They then make their way to a nearby research facility where a Mini-Con has been discovered and engage the numerous enemy guards. While collecting Mini-Cons and avoiding Decepticlone Sentry Drones, they follow smoke to a human plane that had been shot down. After making their way through an icy canyon, they come to a large open glacial area. The three Mini-Cons then partner up with the Autobots.įollowing the signal, the Autobots then head to Antarctica. After destroying the Heavy Unit, the Autobots reunite and discover the Mini-Cons Sparkplug, Jolt and Longarm, who send out a call to the other Mini-Cons on Earth. Cyclonus declares Earth to now be Decepticon property and leaves one of the Decepticlone Heavy Units to attack them. After collecting Mini-Cons scattered around the region and fighting through Decepticlone patrols, they are confronted by Cyclonus in some ruins at the top of a mountain.
The first region on Earth they head is the Amazon. Both sides head off to Earth to recover the Mini-Cons.įrom their headquarters, the Autobots head out one-at-a-time through their space bridge to the different regions around Earth. Optimus and Megatron face off on a building until they are interrupted by the Mini-Con distress beacon. As they overtake Iacon, only Optimus Prime, Hot Shot, and Red Alert stand in their way. In the present, the Decepticons have conquered nearly all of Cybertron thanks to their Decepticlone army. Millions of years ago, the Mini-Cons fled Cybertron and crash landed on ancient Earth, going into stasis all around the planet. A larger roster of characters would have made it difficult for Melbourne House to create different styles of gameplay, especially considering most of the Armada Autobots were cars and other land vehicles. By having only three distinctly different characters, the game provides a different experience to players and forces them to adjust their strategy according to whomever they chose. The reasoning behind the inclusion of a small cast of playable characters was a simple matter of gameplay logistics. Oh and of course, be prepared for your character to ragdoll around a lot. An impressive feat of the engine is allowing for many ragdolls to be on-screen at once. The game engine is a proprietary engine used by Melbourne House, allowing for large, detailed outdoor levels with no slowdown. Players can leave levels without completing them through warp gates, and return to any previously-played level to discover more areas using their newly collected Mini-Cons.
Joe cartoon PSAs).Įvery level in the game is a very large, detailed environment which allows free exploration rather than short, linear maps. The player can also "Powerlinx" with their partner Mini-Con, allowing for a Max Payne-style "bullet time" mode, though this drains the player's health.Īs well as Mini-Cons, players collect Data-Cons that unlock bonus features in the game's main menu, ranging from game artwork (development sketches, renders, and the like), toy instructions, toy prototype photos, the toy pack-in mini-comics, and five previously-unavailable-elsewhere Generation 1-era PSAs (in the same style as the old G.I. In addition, the main partner Mini-Cons follow the player, shooting at enemies. Some combinations of Mini-Cons also have additional synergistic effects, such as faster weapon recharging or a larger life meter. The final boss of the game is Unicron in planet mode a colossal Dead End in "moon" mode can be seen attached to him.Īs well as allowing players to transform into vehicles whenever they wish, the game uses Mini-Con collecting as a way to acquire new weapons and abilities, introducing multiple new (non-toy) Mini-Con characters. The Decepticons' Mini-Con partners Leader-1 and Crumplezone do not appear as individuals, but are seen attached to their partners. The Mini-Cons Sparkplug, Longarm, and Jolt join their toy-partners after the player completes the first level, acting as support fighters.
In the game, players take control of one of three Autobots ( Optimus Prime, Red Alert, or Hot Shot) to battle Megatron and his vast army of Decepticlones over the recently discovered Mini-Cons on Earth.ĭecepticons who appear in the game include Megatron, Starscream, Cyclonus, and Tidal Wave.