As far as long-running TV franchises go, few (if any) come close to Transformers. Sure, it all started with Hasbro’s toy line, but it quickly grew into a massive universe full of animated series, spinoffs, and CG reboots — heck, we’ve even had a load of live-action Transformers movies. Ahead of Transformers One, its first animated theatrical movie in decades, these are the shows you shouldn’t miss.
The cool thing about Transformers is that it essentially reboots itself (like a robot, ha) every once in a while. In fact, Hasbro often has multiple timelines running in parallel. The end result? A major sci-fi franchise full of distinct visual styles and narratives born from the same basic premise:
Transformers are a robot species from the planet Cybertron that eventually suffers a civil war between two factions, Autobots and Decepticons. In most cases, Earth ends up in the middle of their seemingly eternal conflict.
With so much variety in the franchise, we’ve put together our ranked list of the ten best Transformers TV shows released so far.
Before jumping in, we also have our own Transformers movies ranked list, and we’ve also tried to lock down a top of the best Transformers video games of all time too. Got all that? Okay, now you can transform and… scroll down!
10. Transformers: War for Cybertron Trilogy
- Release date: July 30, 2020 – July 29, 2021
- Cast: Edward Bosco, Jake Foushee, Jason Marnocha, Frank Todaro
Hasbro’s Allspark and Netflix jointly announced a new animated series in 2019. It was going to be produced by Rooster Teeth, Allspark Animation, and Polygon Pictures. The end result? A pretty solid take on Cybertron’s civil war with designs taken straight from the Generation 1 and Beast Wars series.
The series was split into three chapters, each consisting of six episodes: Siege, Earthrise, and Kingdom. Visually, it was a massive step up from most Transformers shows which used CG animation, but the biggest surprise was how deep it turned out to be. It might not be among the franchise’s very best, but for the more adult fans, War for Cybertron was an awesome gift.
9. Transformers: Armada
- Release date: August 23, 2002 – December 26, 2003
- Cast: Garry Chalk, David Kaye, Scott McNeil, Michael Dobson
If you were a kid growing up in the early 2000s, chances are you spent a lot of time watching Transformers: Armada and its sequels as they aired on Cartoon Network in many territories. It was the first series co-produced by Hasbro and its Japanese partner Takara, and as such, it was an anime through and through.
In this iteration of the war between Autobots and Decepticons, the power-enhancing Transformers called Mini-Cons are the key to winning the conflict, which, of course, finds its way to Earth. While the early episodes are a safe sci-fi adventure, things do get much darker and riskier as the plot continues, and as far as reboots go, Armada might be one of the best starting points for newcomers to the franchise.
8. Transformers: Cybertron
- Release date: January 2005 – September 2005
- Cast: Garry Chalk, David Kaye, Scott McNeil, Michael Dobson
Originally conceived as the ‘trilogy capper’ of the story that began with Armada, plans were changed by the Japanese production team. In the end, the series was scripted as a new story. However, the English dub tried to adjust dialogues and establish connections to Armada and Energon (the second installment in the planned trilogy).
Cybertron inevitably feels a bit disjointed, and the CG animation isn’t the most striking the franchise has ever had but the commitment to deep characterizations and a robust plotting did pay off. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea (few Transformers shows are), but it tried to spice things up while honoring the IP’s legacy in bold new ways.
7. Transformers: Animated
- Release date: December 26, 2007 – May 23, 2009
- Cast: Jeff Glen Bennett, David Kaye, Corey Burton, Tara Strong
Transformers: Animated dropped at the perfect time: just as Michael Bay’s first live-action movie had assaulted the box office. However, its animation style seemed more kid-friendly than most previous iterations’ visual presentation. This pushed many fans away… but also attracted a new generation of potential viewers.
While Animated referenced other continuities, often in cheeky ways, it’s very much its own thing. A key difference is that, early on, it tried to steer clear of past series’ grander scope, instead focusing on weekly episodes that were easy to digest. That said, its story eventually birthed bigger arcs that led into a satisfying final stretch. As one of the most straightforward Transformers shows around, this is an easy recommendation if you can get past the off-beat character designs.
6. Transformers: Cyberverse
- Release date: August 27, 2018 – December 22, 2021
- Cast: Jeremy Levy, Ryan Andes, Jake Foushee, Jessica DiGiovanni
Another recent effort, Cyberverse marked yet another fresh take on the Transformers mythology and core concepts. Its biggest difference? Bumblebee and his partner, Windblade, are the two protagonists. Plus, this time around, the CG animation looked truly stylish instead of cluttered and tacky.
By and large, Transformers fans gave Cyberverse a hearty ‘thumbs up’ thanks to its commitment to fresh ideas like other civilizations and the futility of war, with both the Autobots and evil Decepticons questioning why they were fighting a seemingly endless war and how to best move forward.
5. Transformers: Robots in Disguise
- Release date: March 14, 2015 – November 11, 2017
- Cast: Stuart Allan, Darren Criss, Will Friedle, Ted McGinley
Not to be confused with the early 2000s series of the same title, Robots in Disguise ’15 was a sequel to the loudly-praised Transformers: Prime. At this point, Bumblebee was already rising as an Autobot figure — nearly on par with Optimus Prime — well ahead of his own live-action movie that was released in 2018. Unlike Prime, Robots in Disguise ’15 was aimed at a younger audience, but that didn’t stop it from packing a punch.
Optimus Prime didn’t show up until later into the series, and that gave Bumblebee as well as other lesser-known Autobots a lot of space to shine. This gave the show a very special vibe, especially as it began to expand the larger mythos.
4. Beast Machines: Transformers
- Release date: September 18, 1999 – November 18, 2000
- Cast: Garry Chalk, Scott McNeil, Ian James Corlett, Venus Terzo
Beast Machines was a strange beast (pun intended). After Beast Wars’ massive success, the last thing anyone was expecting from its follow-up series was a much darker tone and outlandish new concepts, yet that’s what happened, and we appreciate the bolder swings taken.
The story follows Optimus Primal and the Maximals as they return to Cybertron, where they find a world overrun by Vehicon drones controlled by Megatron. The plot includes techno-organic bodies, a supercomputer, a lethal virus, and plenty of deeper sci-fi ideas that instantly made Beast Machines an intriguing experiment. This caused many fans to simply reject it, but as the franchise has gone back and forth on what it wants to be, we have found more reasons to appreciate what this one went for.
3. Beast Wars: Transformers
- Release date: September 16, 1996 – May 7, 1999
- Cast: Garry Chalk, David Kaye, Ian James Corlett, Scott McNeil
Okay, as bold as Beast Machines was, it still isn’t as awesome as its predecessor. Beast Wars introduced a relatively unknown era to the Transformers canon and bet its chips on new groups of characters, the Maximals and the Predacons, while somehow tying everything to the rest of the continuity, rough edges aside.
Back in the day, the 3D graphics work on this show was amazing and unlike anything we’d seen in an animated TV show. Of course, it nowadays looks… uh… rough. But if you can get past that and adjust your brain to the ‘90s vibes, Beast Wars packed plenty of interesting characters and plot beats to grow attached to. By the time it ended, it had become one key part of the larger Transformers canon.
2. Transformers: Prime
- Release date: November 29, 2010 – July 26, 2013
- Cast: Peter Cullen, Will Friedle, Nolan North, Michael Ironside
No one expected Prime to go as hard as it did, but it quickly proved itself as one of the darkest takes on the source material. Don’t let the (sharp) CGI look and cartoony human designs fool you, this is Transformers at its very best and most mature. It also blended visual touches and elements from Michael Bay’s live-action movies with classic ideas and designs, resulting in what felt like the definitive show of the post-live-action era.
Prime wasn’t perfect (no Transformers show is), but it dared to think big and take cues from all over the animated and live-action Transformers canon. Moreover, the creatives took it very seriously, and it showed as it evolved. Whether you’re a veteran, a younger fan, or someone trying to get their friend into Transformers, Prime is a must-watch.
1. The Transformers
- Release date: May 1985 – July 1987
- Cast: Peter Cullen, Corey Burton, Dan Gilvezan, Don Messick
It’s not just nostalgia: the best Transformers series continues to be the original G1 show from the ‘80s. Maybe it was its innocence and sense of wonder, or how daring it all felt back in the day versus other animated TV shows, but the result is that, simply put, the original Transformers’ storyline remains the peak of the franchise.
Like many other animated shows from that decade, The Transformers is full of plot holes and uneven animation, but it’s got the juice (or energon) where it counts. The strong characterizations and core premise were there from the get-go, but in time, its vast mythology and ambitious narrative culminated in truly emotional moments that grown adults still haven’t gotten over.
