I definitely feel like an old dude here, with a limited understanding of some of the TF characters and plot lines. My TF interest began first with the 1984 toys as a kid. I then watched S1 and S2 as they originally aired, then the '86 movie, and then S3. It ended there until I watched Animated with one of my kids and TFP with another. That's pretty much the extent of my TF cartoon exposure.

If I were to choose any of the other series to watch, where should I begin, and what should I avoid? I will admit to having a strong aversion to TFs that change into beasts rather than vehicles. I wasn't even ever a big fan of Dinobots or Insecticons for this reason. I tried watching an episode of Beast Wars years ago, but between the alt modes, unlikeable characters, and rudimentary computer animation, I just couldn't get through it. I know it's supposed to have a great storyline, but I'm not sure I can tolerate the elements that are built around it. (Maybe if BW was available as a series of novels instead, I could enjoy the story that way.)

Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!

 

Id go with Transformers Cybertron as a recommendation. You don’t have to read subtitles, the voice work is great, the music is great, and the story isn’t too self serious. Characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron aren’t over done. Prime isn’t full of guilt and speeches; Megatron is intelligent and doesn’t make excuses for his evil ways. The storyline is interesting and not alway easily predictable. There are lots of fun moments and cool scenes as well. I’d recommend it strongly to someone who grew up with G1, since it still has the spirit, but doesn’t end up telling the same story over and over like recent adaptations.

 

Thanks much!

 

Yeah, I definitely agree with this. One of the biggest problems I have with it, though, is that nothing is really unique and everything is continuous. Sometimes, the dialogue is bad, but that's not major, as it kind of fixes it by the second season.

The music is a good idea of what the score of a series should be like, but the soundtrack in Cybertron/Galaxy Force is a tad bit too... overdone. There's one score I don't like because of this. Energon is also an example of this, as the techno-orchestral combination works well, and each piece is unique and serves its own purpose.

Another issue I have is the damn stock footage. The series really invests itself into this and spends a lot of time.

There is some comedy, including cheesy jokes and whatnot.

The overall issue is how many things it contradicts. Now there are two Jolts, two Crumplezones, Hot Shot's vocal change (probably just after some puberty or some anti-ageing thing), and everyone going to Earth for the second time in the Unicron Trilogy.

Overall, I would recommend the show, but, as with every other piece of fictional media, it has its problems. In other words,

 

I’d say it’s best to observe authorial intent here and treat it as it’s own continuity. Otherwise I’d say that your review is largely spot on.

 

I'd reccomend robots in disguise 2001 if you like more campy, fun shows and try out cyberverse starting from season 2 or 3 and just see how you like it.
If you dont mind subtitles I'd reccomend transformers victory
Also I'd reccomend getting into idws comics if you like a more serious series and branching, long term storytelling.

 

I would suggest beast wars and beast machines. The animation is pretty dated but writing is amazing.

I barely remember anything from the unicron trilogy but from I’ve rewatched from armada I would avoid it at all cost

The first season of robots in disguise isn’t too bad so I’ll say give it a watch and the starscream arc in s2 is really good, but just skip everything else

Combiners wars sucks, but it isn’t as bad as people make it out to be but it isn’t really good, titans returns is trash, but power of the primes is good but if you just go into potp you’ll have no idea what’s going on so I’ll just advise you to avoid

cyberverse is really good imo it takes some time to get good but when it does it gets really good

siege is alright

 

I’d really like to read the IDW comics— just not sure where to start. The collections aren’t expensive on Amazon, but I don’t know which one to buy first. Were they released in chronological order, or is there an ideal reading sequence?

 

I suggest you start with phase 1 volume 1 of the idw collection hardcovers. And yes it's mostly in chronological order, there are a few flashbacks in phase 2 due to prequels being written after phase 1 released but otherwise its one full story going from phase 1 to phase 2 of that series.

 

@Agamus has a great reading order here that I used recently when I did a complete run of the IDW continuity. You'd have to check what is in each book but roughly going in order with the collections should take you in the order of the story.

Also, I would seriously recommend Beast Wars. You acclimate to the animation as time goes on and it's a show that's definitely worth seeing on its own merits. Whether you end up really loving it or not, it's stood the test of time and is still relevant whereas a lot of other TF shows have mostly faded away. BW is 25 years old and you will find more lively discussion about it than you ever did for the Prime Wars cartoons that came out just a few years ago.

 

If Beast Wars isn’t to your liking (meaning you can’t watch it’s sequel, Beast Machines, either), then the only ones I’d recommend are Armada and Cybertron. Just be patient with Armada through its first 13 episodes. Cybertron does have some beast-formers, but they are mechanical beasts as opposed to the organic ones from BW, so they may not bother you as much.

I’d advise avoiding Energon, Cyberverse, Siege, and any of the Prime Wars Trilogy, personally. While I’m not big on RID2001 either, it has a cult following and may be something else for you to at least consider.

 

Yeah, I forgot to mention I watched Siege. That was a serious challenge for my limited attention span. Holy hell, the pacing was slooooooow. Two episodes would have been sufficient, but it still wouldn’t have been interesting. As a G1 fan, I was disappointed.

I know the writing for Beast Wars is almost universally praised, but I’m a “visual” person and while I find classic hand-drawn animation somewhat charming, classic computer animation (unless it’s 8-bit Nintendo) is just awful. And while I can accept mechanical beast modes (even if I don’t prefer them), my brain just rejects the whole organic-alt-mode concept entirely. Maybe if I’d experienced BW as a kid I would like it, but I think it’s too late now.

That said, I’m not so stubborn that I can’t give it a couple of episodes, as it’s been a while since I sampled it. I do sincerely appreciate the recommendations.

 

What I recommend to watch
Beast Wars and Machines
Rid'01 ( especially for sky byte)
Cybertron
Armada ( if you can handle the slow pacing and crappy dialogue)
Cyberverse ( season 1 is shit, season 2&3 are fantastic)

To avoid
Energon
Rid'15 ( not a bad show but it ruined Prime's legacy but I would recommend the Soundwave, Starscream and Stunticon episodes)
Prime Wars trilogy ( they make energon bearable)

 

Cyberverse is a great crash-course on Transformers in general. It's a bit slow during the first season, but subsequent seasons are much better. Though since you have a strong aversion to Beast-mode characters, I will warn you that Grimlock, Cheetor, and Repugnus (actually an entire subspecies of the latter) are in the show, as well as a new character named Thunderhowl.

It's a shame you don't like Beast Wars; it has some of the best storytelling in TF Fiction.

Otherwise, second half of Armada is going to be your best bet. First half is very slow and consumed with finding mini-cons Pokemon style, but the second half has great character development. Everything else is either mediocre, or you can't avoid having lots of beast-themed characters.

 

I think I was in a similar place as you, OP, just a few months ago... watched G1 growing up, went to see the 1986 movie with my brother when it was in theaters.. and then lost track of the franchise for the longest time only to come back to it recently.

My suggestions are: second half of Armada -- but watch the Japanese original, called "Micron Legends." I'm not one of those who hate dubs, but in this case the original is better in every way. The English dub made too many changes and virtually all for the worse, to the point where some scenes and dialogue are just nonsensical.

If you like Armada then go on to Cybertron (Galaxy Force) which is an example of the dub actually improving on the original in some ways.

Cyberverse -- as long as you're not looking for something really serious, this is a lot of fun and a breeze to go through because each episode is only 10 minutes long. Makes me feel like a kid again.

IDW -- This is where you go if you DO want something more serious and grown-up. I actually skipped Phase 1, starting with the Phase 2 Volume 1 hardcover and worked my way through to the end of the entire continuity. It developed some pretty glaring issues toward the end, but the first part (pre-Dark Cybertron) was brilliant and such a breath of fresh air because Phase 2 takes place AFTER the Autobot-Decepticon war is finally declared over. Also I don't know your feelings about human characters, but if you're like me and you prefer not to have them, you'll be glad to hear the first part of Phase 2 is mercifully free of them because it all takes place on Cybertron or in deep space.

From IDW Phase 1, the only really essential parts for understanding what's going on in Phase 2 would seem to be the Chaos Theory two-parter and the Last Stand of the Wreckers miniseries.

Beast Wars -- I know you probably won't touch this, but I gotta mention. I was also very put off by the idea of Transformers turning into actual animals, then I watched a few episodes of this (this was just a couple months ago!) and the characters really endeared themselves to me. Yeah the visuals are primitive by today's standards but I told myself "this is a Playstation game" (PS1, that is!)

 

I would recommend Cyberverse if you're looking for a lighter series. Some may say that Season 3 is the only good thing about it, but Season 1 has quite some entertaining worldbuilding and the series overall plays with a great many interesting concepts, if not always following through on them.

RiD2015 would only be good if it's been so long since you saw Prime that you forgot a big part of it. Otherwise the little things will drive you insane after Prime-level of graphics and its dramatic larger-than-life storytelling.

And, since people start of recommend some non-cartoon media, I'll add my two shanix and recommend War for Cybertron/Fall of Cybertron Duology - it's a great pair of games that basically does Prime dark and dramatic storytelling better. Way better. However, I warn that, as a major "misaligned" part of the Aligned timeline, it has the potential to drive one insane with timeline inconsistencies if you've already seen Prime. It stands nicely on its own, though.

 

You'll also enjoy it if you don't care about the Aligned (AKA Misaligned) continuity and don't care about storytelling.

 

"Storytelling" really doesn't exist in Prime.

Also, the OP has a strong dislike of bestial transformers, so the Furry-cons of RID2015 would definitely rub them the wrong way.

 

Again, one of the biggest problems with those Aligned (Misaligned) shows.

 

Yeah, I too don't like it when the humans get in the way of my enjoyment of robots.  

Genuine thanks everyone for the recommendations! I obviously have plenty of options, but you have at least honed in on the higher-quality material so I don't waste time with the chaff.

I will say I tried to give Beast Wars another chance this weekend. I watched 2+ episodes and gave up. It's obvious that the writing is better than that of many (if not all) other TF series, but I can't get past the concept. I'm comfortable suspending my disbelief if the fiction has at least some semi-solid potential scientific roots, but the "let's just adopt an organic alt mode" exercise that took no preparation and maybe 15 seconds was waaaay too big a pill to swallow. The annoying forced accents grated on my nerves as well, and I couldn't get past the feeling that the show targeted a ten-year-old boy. Yes, so did the original G1 cartoon, but I was a 10-year-old boy then, so I have established history with it. And I must admit, I find a lot of the original show hard to re-watch these days. It's much better in my memories.

That said, I'm going to have to just miss out on the sweet Beast War fruit because I find it too difficult to peel. I'm going to sample some other offerings this weekend, but I'm worried that I've matured out of everything except the IDW comic. I hope to read some summaries of the BW story, though, so I know what you guys are talking about on here.

Good recommendation-- I have played both of those to completion and very much enjoyed them. Like you said, if you treat them as their own separate story, they're a fun watch/playthrough.