Beast mode is a bat. This toy is absolutely huge when compared to previous Ultra toys. In fact, Hasbro could easily pass it off as a super-sized toy. With his wings fully extended, Nightscream's total wingspan is about two feet! Yowsa! Not that a toy this big for a mere twenty bucks is a bad thing. However, I do have a complaint about the scale. On the show, Nightscream is a relatively small Maximal, but the only toy of him is the second largest Beast Machines toy there is, second only to Supreme Cheetor. It would have been nice if a smaller version of him was made. The bat mode, overall, is pretty week. The legs are entirely too long for a bat's, and BATS DON'T HAVE HANDS! The back half of the main body is also poorly constructed. The half of the legs don't fit together with the sides that well, not to mention the fact that the rear end parts don't fit together either and do a rather poor job of hiding the robot head. However, the wings look really cool, since they're only covered half way down with "skin". They fold together pretty nicely, too. The long ends could present a poking problem, though, so parents, keep an eye on your young ones if they play with this figure. The detailing on this figure is rather odd; in certain places, such as Nightscream's beast mode back, it is exquisite, yet in others, such as the feet, there is much to be desired. Thus, I'd say overall, Nightscream's detailing is average. A rather cool, although flawed, feature is the disc launcher located in Nightscream's back. Pull it out and turn it around, and the red light emitting from the launcher focuses through Nightscream's clear eyes, making his eyes glow red. A very cool effect, but Nightscream's large ears block the discs from shooting most of the time, unless you turn his head down, but then it just looks stupid. It's also very hard to push the launcher back into the body without it firing again; you may as well just take the discs out, push the launcher in, and then load the discs back in. Another rather troublesome problem in this mode is that the tab in the shoulders where the wings are supposed to lock in really don't hold that well, so it's hard to keep the wings in a position that makes them seem one with the arms. Nightscream's orange spark crystal is visible under his rear in this mode.
    Nightscream's "Claw Attack Mode" has got to be one of the stupidest-looking alt modes to date. "Hey, let's stand the bat mode up on his wings and bring his legs forward!" Yeah, what fun.... Do I really need to point out anything more with this mode?
    Nightscream's robot mode is quite an improvement over the show version's. The wings are not attached to his ankles, like they are on the show, but rather to his arms, which looks nicer overall. However, although I'm not usually one to complain about simple transformations, Nightscream's is overly simplistic for such a large toy. Legs become legs, arms become arms; it's getting kind of boring at this point, really. His hunchback is almost non-existent on the toy, which is definitely a plus, though. His face still looks rather ugly- the one stalk of hair and the ugly face are still there. The transparent plastic used for the neck and ears amplifies the ugliness even more, in my opinion. Nightscream's feet are also a bit small proportionally, so it's a bit harder to get him to stand up in this mode then I'd like it to be. You have to bend his legs back into an awkward position to get him to stand up right. I'm also not a big fan of the use of transparent plastic in his arms and legs- transparent plastic used in the main body does NOT look that good. A neat feature in this mode is that the wings on the arms can be folded back to create some sort of "cloak", which accents his creepiness more and makes him almost look like some type of young mutant vampire. It does get in the way of movement a bit, though. Another nice touch is the long, spindly fingers, which definitely add to the whole vampire feel. The fingers almost look like bones, in fact. As large as they are, individual finger articulation should be incorporated, but it isn't; only the thumb can move. Ah, well, at least the hands are made of that bendy plastic, so they can be moved a little. One thing I find that is absolutely eye-candy in this mode is Nightscream's upper back- backbone and technorganic details are molded into the other side of the transparent plastic, definitely giving it a realistic feel to it. Nightscream's disc launcher can also work in this mode, although it looks rather odd. You can flip up his chest panel and pull it out, so that he, in effect, is firing the disks out of his chest.
    A so-so toy overall; however, for the most part, appearance and design are not its strong points, especially in beast mode. I can see why this toy is a shelfwarmer- for as big as it is, it could have been much better.

Review by Beastbot

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