At first Beast Wars seemed like a separate story about animal robots. But the series gradually revealed that it's closely tied to the classic cartoon.
The same places
The Maximals and Predacons crash on prehistoric Earth — the same Earth where the Autobots and Decepticons of the Ark will later awaken. In the second season the heroes find the Ark itself, with the G1 heroes asleep inside.
The same Megatron?
The Predacon leader Megatron is not the classic Megatron but another Transformer who took the name. He knows G1 history and tries to change it by attacking the sleeping Optimus Prime.
Official status
So Beast Wars is a sequel to the classic story set in its far future, and the series' events are a trip into the past. The next series, Beast Machines, continues this line.
Why it matters
That link made Beast Wars not just a reboot but part of a larger saga, and gave classic fans many moving moments.
