Go-Bots VS. Transformers

As a 90s child -- I remembered there were two similar cartoons namely Go-Bots (which I was shocked came first) and then there was Transformers (which was inspired by the Go-Bots). Transformers became more popular than its inspiration or in my case -- I prefer Transformers over to Go-Bots. The two were competing in the 80s but by the time I saw the show -- it turned out that Hasbro already acquired Transformers' rival Go-Bots from its original owner Tonka in 1991. Which reminds me that Hasbro is the company behind Transformers, Beast Wars (which is part of G1 Continuity) and they also had Go-Bots.

So a bit of research will tell you that the Challenge of the Go-Bots cartoon (by Hanna Barbera) aired at the same year with the Transformers cartoon. But we know which show had better animation, music and characters. Go-Bots started off as toyline and so did Transformers. My issue with Go-Bots is the lack of personality and bland designs that Hanna-Barbera had. I mean think of this...

The opening and ending themes of Transformers totally beat the source of inspiration. Music, characters, action scenes -- everything is just that good. The rivalry between Optimus Prime and Megatron had more personality than that of Leader-1 and Cykill. I knew Transformers had some limits such as not all Autobots could fly like the Guardians but they had more interesting personalities than the latter. Sure, Leader-1 is well a good leader though I thought Optimus Prime himself was truly the top. I wonder why did Hasbro decide to give him a warrior's death? Though I admit that warrior's death was in fact well-written. I did cry at that scene and I was told that even the greatest heroes can die in a war. The Transformers film for me has been a real masterpiece in contrast to Michael Bay's films.

For me, Go-Bots was part of my childhood but I just don't feel like rewatching it. It's sort of like how Power Rangers or many other stuff are part of my childhood -- but not all of them are worth revisiting.