I will be perfectly honest, I have never heard of Go90 until a few months ago when it was announced Hasbro and Machinima would team up to produce a CGI-animated show based on the current toy series of Combiner Wars.
Some history is in order. The combiner concept is not new to the Transformerverse. Originally introduced in the Generation 1 series, first with the Constructicons, six Decepticon construction vehicles which turn into individual robots, who combine together to form a gestalt being, Devastator. From then on, teams of five or six were produced to give kids added play value to their toys. Additionally, there was the unnamed concept of “scramble” which meant the limbs of any combiner could switch around not just swapping an arm or leg for one, but could mix and match the different teams.
Combiners have always been a concept throughout the Transformers history, continuing in Generation 2, Beast Wars, 2001’s Robots in Disguise/Car Robots, Classics, Universe, Universe Micromasters, and Transformers Energon. Combiners were largely absent until a short-lived toyline called Power Core Combiners was introduced alongside the live-action movie series. The concept of combination remained the same, however drastically different, where one robot figure would combine with non-transforming drones to create larger robots. Following this series, combination was absent from more recent toylines, such as Generations, Animated, Prime, and the current kid-friendly offering, Robots in Disguise.
Combiner Wars is a toyline which captivated both kids and fans of the original G1 series. As a child of the Eighties, there was nothing better than pitting my team of Technobots up against the Seacons and acting out a brutal battle where Computron and Piranacon would tear each other’s limbs off.
No, it was not a cry for help.
The huge success of Combiner Wars has brought combinations never thought possible, where in toyline and in IDW’s current comics, characters never part of a combiner team would be given the ability to form a gestalt robot.
With the short history out of the way, let’s talk about the animated web series of Combiner Wars and how it ties into it all. In the weeks prior to the final reveal trailer, we saw glimpses of the main players in the series, all with roles stemming from IDW’s current Transformer comic book titles of Transformers, More Than Meets The Eye, Windblade, and Till All Are One. In this world, Optimus Prime is no longer in charge. Starscream rules Cybertron. Megatron is an Autobot. Rodimus is a pompous ass. A fan-created/voted character named Windblade coming from a lost Cybertronian colony finds herself questioning her faith and belief in what she thought to be true. The combiners are out of control and their wars are destroying cities and worlds. Windblade is angry. She wants justice.
In the trailer we see appearances by many familiar faces, as well as faces yet to be identified. We do see a battle between the Stunticon combined form of Menasor and the Autotbot combiner Computron from the Technobots.
We see a lot of familiar faces in the trailer, Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream. The voice-over for Starscream sounds dead-on, very reminiscent of Chris Latta who voiced the Decepticon seeker in the G1 cartoon. One thing which bugs me though, Optimus Prime sounds like he has a cold or something. I’m not complaining that it isn’t Peter Cullen, something sounds off.
I could be wrong of course, and once it airs everything will sound smooth and clear.
Enough from me, enjoy the trailer.
