Transformers Battle Universe
| The name or term "Universe" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Universe (disambiguation). |
Transformers Battle Universe was a fighting game for Hasbro's proprietary Net Jet "instant online game system." Its roster included ten characters and various locations from Transformers brand franchises such as Generation 1, Beast Wars, and the 2007 movie.
The Net Jet system was discontinued on December 31, 2009, rendering the game unplayable from that date on.[1]
Playable characters
- Generation 1 Starscream is based on Hasbro's Masterpiece Starscream toy.
Items
- The Matrix appears when an opponent has been defeated in Adventure Mode. Picking it up summons the next opponent. When it appears, a short clip of choral music from Beast Wars's score plays.
- Green faction symbol
- Restores player's health
- Purple faction symbol
- Restores player's special attack meter
- Yellow faction symbol
- adds 500 points to your score
Backgrounds
There are five Environments that you can play in, the last three need to be unlocked:
- Ark Crash Landing
- Metro City
- Cybertron
- Space Bridge
- An orange spire on an asteroid orbiting Cybertron. You may even get a glimpse of Unicron's severed head floating by!
- Future Detroit
- From Animated.
Alt modes
During most of the modes of play, the only alternate mode that you get is a brief one or two second change before transforming back to robot mode — just enough to get off an attack. It's an effective way to get your opponent to back off and gets you more points than a punch or a kick.
However, during the Adventure mode, which pits you against five opponents one-at-a-time, you can use the transformation button between opponents to get extended use of the alternate mode. You won't change back until you hit the button again. If you get the Matrix before transforming back, then the battle will start with both of you in alternate mode. This can actually be disadvantageous though, especially if you choose the beasts or G1 Megatron. Primal and Dino Megatron have no attacks when in beast mode; the only damage they can do is by running into their opponent. G1 Megatron is on a fixed pedestal, which means the opponent can strike from any angle, but Megatron can't move to get out of the way. Still, it is fun, even if it's not an effective way to fight!
Notes
* Despite the opening animation using Paul Oakenfold's Transformers Cybertron theme song the game itself does not feature any characters from that show, or the Unicron Trilogy in general.
- A bundle including the Net Jet controller and the Battle Universe game key was released.
- Despite the boot up menu stating that the Net Jet service would conclude at the end of 2009, the servers were still up until mid-2013.
