Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (PS)
 |
| |||||||||||||||
| This article is about the PlayStation game. For the Nintendo 64 game, see Transformers: Beast Wars Transmetals (N64). |
| |||||||
| |||||||
トランスフォーマー ビーストウォーズメタルス 激突！ガンガンバトル
(Transformers Beast Wars Metals: Gekitotsu! Gan-Gan Battle) "Transformers: Beast Wars Metals: Clash! Intense Battle" | |||||||
| Developers | WAVEDGE, GenAzea | ||||||
| Publishers | Takara (JP) BAM! Entertainment (NA) | ||||||
| Platform | PlayStation | ||||||
| Release date | October 1, 1999 (JP) July 12, 2000 (NA) | ||||||
| Rating | ESRB: T | ||||||
Transformers Beast Wars: Transmetals is a PlayStation video game, released in 1999 in Japan and 2000 in North America. It and its Nintendo 64 counterpart share a primary theme—characters from the second season of the Beast Wars television series duking it out in one-on-one combat—but the games differ in their stories, gameplay styles, character selections, and bonus features.
Plot
Maximal story
The Maximals are jostled as the Axalon comes under Predacon fire. As their shields begin failing, Cheetor is itching to take the attackers down, though Rattrap points out doing so alone will only lead to him getting scrapped. Optimus Primal, however, sees an opportunity and formulates a plan: he and a team of Maximals will defeat the attackers, pursue them back to their base, and take advantage of their weakened state to reclaim the Golden Disk. Cheetor, Silverbolt and a begrudging Rattrap join Primal's team while Rhinox stays behind to provide support and guard the ship.
Primal and his team then repel the four attacking Predacons, chasing them back to their ship. Defeating Megatron on the bridge of the Darksyde, Primal waxes poetic about the nobility of their heroic motivations as Rattrap flaunts the Golden Disk now in their possession. With the other Predacons out of commission and the Predacon computer disabled, the battle seems won, but Megatron laughs and reveals the remaining Predacons have successfully infiltrated the Axalon during their absence. As Megatron runs off, Optimus orders the others to hurry back to base.
Predacon story
As Megatron greets "another glorious Predacon day", he confirms his latest plan with Tarantulas: lure the Maximals to the Darksyde, beat them mercilessly until they're forced to retreat, then follow them back to their base to finish them. The rest of the Predacons are largely on board, but Rampage remains skeptical until being forcibly persuaded by Megatron. As a group of Maximals take the bait and arrive at the Darksyde, Blackarachnia and Waspinator leave to lure the rest out of the Axalon.
Megatron then leads a team consisting of Rampage, Tarantulas, Quickstrike and himself, beating back Optimus Primal's team across the planet, all the way back to their ship. After taking down Primal on the Axalon's bridge, Megatron his team gloat, mocking Primal's claims that he's not done yet. Before they can finish him, Rhinox appears and activates Sentinel's auto-guns, catching the Predacons off guard. Their advantage having been lost, Megatron swears vengeance as Rampage blows a hole in the wall and they make their escape.
Characters
| Maximals | Predacons |
|---|---|
|
|
Secret characters
Transmetals includes a handful of secret playable characters, each of which is a palette-swapped and slightly re-meshed variant of an existing character with their own unique voice lines. Each hidden character requires a variation on the same code: Select "VS Battle Mode", highlight "VS Com" or "VS Human", then press X. Continue holding X and immediately hold L1, L2, R1, R2, and one of the four directional pad buttons. Each direction will unlock a different character: Up for Tigatron (based on Cheetor, and the only non-Transmetal), Down for Ravage (also based on Cheetor), Left for Blackarachnia (based on Tarantulas), and Right for Windrazor (based on Silverbolt). These characters only appear in the game's North American release.
Quotes
"The flame of justice cannot be extinguished!"
"Are those your last words, Primal? I'll be sure to put them in my diary."
- —Optimus Primal is mocked by a seemingly-triumphant Megatron.
Gameplay
Notes
- Rhinox and Waspinator both appear in their Transmetal forms during the animated sequences, even though they retained their original bodies throughout the TV series, while Blackarachnia is shown to have achieved her Transmetal 2 form much earlier. Unlike the Nintendo 64 game, which explains this as being a result of Megatron mucking with time travel, the PlayStation version offers no explanation for these differences, simply treating them as having changed during the quantum surge like everyone else.
- Sentinel and the Predacon computer narrate the in-game menus.
- The Maximal story features Optimus and his team reclaiming the Vok Golden Disk; no mention is made of its Voyager counterpart, suggesting the story may take place before the Predacons reclaimed it in "Maximal, No More".
- Inferno is mentioned in passing during the Maximal story, but does not otherwise appear.
- When fighting in the volcano arena, the Ark is visible during the victory screen.
- The credits sequence features several stills from the third season of the show, including images of characters that don't appear in the game itself like Depth Charge and Dinobot II.
- The game includes a bonus feature where images of various Beast Wars toys can be unlocked.
- Cheetor (and his redecos) are the most overpowered and "cheap" of the combatants, with extremely easy combo attacks that are unblockable and cause 100% damage to the enemy.
