The Toonami programming block’s been a staple in action-oriented animation since 1997, when Space Ghost: Coast to Coast co-star Moltar (R.I.P.) hosted the late afternoon segment on Cartoon Network and ThunderCats, Robotech, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and ReBoot were the pinnacle of action toons on television. Over the years, Toonami has seen some significant changes, from Moltar handing hosting duties over to a robot named T.O.M. (Toonami Operations Module) to the switch to nighttime television in conjunction with Adult Swim. The block wasn’t just home to action cartoons, though, but also genre-defining anime, music videos, animated shorts, and scripted show segments.
For those Toonami fans who haven’t stopped watching the block of late-night programming, you may also know that TOM occasionally reviews video games on Toonami. But, for those of us who no longer watch cable television anymore, or just don’t remember many things centered around Toonami aside from Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, YouTube and the Toonami Fandom Wiki are solid resources for catching up on TOM’s opinions on video games.
Just last week, for example, he reviewed Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Switch.
Before that it, it was 198X, for the PC and PlayStation 4.
Each Toonami review is roughly one minute in length and gives a solid rundown of each title, sometimes followed by a numerical score. Chances are, throughout the courses of history, Moltar, TOM, and his A.I. companion SARA have probably reviewed one of your favorite games.
Here’s an early version of TOM quickly reviewing eight games from the Dreamcast system at once.
And here’s SARA taking a minute and 30 seconds to talk about Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number.
A mostly complete listing of Toonami game reviews with videos can be found at the Toonami Fandom wiki, with a video uploads available at the official Toonami Facebook page. Even if some of the reviews feel a bit fluffly, it’s pretty cool to see TOM act as the opinion of Toonami producers Jason DeMarco and Gill Austin.