In March 2025 Hasbro officially announced its new Transformers toy lined aimed at younger audiences: Cyberworld. This adventure would feature a set of characters inspired by many different sources in Transformers canon. You have your G1 mainstays like Optimus Prime and Bumblebee, but other characters including Sky-Byte and Scorponok add some interesting color into the mixture. On July 12, 2025 the series launched on the Official Transformers Youtube Channel. Episodes one and two both debuted on the same day but Youtube only lists the title for episode one. Episode two begins when Megatron finds Bumblebee. This review covers both episodes.
Episode 1: Optimus Prime Crash Lands On Cyberworld / Episode 2
Episode Summary
Optimus Prime crash lands on a mysterious, organic world. While searching for help he is attacked first by the gigantic Decepticon Scorponok and then the Dinobot leader Grimlock. Eventually he spots an Autobot shuttle that may belong to Bumblebee. However, before he can get to his old friend Bumblebee encounters Megatron. Megatron has been conscious longer than 'bee and figured out that the world they are on is all about survival. Suddenly, the two are introduced to a game where they have to destroy holographic targets. Megatron appears to win at first, but Bumblebee actually follows the game rules and is rewarded with an Energon boost. Megatron promptly blasts him away. Optimus soon finds Bumblebee right before the young Autobot passes out.
Review
Once upon a time Transformers shows often relied on introductory episodes that provided some type of origin story or explanation as to how this particular set of Robots in Disguise came to be. However, some shows buck that trend including Cyberverse and now Cyberworld. It is assumed know the basics like what is an Autobot versus a Decepticon, Transformers can change their shape from one form to another and so on. Freed of having to go into an origin story, this show kicks off right away alluding to events that preceded the show and introducing a really fun mystery in the process.
A good chunk of this episode relies on Optimus Prime's perspective as he navigates Cyberworld. I suspect some memory loss has occurred as he does not seem to recall being transported to the planet and when he sees Grimlock and Scorponok he does not seem to be familiar with them (or in this continuity they've never really had much to do with each other, either is possible). It also seems Optimus did something that freaked out Bumblebee to get to Cyberworld, something which is alluded to in the opening scene and then shown in a quick flashback.
The other portion of the episode focuses on Bumblebee and Megatron's very brief team up where they are put onto an obstacle course with targets to destroy. I was very amused to see Megatron being such a know-it-all smashing the targets only to have it revealed that Bumblebee actually played the "game" correctly! This scene is also important because it reveals to us that this may in fact be some type of simulation that the Cybertronians are stuck inside. Some mysterious force is able to hack into everyone's firmware and set up "games" for them to play. Grimlock references an Energon Cube "spawning" like loot in a game. I would not be surprised if a future episode shows us that all the participants in Cyberworld are actually hooked up to some big Virtual Reality simulation like The Matrix movies.
There are some lingering mysteries or story points I'd like to see expanded upon. Is the Autobot/Decepticon war still on? Neither Bumblebee or Megatron immediately go straight to fighting each other. Optimus and Scorponok don't immediately fight either. Why doesn't Grimlock know Optimus Prime? And of course, who has trapped these Transformers in a giant game world? Why didn't Optimus Prime's axe work? I'm looking forward to finding the answers!
The animation in this series is very basic but the characters move smoothly and the models look good. It's basically one or two levels above the animation in Wild King (I'm so glad that character mouths actually open and close as opposed to eyes just flashing when they talk). The lighting is bright and the color palette is varied so there is a lot for the eyes to feast upon.
There's more humor in this show than I had originally anticipated. It kicks off as soon as the episode begins and really helps set the tone for the show. The humor borderlines on slapstick but it's very fun. One of my favorite gags was Optimus Prime trying unsuccessfully to gain traction in vehicle mode as tumbleweed rolls by. It never goes over the top but it certainly helps keep the tone lighter.
References
This show appears to take place in a new continuity that has elements of previous shows. Given that, I did not expect there to be so many references to the past. These include:
- Til All Are One The classic Transformers phrase is incorporated into the theme song for the show.
- Energon Energon Cubes are shown and referenced by names as an energy source for the Cybertronians. In this show they also seem to double as (in game parlance) "XP" or Experience Points that allow the Transformers to level up.
- Primus Optimus Prime references "Primus' grace" in a sentence (though the closed captioning on Youtube translates it as "True grace" oddly enough).
- Axe Optimus attempts to deploy his axe weapon by retracting his hand but it does not deploy. Retracting his hand and replacing it with his axe weapon is a direct callback to the G1 cartoon where he could do just that.
- Flower When Optimus first arrives at Cyberworld he sees a flower (which appears like it might be holographic). This flower is very similar in shape to the one seen in the opening of the Beast Machines episode "The Reformatting Part One".
- Scorponok Scorponok bursting through the ground in the dessert setting is reminiscent of a scene in the 2007 live action "Transformers" film where that film's version of Scorponok bursts through the dessert floor to attack a group of soldiers.
- Module 17.09.84 The "module" or game that Bumblebee and Megatron play is labeled as "Module 17.09.84". This is a direct reference to September 17, 1984, the date the very first episode of G1 aired.
- Mini-Cons Megatron mentions Mini-Cons during his scene with Bumblebee. They also sound like they are relatively easy to defeat in combat (though that could just be his arrogance speaking).
- "Dust in the Wind" Megatron says the phrase "Rust in the Wind", a reference to the song "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed the first episode of this series. I was not expecting something on the level of say, G1 or Beast Wars. I knew going in that this was meant to be a more light hearted show aimed at younger fans and set my expectations accordingly and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. I'm looking forward to learning more about this world and its mysteries!
