Its hard to say what exactly about “The Transformers” appealed to so many kids in the ’80s, but whatever it was, it has created a huge fan base over the last 18 years. With such a large fan base, it is a surprise it took so long for Rhino Video to release full seasons of the series.

Well, that day has finally come. Rhino has not only released the first season of the original “Transformers” series on DVD, but also remastered the episodes and added some extras in a nice box set every fan should have.

While watching the Season One episodes after all these years, some of the series’ glaring flaws come to light. The show is about as standard “’80s cartoon” as you can get in that it is cheesy at times, episodes rely on many of the same plot ideas and there are occasional inconsistencies in both story and animation.

Despite all this, the series has survived quite well and not only is great for nostalgia purposes, bringing back all the great memories of watching it as a kid, but it also is still good enough to appreciate and is simply fun and entertaining to watch.

Season One is also perhaps the best of all “The Transformers,” as it covers a lot of ground in only 16 episodes. Not only does the series go along explaining who’s who and what’s what, but we also see the introduction of many fan-favorite characters such as Skyfire, the Dinobots, Insecticons and the Constructicons. And even though many episodes rely on the same basic idea, each one is still unique and has plenty of original material.

As mentioned, the episodes have all been remastered by Rhino and given a look far beyond anything we have seen before. Glitches in film have been cleaned up and the overall look is now far more colorful and vibrant. The new look does make a few areas look overdone in terms of colors and shadows, but overall it is a great job and well worth the wait.

On the sound side, Rhino also went to work to do something new. Instead of giving us old, scratchy sound, they have split it into Dolby 5.1 and cleaned up many areas of the sound. This allows voices to come through more clearly and gives the action more of an overall punch.

The sound does not fully take advantage of 5.1 audio, but does a good job for a TV series not intended to. Also, like the remastered video, there a few parts that come off as overdone, but this is preferable to everything being lower quality instead.

With the box set you get a full fourth disc that contains a slew of extras. Sadly, some of the extras are a bit boring and really kind of pointless in the overall set.Perhaps the best piece, just for the technical interest, is the section on remastering the episodes. Rhino has included an in-depth explanation of what has been done and why. The text-only presentation is a bit drab, but interesting nonetheless.

Also included on this DVD is a piece comparing various scenes of the remastered video to the original. Here it becomes obvious how much better it is than the original `80s showings.

The rest of the extras are the ones that may or may not not hold much interest for you. There are some interesting bits, like various scenes from the Japanese series and one of the original scripts to an episode that are good for a quick viewing.

Also, some of the extras like the animation anomalies and outtakes section are long, so if you like them, there is a lot to watch. Rhino also included a video and interview about BotCon, the “Transformers” convention, which is intriguing in the same way “Trekkies” was, to see the far-reaching effects of the series.

As a final measure to complete the package, Rhino has done an outstanding job with the packaging. The box set is in a sturdy, folding case, with artwork on the inside and two animation cells as an added bonus.

The menu system is also decent, being simple in design, but designed to follow the series’ style and be easy to navigate.

Overall, there is certainly room for improvement in future releases. The extras could have been better, as there are lots of items fans would love to see, such as old commercials, a more thorough Japanese/American series comparison, timelines and maybe a guide to merchandise.

Despite this lack of extras, though, Rhino has done a fantastic job releasing Season One. Your enjoyment of the series obviously depends on your love as a kid, but if you are a fan, this set is a definite “must have.” Packed with the sixteen remastered episodes and at least a few extras that should interest you, it is well worth the price and will provide many hours of nostalgic “Transformers” viewing.

Content: *** 1/2

Video/Sound: ****

Extras: ** 1/2

Chris Weishaar is a sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communications from Bronson.