Video games
Like many brands of its size, Transformers has had its fair share of licensed video games released over the years, spanning multiple publishers and platforms.
A Brief History of Transformers Video Games
Despite the popularity of Transformers over the many decades, it's a bit surprising how few video games based on the franchise there were early on. During the heyday of Generation 1, only four games were released: two for the Commodore 64 home computer system, and two for the Nintendo's Famicom console, the latter of which never came to its western counterpart the NES. After that, no new Transformers games would be released for another decade, skipping the 16-bit era entirely, until the rise of the Beast Wars franchise in the late 1990s. A few Beast Wars games were released for early 3D systems before the turn of the century, only for the brand to slow down again during the early-to-mid 2000s, save for a few one-off PlayStation 2 releases.
With the first live-action movie on the horizon, game publisher Activision struck up a licensing deal with Hasbro in early 2006, granting them the rights to publish Transformers games on all portable and home consoles. Thus, when the film was released the following year, it was accompanied by tie-in game adaptations for every system under the sun. The success of the film and subsequent resurgence of the brand caused the floodgates to finally open, and new software began to be released en masse, with Activision putting out games on an almost annual basis. This included adaptations of the first three entries of the live-action film series, tie-ins for new shows like Animated and Prime, and the G1-influenced War for Cybertron and its sequels, which would act as the starting point for Hasbro's new "Aligned" continuity. At the same time, Sega also acquired the license to develop Transformers arcade games, releasing two arcade shooters based on the films and two Japanese Animated games utilizing Transformers Cards. Activision's licensing deal with Hasbro ultimately expired at the end of 2017, at which point all the games they had published were delisted from digital storefronts. As of this writing, no new Transformers titles having been released for a dedicated game system since 2015's Transformers: Devastation.
Today, thanks to mobile gaming's rise in popularity and comparative ease of development, most of the brand's game output comes in the form of free-to-play games, augmented reality apps, and activity centers for phones and other mobile devices. Since many of these apps are primarily designed to be promotional tools for a given film, cartoon or franchise, their active life cycle tends to end once their respective franchise has run its course. As a result, most Transformers mobile games can no longer be downloaded, and anyone who did is unable to actually play them due to the shutdown of their gameplay servers.
List of Transformers games
Console/PC games
Handheld games
Arcade games
| Title | Release year | Franchise |
|---|---|---|
| Transformers Animated: The Chase | 2010 | Animated |
| Transformers Animated: The Shooting | 2010 | Animated |
| Transformers: Human Alliance | 2013 | Live-action film series |
| Transformers: Shadows Rising | 2018 | Live-action film series |
Mobile games
Other games
| Title | Release year | System | Franchise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transformers: Generation 2 Handheld Game | 1993 | Stand-alone LCD Handheld | Generation 2 |
| Transformers Electronic Handheld Game | 2007 | Stand-alone LCD Handheld | Live-action film series |
| Transformers Battle Universe | 2007 | Net Jet | Cross-franchise |
| Transformers: Rescue Bots Beam Box | 2013 | Self-Contained Plug-And-Play System | Rescue Bots |
| Robots in Disguise: Autobots Unite | 2016 | Apple TV | Robots in Disguise |
Online games
- For further information, see: Online games
Crossover appearances
The 2003 GCN/PS2 fighting game DreamMix TV World Fighters features Optimus Prime and Megatron as playable characters and Devastator as a stage. It was only released in Japan, and will likely stay that way due to the legal hurdles involved with much of its cast outside of the country.
The 2005 PC social game ROBLOX has had two different Transformers-themed promotional events, one based on Prime and one on Kre-O.
The 2015 Wii U shooting game Splatoon briefly featured a promotional tie-in with Robots in Disguise. The event was exclusive to North America and took place in August of 2015.
Canceled games
A game based on Generation 2 was being developed for the Super Nintendo console by Argonaut Software, featuring polygonal characters created using the Super FX chip Argonaut had designed for Nintendo's Star Fox. The game was planned for release in 1994 and was to be published by Takara, but was ultimately scrapped during development. It was rumored for several years that the project evolved into Argonaut's 1994 game Vortex, as both games shared a developer, console and planned release period, with Vortex even being based around a polygonal transforming robot. However, Michael Wong-Powell, programmer of Vortex, told British magazine Retro Gamer in 2015 that Vortex and Transformers: Generation 2 were developed as separate games by Argonaut, with the Transformers game ultimately being canceled.[1]
An educational game based on the Cybertron series, Quest for Cybertron, was in development for Hasbro's ION game console. The game was canceled in 2006 following the system's poor sales.
Fiction
Marvel The Transformers comics
Ethan Zachary enjoyed playing Multi-World on his employer's computer after hours. When Decepticons and Autobots showed up to fight over the hydrothermocline, Zachary proposed settling their differences by playing a game of Multi-World. Megatron won by cheating, so Optimus Prime agreed to allow himself to be destroyed, per the initial agreement. Afterdeath!
Later, Zachary allowed Optimus Prime's personality (which was backed-up on a floppy disk) to exist as a character in the game world of Hyper-Fax. Pretender to the Throne!
The Transformers cartoon
Spike Witwicky and Bumblebee met Carly in Robots Video Arcade while Bumblebee was playing Robot Resource. The Immobilizer
Cybertron cartoon
Bud Hansen compared the Autobots' synchro-control system to the Canyon Racer XL machine at Rockville's local arcade. Starscream
IDW Generation 1 continuity
Sgt. Savage enjoyed playing Sonic the Hedgehog in his 20s. When Eagles Scream
Transformers film
An Xbox 360 game console was turned into a robot by the AllSpark. Transformers
Animated cartoon
Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Sari Sumdac enjoyed playing video games, sometimes to the chagrin of the more nature-minded Prowl. When he and Sari were trapped in a mine shaft, Bumblebee attempted to use his skills from playing Medieval Maze Monsters to lead them out, only to find themselves right back where they started. Nature Calls When Wasp was disguised as Bumblebee, Bulkhead proposed pitting the two against each other at a game of Ninja Gladiator, believing it impossible for the true Bumblebee to lose after how much time he had spent playing it. Wasp, not liking his odds, refused the challenge and revealed himself. Where Is Thy Sting?
Animated video game
Sari tempted an exhausted Bumblebee into playing games with her using a pre-release copy of Mage Master Maze Knight she had obtained. Ratchet grumbled that if the AllSpark had meant them to play video games, it would have programmed them into one. Transformers Animated: The Game
Prime cartoon
Jack Darby, Miko Nakadai, Raf Esquivel, and Bumblebee enjoyed playing a generic racing game. Darkness Rising, Part 3 Scrapheap Speed Metal Miko also tried to convince Jack to play Super Guitar Band with her. Crisscross
Titan Magazines Prime comics
Raf picked up a copy of Invasionauts II from the Plug and Play game store, playing it extensively with Bulkhead. However, it turned out to be part of a Decepticon scheme, and Raf was nearly hypnotized into opening a GroundBridge for the Decepticons to enter Autobot Outpost Omega One. Fortunately, Miko and Jack caught on and unplugged the console, breaking Raf's trance and averting the crisis. Tinker, Tailor, Gamer, Spy! Jack and Raf once stayed up extremely late to play video games, only stopping due a power outage, which cost Jack his save file. Power Outage
Fall of Cybertron video game
Starscream took a break from sabotaging Shockwave's security to play Super Grimlock Quest 64. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Q-Transformers cartoon
Optimus Prime frequently played (and lost repeatedly at) Mystery of Convoy Returns, prompting several discussions with Bumblebee and Lockdown about the nature of crappy, unfair games, particularly the original Mystery of Convoy. Q-Transformers: Mystery of Convoy Returns
Rescue Bots cartoon
Police will never help you!
Cody Burns and Blades attempted to play the Griffin Rock Element Quest virtual reality game at the Hall of Inspiration, but a freak storm caused the game to glitch, trapping them inside and turning the in-game hazards deadly. Thanks to the efforts of their teammates, the two beat the game and escaped before the power could shut off with them still plugged in. A Virtual Disaster Element Quest was later moved to Griffin Rock Fun Zone, where Cody, Chief Burns and Heatwave went to try the game's 2.0 upgrade, only for it to fall under the control of the Morocco virus. Cody and Chief ultimately defeated the virus and won the game, but the virus escaped into the real world via a 3D printer. Back to Virtual Reality
SD SG comic
Strongarm was a fan of The Obvious Truths of Optimus Prime, though Windblade believed it strongly resembled a certain game from another dimension. SD SG #2
Footnotes
- ↑ "The Making of: Vortex". Retro Gamer (147): 38–41. October 2015.
