Unlike Generation One (the original series), Beast Wars tries to build a consistent mythology. There were always attempts to build consistency in the original series, though story arcs rarely ran longer than three episodes. The same was generally true for the first half of Beast Wars: Season One, but mid-season the show moved away from trying to present a re-imagined version of the original series and morphed into its own separate entity.
Season Two is a dramatic shift for the entire series. It completely sheds the "Fight of the Week" format and branches into long-form storytelling. It's also a big step forward in terms of technology. The CG in the first season was passable; it held up well, but was still noticeably primitive by modern standards. The jump in quality from Season Two onward is impressive. Characters show more details (check out the model gallery), animations aren't as stiff and the CG shortcuts (turning all rocks into cubes before they explode) aren't as noticeable.
The upgrade in visuals also brings an upgrade to both the Maximals and Predacons. Following the destruction of the moon at the end of the First Season, the Earth is bathed in an Energon Wave, forcing the Transformers to evolve into their Transmetal forms. Both factions also discover they are on the same Earth as their ancestors, the bots from the original series, who are still in stasis.
The middle of Season Two melds both series into one timeline. It begins with the return of Ravage, Soundwave's partner, who has been reformatted into a sort of galactic bounty hunter. This eventually leads to the discovery of the Ark, the Autobot's ship and Megatron's scheme to rewrite history by destroying Optimus Prime. No Prime means no Autobot victory; Predacons inherit Cybertron.
The final season begins with Optimus Primal taking on Optimus Prime's spark, creating the ridiculously named Optimal Optimus. From here, the series becomes more about protecting the original Transformers and the brewing issues within both factions. Megatron attempts to bring Dinobot back, only with part of the already unstable Rampage's spark. The Maximals attempt to rewrite Blackarachnia's infected code and turn her back into a Maximal. For such a short season, it's amazing how much ends up happening. The execution isn't always perfect, but it's still a better season than most of Generation One.
My only issue with the later part of the series is that it tries too hard to be "cute." Beginning with the end of the second season, Beast Wars starts down the dangerous road of meta-referencing itself whenever possible. During an assault on the Ark, Ratrap mentions the hull is too strong, to which Optimus deadpans, "It's die-cast metal. A lost art." The line is followed with a cringe-worthy wink to the camera accompanied by a rimshot. I'm cool with adding subtle winks and nods, but Beast Wars indulges in the practice a little too much.
Although the series loses momentum in the final stretch, it is still enjoyable. Characters are well developed, and there's even a twinge of drama tossed it. The show is still, ultimately, a kid's show - so plotlines don't go as far as they probably could. At the same time, it manages to work in a few "older" ideas, like Silverbolt and Blackarachinia's battlefield affair and the "ethics" of reformatting protoforms. There's also a funny Cybertronian strip club reference, but it also includes a scene of Optimus dancing the jig while spinning Ratrap over his head like a figure skater.
Transformers: Beast Wars - The Complete Series continues Shout Factory's trend of putting together great extras. With the Complete Series you get all of the Season One extras, including the excellent "Maximize!" documentary, which is joined by two new documentaries: "Remembering the Spark" and another "Making of..." documentary. Both are enjoyable, at least for fans, even though the second documentary covers some of the same ground as the "Maximize!" documentary.
Finally, there's an art gallery and new set of character models to browse. A 24-page prequel comic book, "Transformers Timelines" is included as a pack-in. The book is a prequel to Beast Wars and ties up one or two loose ends between Generation One and Beast Wars.
I'm already on record declaring Transformers: Beast Wars one of the better Transformers series, so it would seem foolish to go back on that declaration after watching Transformers: Beast Wars - The Complete Series. While I won't call it the best, it is still, to quote Optimus, "Prime."
