These later Riders have too many forms (for no other reason, IMHO, than to sell more toys) and silly contrivances (cell phones & playing cards!?!
) which makes it tough for me to get past. I also don't care for the newest Rider's eyes being highly stylized kanji for their names. Sorry, but I think that's just plain dumb.
Biggest gripe, even with Kuuga & Agito, (both of which I actually sorta enjoyed), was that the villainous overlord, the monster of the week and even the Rider himself often felt tacked on, plus the red shirt/cannon fodder goons have been jettisoned altogether! Boo!
. Kuuga & Agito play more like angsty teen soap operas for 90% of the running time, then almost like an afterthought they toss in a monster who threatens and/or kills someone... then the Rider shows up and quickly defeats it - so quickly that we rarely get a chance to fully admire and appreciate some of the gorgeous kaijin suits created for the shows.
As for why anyone would prefer the Showa over Heisei? Seriously, Kain?!? That's sort of like saying that the old Superman comics, George Reeves TV show and the Chris Reeve movie(s) are just dumb old junk, and "true" fans should only be reading New 52 and/or watching Man of Steel and beyond if they want to see the "real" Superman.
The Showa Rider shows laid the groundwork for
ALL of the Riders who followed,
along with most of the other post-'72 Henshin hero shows as well. They also were more pure, more in keeping with Shotaro Ishinomori's original manga ...and didn't resort to cheapjack gimmickry just for the purpose of selling more action figures; (even Stronger's 'Charge-Up' form and Super-1's 5 Hands didn't feel like they were there 'just because'). It wasn't until Black RX that Bandai appeared to take over creative control, mandating seemingly endless multiple-from Heroes in a transparent ploy to increase toy sales. And I'll admit that the older shows may be somewhat simplistic & formulaic... and certainly the F/X are a far cry from today's stuff. But that doesn't make them bad or stupid or outdated old crap! If the original(s) weren't so pure, engaging, thrilling and genuinely beloved by fans - over multiple generations - these later iterations you prefer wouldn't even exist.