User blog comment:Diotoir the son of nemesis/My own Ranking of the Reboot/@comment-3048006-20181115201356/@comment-29558956-20181116133242

I don't think Battle of the Stars was as bad as others have been saying, although the filler and general quality of the battles in Episode 1 probably didn't do it any favours IMO. Both episodes had their share of great moments (Angela vs Dara, Kadeena Machina, Jordan Stephens gate-crashing Robbie Savage's interviews, etc.) and they served as a worthwhile preview of the arena, editing and visual presentation for Series 9. That second point alone goes to show that Mentorn/Robo Challenge were genuinely committed to improving the reboot following Series 8's debut - the quality of Series 10 in general is a fine testament to this.

That being said, while it isn't perfect, Series 8 as it is was probably the best introduction we could've had for the reboot. At least it and Series 9-10 stuck to the core concepts of the original show while offering new format ideas, more powerful competitors and a better balance between battles and behind-the-scenes action; the latter in particular made me feel much more connected with the roboteers than in the original series. I, for one, also adore the visual refresh and the redesigned House Robots and arena - things which I feel Robot Wars would've needed anyway had the original series not been cancelled in the first place.

We ought to be lucky that Series 8 didn't turn out to be something like Clash Bots or even Robot Combat League. Otherwise, I think we would've had a PPG 2016-style disaster on our hands...