In what order do you rate the G1 cartoon TV series?

In what order do you rate the Generation One cartoon Series?

Factors to consider would be strength of storylines, character development, animation quality etc. But the most important factor is how much you personally enjoyed it and found it entertaining.

The way I personally rank them.

FIRST PLACE
US Series – Season 2
The best season by far in my book! Tons of character development for not only existing characters but new characters as well. Omega Supreme, Beachcomber, Seaspray, Powerglide, Red Alert, Swindle, Astrotrain etc all get episodes that revolve around them despite not being the megastars of the show. And so many memorable characters get introduced in the series! Everyone from Warpath and the Aerialbots to Blitzwing and the Stunticons! As far as I’m concerned this is the season that MADE the Transformers! I can’t praise it enough – I really can’t!

SECOND PLACE
US Series - Season 3
This season really has me torn in many respects. There are episodes such as Webworld and Call of the Primatives which I believe are some of the best of the entire G1 Cartoon series both with their animation and storylines. Then there are episodes such as Carnage in C-Minor and some of the 5 Faces of Darkness ones which simply make me cringe for their awful animation and craptastular plots. And don’t even get me started on how Grimlock went from this brute-force Prime-challenging T-Rex to a sulky, childish joke of a character. There is a helluva lot to hate about Season 3. However there is tons to love about it too. We get to see tons of Cybertron-related episodes as well as lots of Space Adventures. We get to see Optimus come back from the dead twice (who knew he would do it another 37 times or so after that), we get introduced to characters such as Sky Lynx, Trypticon, Metroplex, Broadside, Octane, Sandstorm, the Predacons, Technobots, Terrorcons and so on that were not introduced in the Movie. Charcters that were introduced in the movie such as Springer, Arcee, Cyclonus, Ultra Magnus etc all get expanded upon. So Season 3 gets my rating as the second best season ever simply because it made the TF Universe so large – rather than it being just Megatron inventing a super weapon which Optimus destroys at the end of the episode.

THIRD PLACE
US Series – Season 1
This almost deserves to be rated at number one as this gave us, in essence – The Transformers! It gave us Optimus Prime, Megatron & Starscream – arguably the three biggest names in the entire franchise! Optimus Prime is one of the most recognized fictional characters out there and this is where he got his start. It also gave us Soundwave as well as The Dinobots and the Constructicons – all fan favorites! So many of my mates who have not followed the show since they were kids have/had no idea there even was a third series but they damn well remember Soundwave, Grimlock and Devastator! I’ve mainly ranked this third simply as the other two seasons expanded the TF universe more but this is where it all started – I’m still tempted to rate this season as the second best or even the best overall due to its significance.

FOURTH PLACE
US Series - Season 4
Not bad, we get to see all the Headmasters and Targetmasters introduced. But dear god did Punch, Fastlane and Cloudraker annoy me with their terrible lines! Plus it only went for three episodes.

FIFTH PLACE
Japanese Series – Headmasters, Super God Masterforce and Victory
I’m lumping these three into the fourth spot together simply as I can’t remember any of them that well. I got given the box sets by a friend years ago and slowly made my way through the series watching them late at night on weekends. To be honest I’d have to watch most of the way through an episode before I could realize which one I am watching. I can’t remember if I even made my entire way through Victory.

SIXTH PLACE
Japanese Series – Zone
This comes last simply as there was only ever one episode of it. However at least I do remember it for the funky capes and armor that Predaking and the others were wearing. Was pretty cool to see a ton of the Micromasters in it and Devastator use his drill hand.



So what order do you rate the G1 cartoon series in and why?

P.S: I did not include the animated movie and Scramble City for the fact neither was intended to be a TV series.

I'd had two sets of rankings - how you ranked them as a kid - thats if you actually turned on the tv and saw them or even had to hire a VHS and how you rank them now.

As a kid
1 - US Season 1
2 - US Season 3
3 - US Season 4
4 - US Season 2

As an adult
1 - Masterforce
2 - US Season 4
3 - US Season 3
4 - US Season 1
5 - US Season 2
6 - Headmasters

I have zero interest in watching victory or zone. Ever.

never watched the Japanese shows, so can't comment, but I'd actually rate them in order of release
1,2,3,4

Reasoning?

AS you mentioned above Trev, Season 1 introduced the key characters that have appeared in almost all variations of Transformers, and the most memorable ones. Of the toys I had as a kid, until I started looking online in the last couple of years, the only ones I could name were from S1.

Also, the first ever episode I watched as a kid was "Fire on the mountain" - somehow I remember seeing those scenes over a decade later when I bought the box set...

Season 2 was an expansion on S1, only reason I didn't rate it higher was that it didn't have quite the same nostalgia value to it. But you've got great "one shot" type showcase episodes for bots like Tracks, Desertion of the Dinobots was probably the episode I saw the most as a kid (I kept borrowing this, and one of the Voltron episodes from the video shop on the corner of my street for YEARS) and the introduction of most of the combiner teams (just ignore Defensor's episode) as well as plenty of character development.

Season 3 to me was a bit jarring, as I hadn't seen the '86 movie, so to see a whole bunch of characters I'd never seen before take main stage, plus the fact I never had any of their toys (I thought as a kid my mate's Ultra Magnus was an awesome white Optimus with super armour) and Daniel/Grimlock pissed me off. Did have some great episodes though, which is why I rate it higher than...

Season 4. Too short, too many new characters/gimmicks introduced, sometimes only for a few seconds - Sixshot anyone? - and while it was a "satisfying" end to the whole G1 saga, it just felt a little too rushed.

Season 1, because when ever anyone brings up transformers, that's what comes to my head, that's what I remember first, that's what I used to wake up in the mornings to watch on TV, that's what transformers was about, the original cast of Autobots and Decepticons in disguise battling it out on Earth, that's transformers to me, regardless of how crappy the animation or story lines may have been :)

As for what order I'd rank them in, probably the same as prjkt (haven't seen anything after season 4)

1. Season 2
2. Masterforce
3. Season 1
4. Season 3
5. Season 4
6. Victory
7. Headmasters
8. Zone

I rank US season two over season one. Those were the episodes I saw most as a kid and have the most fondness for. Possibly helps that season two has a lot more episodes. It definitely helps that the cast in season two is a mix of the whole 1985 toy range (still my favourite range of characters ever).

I'd also score Season two higher for it's great multiple part episodes. Season one's Ultimate Doom is not very good, but season two gives us "Dinobot Island", "Megatron's Master Plan", "Desertion of the Dinobots", and "Key to Vector Sigma" - all great two parters, as well as the unofficial two parter Combaticon episodes.

Masterforce is terrific, but if I could have only one series, Season 2 would beat it out so I've placed it second.

I only saw season 4 when I was older (high school) and I have little interest in it. These days I find season 3 pretty much unwatchable (even an episode like Call of that people rave about) but I enjoyed it as a kid.

Headmasters tricks you by looking more like a western cartoon (unlike the more traditional Anime style in Masterforce). And when it starts it looks like the proper Season 4 I wanted to see. But then the music starts and it's all 'wrong'. It looks like G1US animation but doesn't sound right. Then the sound effects are wrong, the voices from characters you know are wrong (and foreign). I just couldn't get through more than a few episodes.

Zone comes in last as I've seen none of it.

I'd rate Season 1, simply because it's where all this started. some of my favourite characters are from the first two seasons, so..

Season 2 is next.

Season 3 as it also has cool characters but I honestly recall feeling something missing with Prime not present.

Season 4 is just a roll call of toys so here it fits.

I've watched some headmasters and Victory, it's a real struggle, plot wise and voice/name wise. I like them because there is more transformers story there but they sit at 5th place evenly.

Prime has only come back to life 39 times? Less than I thought

Victory is actually pretty good, especially at the end with the final showdown between Star Sabre vs Deathsaurus as being what many fans consider to be the most epic 1-on-1 TF fight since Optimus Prime vs Megatron in TF:TM. And while the Dino Force characters are pretty goofy as comic relief, their final story arc is also pretty neat (similar to Gelshark/Sky-Byte ;)). If you enjoyed The Headmasters, then I think that you'll enjoy Victory. It's not quite as good as Masterforce, but better than The Headmasters IMHO.

Zone is pretty forgettable as it's just a straight up 25 min toy advert. Although the animation and action^violence is memorable. And it's pretty cool seeing Micromasters in action. But story-wise you're not missing out on anything. Although it is only one episode.

Poll doesn't include Scramble City. But I doubt that would be anyone's favourite. Just like Zone, it's nothing more than an advert, only really, really badly animated.

I'm struggling through Headmasters at the moment. I love the characters but I dunno, it just feels like a chore. In saying that though I do look forward to watching Masterforce and Victory.

My current rankings would go

Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 1 and Headmasters tied

I think if I were to be honest, the only episode of Season 1 I think is awesome would be Heavy Metal War. Season 3 I would have to say is more appreciated now as an adult rather than as a child.

Season 1 and 2 hold a special place, some of my favourite childhood characters like Optimus and Grimlock having good roles in a familiar setting.

However, I like Season 3 the most (also a big part of my childhood) with a lot more complex characters like Galvatron (especially in web world), Rodimus and even Optimus Prime (with his reawakening).

It really felt like the previous campy kind of battles between the Autobots and Decepticons were cast into the past and the throttle pushed forward to battles in space, on other planets besides Earth, between a new generation of Autobots and Decepticons, though the war remains the same.

Season 3 was a lot darker too, and just was more interesting. I love some of the S1/2 characters and designs (something the G1 cartoon did well) a lot, but Season 3 had a huge amount of cool designs (Galvatron was great in particular).