From high-definition animation to robust adult fanbases, today’s cartoons have many advantages that did not exist when your favorites were on the air. Filled with animal warriors and ultra-buff soldiers that era’s cartoons were defined by aesthetics that helped make series like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-Men: The Animated Series become massive hits.
Now, as we take a look back at some of the 1990s cartoons, they are a bit too extreme for today’s kids. They are packed with motorcycles, ninjas, soaring guitar riffs, muscles, lasers, violence and rude dudes.
1. SWAT KATS: THE RADICAL SQUADRON
This show followed 2 feline vigilantes, T-Bone and Razor, who fought crime in a high-tech jet fighter, the Turbokat.
Swat Kats was dark and violent from the more comedy-focused Hanna-Barbera. Although the Tremblay brothers had launched a Kickstarter to revive this series in 2015, the Swat Kats relaunch has been stuck in a development process.
2. BIKER MICE FROM MARS
This followed the Biker Mice, Throttle, Modo and Vinnie, as they tried to save Chicago with a human friend Charley Davidson. The motorcycles featured lasers, missiles, and many other weapons.
3. WILD C.A.T.S
WildC.A.T.s had offered a faithful take on this team’s comic adventures. The team was made up of humans, aliens like Zealot and others like the Spartan. They worked to protect Earth from the Daemonites, an ancient alien race led by Helspont.
4.THE REAL ADVENTURES OF JONNY QUEST
In the 1960s, Jonny Quest had become the most famous adventure characters. Jonny Quest, Hadji, Dr. Quest, Race Bannon and Jessie traveled around the world to investigate mysterious phenomena.
The show emphasized on great stories that pushed this series into a fantasy-influenced direction. Despite marketing campaigns, the show did not connect with audiences and was canceled in 1997.
5. DARKSTALKERS
This show featured the franchise’s cast, and many were cast in different roles. The game’s Morrigan was recast as supporting villain in service of the alien fire entity Pyron. The show introduced Harry Grimoire, a boy who was a modern descendant of wizard Merlin. In spite of the presence of Lord Raptor, the undead Australian rockstar with a laser-shooting guitar, this show ended after 13 episodes.
6. ACTION MAN
This show used many toy-friendly costume changes and vehicles, an amnesiac Action Man tried to rebuild the past and fought his nemesis Dr. X in the espionage-influenced series. Each episode of this cartoon featured campy live-action sections that starred British bodybuilder Mark Griffin as the titular man of action.
7. G.I. JOE EXTREME
G.I. Joe Extreme did well but was ultimately domed by the failure of its accompanying toyline. Even though it had a better level of detail than the other G.I. Joe toys, this line was not received well and ended after just one wave. Many characters were woven into revitalized worlds of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and Transformers.
8. BEAST WARS: TRANSFORMERS
In spite of the silly set-up, the iteration of Hasbro’s Transformers franchise had earned fans and acclaim with sharp plotlines, emotional stakes, and complex characters.
Led by Optimus Primal, heroic Maximals had battled Megatron and his Predacons to keep him away from gathering crystals called Energon.
Beast Wars had aired in syndication and later on the Fox Kids programming block for three seasons. After While the show’s CGI-animation looks primitive by modern standards, Beast Wars‘impeccable writing helped it live on in fans’ memories long after the 1990s ended.
