapon, Megatron's vehicular hardware, although not quite as substantial, is attached to his body, so in robot form, he looks a little more powerful than the basic Optimus. (Granted, you can attach the trailer to Optimus in such a way that it activates his "Super Robot Mode", in which case Megatron better hope he can get out of the area quickly.) Not too surprisingly, given the obvious complexity of the toy, Megatron is a triple-changer. Along with his robot mode, he has two vehicular modes. Although they are quite similar in appearance, they do perform entirely different functions. In "Vehicle Mode", Megatron looks like a race car from hell, although he'd probably come out to be the size of a truck. It's this sleek, really vicious automotive design that, thankfully, doesn't look like anything on the road today, but you can still tell it's based on the principles of a car. Megatron's other mode is "Jet Mode". Looking like a sideways-stretched version of the Vehicle Mode, this mode clearly allows Megatron to fly. Among Megatron's other hardware, Megatron has a missile rack with firing projectiles, a spinning hand cannon, and Unicron Power Claws. Nice souvenir to take. All of these are activated with Megatron's Cyber Planet Key. The figure has "Electronic Lights and Sounds" according to the package, but I was fresh out of batteries, so I'm really not sure what he's capable of in this regard. Megatron also has a partially transparent head, which allows for that "ambient light makes the eyes glow" trick. Megatron's character profile reads as follows: "For millions of years, Megatron has led fanatical legions of evil Decepticons on their way for conquest of the universe. A living weapon with dozens of self-inflicted modifications made in the name of increased power and destructive capability, his only weakness is his single-minded desire for the enslavement of the universe. His intellect, ego, and talent for deception are second to none, and he rules his Decepticons with an iron-fisted combination of fear and force of personality. "Driven by a nearly insane lust for power, Megatron managed not only to survive the catastrophic implosion of Unicron, but also to absorb much of his power. Now, wearing salvaged pieces of the ancient destroyer's armor, Megatron is awesomely powerful, and is determined to beat Optimus Prime and the Autobots to the lost Planet Keys." I believe that any Transformers fan, new or longtime, would be very pleased with this Megatron toy. Transformers continues to be one of Hasbro's best successes these days, and it's not hard to see why. The toys appeal to a wide audience, that might otherwise not be all that interested in something from the action figure aisle. One brief note of comparison with Optimus Prime, something I especially appreciated. Although Megatron seems to be a slightly more complex toy, both he and Optimus are virtually the same size. I appreciate that. It tends to make for a fair fight in my opinion. The TRANSFORMERS CYBERTRON MEGATRON has my most enthusiastic recommendation!
If you at all enjoy Transformers, you'll like Megatron! |
