Distribution

This where people started reevaluating their opinions of Beast Machines.

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A virtual training match pits Autobot against Autobot, Decepticon against Autobot, old bodies against new bodies, and commercial bumpers against plot advancement.

Japanese title: 必見! 夢の最強マッチ: 放映時間の異なる番外編 (Hikken! Yume no Saikyō Macchi: Hōei Jikan no Kotonaru Bangai Hen, "A Must See! The Greatest Dream Match: Extra Episode with a Different Airtime")

Summary

Galvatron strongly suggests to his men that, before they watch this, they turn on the lights.

In a huge arena, amid the cheers of thousands of spectators and waves of falling confetti, two horrifying robotic cat girls introduce the night's first combatants, Rodimus and Hot Shot, vs. Mirage and... Tidal Wave! And so begin the virtual games!

Alpha Q observes—it's some kind of virtual training program run by the Autobots. At least one of of his faces wants to change the channel.

The matches continue. Ironhide is suitably confused when Alpha Q comes out alongside Scorponok. Prowl and Downshift squabble so much that the match is delayed, leaving Snowcat and Demolishor standing around with nothing to do; eventually the Decepticons decide to try combining too, but just end up standing on each others' shoulders.

Rodimus and Hot Shot beat Optimus and Wing Saber. Snowcat and Demolishor win their match, and are looking forward to the next one, wondering if there's prizes—maybe a power-up from Galvatron! Unfortunately, their next opponent is Galvatron, who's just finished off their old-body selves.

The combiners finish off Superion Maximus, and take on Omega Prime, who stomps them. The Shockblast brothers take on Rodimus and Hot Shot; Six Shot gets annoyed with Shockblast and zaps him out of the program. The same trick fails against the Autobots, who are real and can overcome the program. Galvatron stomps off after beating Snowcat and Demolishor, refusing to play the games any further.

The final match is Hot Shot and Rodimus against Omega and Optimus. Omega and Prime fly into the air, combine spectacularly and land... and Hot Shot and Rodimus are immediately declared the winners, as Omega Supreme has stepped out of the ring.

The winners get trophies, and the chance to battle a special guest. The ceiling opens up, and down comes… Unicron! A rather tiny Unicron. But tiny or not, he's still a force to be reckoned with. As they continue to battle, Alpha Q notes that perhaps the Transformers enjoy fighting.

And back in the real world, Hot Shot enthuses: they finally beat the game! He falls back into his seat, exhausted with pleasure. Kicker observes that they're more alike than he realized.

Brackets

Rodimus + Hot Shot

Rodimus + Hot Shot

Optimus Prime + Omega Supreme

Rodimus + Hot Shot

Six Shot + Shockblast

Galvatron + Starscream

Optimus Prime + Omega Supreme

Rodimus + Hot Shot

Optimus Prime + Wing Saber

Jetfire + Ironhide

Six Shot + Shockblast

Snowcat + Demolishor

Galvatron + Starscream

Bruticus Maximus + Constructicon Maximus

Optimus Prime + Omega Supreme

Rodimus + Hot Shot

Mirage + Tidal Wave

Cliffjumper + Landmine

Optimus Prime + Wing Saber

Jetfire + Ironhide

Scorponok + Alpha Q

Inferno + Roadblock

Six Shot + Shockblast

Snowcat + Demolishor

Downshift + Prowl

Galvatron + Starscream

Cyclonus + Demolishor

Bruticus Maximus + Constructicon Maximus

Superion Maximus

Optimus Prime + Omega Supreme

Stats

Original airdate:

Written by: ???

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Humans	Others
		Regulars Guests

Quotes

Angry face: Well, why are wasting our time watching them?!
Sinister face: Good question.
Hysterical face: I do so like to watch!
Angry face: I think this is all a bunch of frivolous flub! Change the channel!
Hysterical face: NOOOOOOOOO!

—Alpha Q views the madness...and at least one of them likes what he sees.

"It almost looks like they're married!"

—Snowcat watches Prowl and Downshift squabble.

"Huh! There is no way I'm playing this childish little game. I'm going home."

—And Galvatron is taking his playthings with him!

"Gee, he sure is puny—WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

—Hot Shot eats his words.

Other Notes

Lost in translation

• In the Super Link version, Cliffjumper spouts his characteristic Engrish line "Check it out, yo", which Landmine interprets as Japanese and, therefore, doesn't understand. The gag wouldn't have really worked for the dub.
• Super Link includes Scorponok proclaiming that Galvatron is still his master.
• The dub omits Six Shot marveling that the program manages to reproduce his brother's dim intellect; this is why Shockblast gestures angrily.
• Prowl and Downshift's argument is supposed to be over who would look cooler on top; the dub changes this to a random argument over... uh... something. This makes it much more random when later, they combine, both in their "top" modes.
• In Super Link, Jetfire tells his partner Ironhide to relax, as Alpha Q is part of the program. Jetfire then calmly tells him that "by the way, I'm part of the program too." The dub omits the gag.
• Amazingly, all three of the combiner team leaders appear separated and in robot mode, and the groups finally get full animation of their combining sequences (previously hidden behind glowing balls of light.) The dub gets confused by this, having the announcer say "Constructicon and Bruticus brought along a few of their friends" in reference to the combiners' limb components.
• The reason that Ironhide and Jetfire lose to the Shockblast brothers is that Six Shot tampered with the program. The dub makes it sound like Six Shot just fired some kind of weapon, in defiance of the animation.
• A gag that has Bulkhead declaring that the stubborn old man won't be in this episode is replaced in the dub by a lame line about "I didn't see that coming".
• In Super Link, Demolishor and Snowcat aren't afraid of the program Galvatron, and start insulting him, saying the original is much better. In the dub, they're afraid of him. The gag is further lost when it turns out that this is the real Galvatron.
• The dub has Optimus Prime saying "I AM YOUR LEADER!"… to the Decepticon combiners.
• The combiners' nature is briefly noted in Super Link when Prime tells the pair that "even ten isn't enough". The line doesn't appear in the dub.
• The dub omits the announcer commenting that, though Optimus and Omega lost, it sure did look cool.

Pain Count

• "Uh?": 2
• Stock footage: 10, not including the made-up ones for Demolishor and Snowcat.
• Let's do this: 2
• "Gimme a break": 1
• Take it Easy: 1

Real-world references

• Alpha Q notes that the training program is a bit like pro wrestling—you can't tell what's real and what's fake.

Miscellaneous trivia

• This episode was made in honor of its place as the 500th Transformers episode in Japan. In America, it came off as really, seriously, totally random.
• Not helping the situation any is the inclusion of random Super Link commercial bumpers at the conclusion of most matches. Since these were not shown in America, the gag of including them as part of the episode was essentially lost.
• Despite the lack of plot, the untranslatable gags, and the horrifying robot cat girl announcers, there is a certain wit to the match-ups, such as having various present/past incarnations of the same guy fighting together, and Demolishor and Snowcat walking in to find their old selves already defeated.

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