Before there was EVANGELION and ESCAFLOWNE, there were classics such as DUNBINE, SPT LAYZNER, ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS, and the excellent ZETA GUNDAM. Mecha fans will no doubt remember the mid-80's fondly, when a plethora of mecha shows hit the airwaves in Japan..
As with any craze, there are the inevitable wannabes attempting to cash in on the popularity (DRAGONAR for example is recognizable as a GUNDAM ripoff). MACHINE ROBO is noteworthy in that many of the mecha designs came from toys that were exported overseas as GOBOTS, but overall it fails to entertain as much as the flashier SONIC SOLDIER BORGMAN did.
The story takes place on the planet Cronos, where the inhabitants are a mix of transformable vehicles with human personas and human-looking beings with metal bodies. Per the usual formula, the oh-so-peaceful world is overrun by an evil organization, in this case a group of hostile, mean-looking robots called Gandora. Gadess and his goons terrorize and exploit the inhabitants, and it's up to our hero Rom, his sister Leina, and their transforming buddies to stop the forces of evil.
While Rom's transforming friends (and many of the other mecha in the show) served as the basis for the Gobots and seem rather unremarkable, the designs for Rom and Leina themselves are actually quite nice, if perhaps a bit more than what the low-budget TV show could animate decently. The same thing holds true for Gadess' goon squad, the Devil Satan 6. Fans of BUBBLE GUM CRISIS vol. 5 and 6 will recognize the menacing, evil look of the enemy mecha, but once again the complex designs are a bit too ambitious and lose a lot in their transition to the screen.
As for the story, it's campy, contrived, and rather unremarkable. The first TV episode is directed by Obari Masami (director of BGC 5 and 6) and features some decent action, but the rest of the episodes fail to impress. The battles follow the same sequence — Rom transforms first into Ken-Ryu (a large robot), gets into trouble, then transforms into Vikung-Fu (an even larger robot). Meanwhile, the Devil Satan 6 combine to form a large robot of its own. The enemy robot gets its collective butt kicked, and the heroes emerge victorious. Wait a minute, wasn't this kind of storytelling branded "outdated and cliched" with the advent of MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM?
It's hard to see why one should fork over the dough for this title when vastly superior titles such as MACROSS PLUS or EVANGELION are available. Heck, even ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS hails from the same era, and it features a more gripping, sophisticated story. This is a shame, as the heroine Leina Stol enjoyed her share of popularity, to the point where she went solo and had several shows featuring her as the main character.
Overall, MACHINE ROBO is eclipsed by many other shows, both past and present, in terms of its storytelling, animation, and action. As such, it's good perhaps as a quick walk down memory lane, but not much more. If you want some solid mecha action, stick with Votoms, or hope that a domestic company picks up Borgman, but steer clear of this release.

MACHINE ROBO Revenge of Cronos Vol 1 (ep. 1-5) © 1986 Asahi Productions Co. Ltd English subtitled version © 1997 Software Scultors Ltd Subtitled Catalog #SSVS 9701 Stereo 125 min VHS Suggested Retail Price: $19.95