Created as part of a trilogy of animated series in 2005, “Transformers: Cybertron” is everything the new Cartoon Network-produced series ought to be. It never forgets for a moment that it’s a show about giant fucking robots, and though the action rarely lets up, it also has an original story that makes sense within the official canon. As it goes, the Transformers’ have been forced to seek refuge on Earth following the formation of a black hole near their planet. The Autobots are ordered to lay low, but Megatron and his fellow Decepticons begin scouring the universe for the Cyber Planet Keys – ancient artifacts with the power to save their home world. With the help of Vector Prime (one of the original 13 Transformers), the Autobots are tasked with tracking down the Cyber Planet Keys first, or risk suffering the consequences of Megatron’s evil ways. Jammed to the gills with Transformers (including the normal variety, as well as Mini-Cons and “Beast Wars”-like animal bots), “Cybertron” has been designed especially with fans in mind. Some might complain about the human characters that befriend the Autobots in the first episode, but compared to other iterations, the three kids that appear here are actually important to the story. The only real complaint that could be made is that the mix of animation styles (anime for humans, CG for robots) is a bit disconcerting. The other two shows in what many have called the “Unicron Trilogy” (“Armada” and “Energon”) were completely hand-drawn, and as such, they looked much better. Still, if you don’t want to blow hundreds of dollars tracking down the original series, and you’re looking for a bit of an upgrade anyways, “Cybertron” might just be your best bet.

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