Control Freak tries to prove older cartoons were better by transporting the Titans into a retro version of their universe.
- An Aesop: Control Freak learns that "not all old things are good, and not all new things are bad".
- Art Shift: Control Freak changes the Titans into a more realistic style, resembling how they appeared in the 1980s comics.
- Doubles as a Development Gag, as the designs for Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy look to be taken directly from model sheets for a proposed 1983 Hanna-Barbera Teen Titans cartoon
and an actually-aired anti-drug PSA. (Cyborg's doesn't match the '83 design, and Robin was not included in the '83 pitch due to issues concerning his concurrent appearances in Super Friends. He wasn't in the PSA because the tie-in comic book's sponsor wasn't able to get the rights).
- Doubles as a Development Gag, as the designs for Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy look to be taken directly from model sheets for a proposed 1983 Hanna-Barbera Teen Titans cartoon
- Interactive Narrator: The Titans argue with the narrator over his habit of Narrating the Obvious.
- Limited Animation: Lampshaded by the Titans, who complain about only being able to move their heads and arms, while Starfire points out her Motionless Chin.
- Recycled Animation: Of Robin throwing his batarangs, with mild editing to the design and explosion to denote its effects. Also, Beast Boy can only shapeshift into a donkey, because that's the sequence used to demonstrate his powers in the opening.
- Show, Don't Tell: Discussed between the Titans and the Narrator. The Narrator justifies his aversion by Narrating the Obvious by pointing out what they can show is as limited as their budget.
- Stylistic Suck: The retro Titans are done in the style of the Filmation series of the 1960s (which was one of the rotating guest segments of The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure), with their No Budget Limited Animation, Obvious Exposition and corny dialogue, all of it consistently Lampshaded by Control Freak and the Titans.
