Armada Tidal Wave

Robot Mode: Tidal Wave is the tallest robot of the Armada toyline except for Unicron. Unlike other super-robots he isn't stocky, though. He looks lean and mean as he towers over the other robots and seems ready to stomp them into the dirt. His claw-like hands and finely-sculpted face are nice features, too. Looking at him, you'd never guess that he is comprised of three separate vehicles, as they all click together very well, both in style and in color. The only real drawback is that he doesn't have any weapons in robot mode apart from the gun turrents on his chest, none of which can point straight ahead. Apart from that, though, a really good robot mode. He also has more Minicon connection points than any other Armada toy (except Unicron again)

Alternate Mode: Tidal Wave is comprised of three separate sea-going vehicles, an aircraft carrier, a hydro-foil, and some kind of non-descript ship. The three ships don't look too exciting individually, but they can combine into a larger war cruiser that looks pretty nice and kind of reminds me of Robotech's SDF-1, which is definitely a good thing (and really the main reason I bought this one originally). Another good thing: You can transform the warship into the robot without taking apart the three individual ships.

Combiner Modes: Tidal Wave can powerlink with Armada Megatron or Galvatron but unlike the link-up modes of Optimus Prime this one looks pretty silly and does little for the characters' look. Two of Tidal Wave's three ships go onto Galvatron's arms, the third (the hydrofoil) goes onto his back as a kind of jetpack. Both look much better on their own.

Partners / Add-Ons: Tidal Wave comes with mini-con Ramjet, who can activate his chest-mounted gun turrents by linking up. Ramjet might be the worst-looking of all the Minicons, at least in robot mode. Keep him in jet mode and stowed away inside Tidal Wave's arm (which is the aircraft carrier in vehicle mode).

Remarks: Tidal Wave is the Decepticons' powerhouse and looks it. He came off as a dumb brute in the cartoon (and seemed incapable of saying any words other than his own name), but that's okay. His cool looks and transformations make up for it. He's a fine addition to the ranks of the Decepticons. A variant of Tidle Wave was sold a year later under the Energon banner, but that was the same robot with a different paint job and some minor modifications. I guess it's a question of taste which one you want to get.

Rating: B+

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