Full Disclaimers: just like with the last Showa suit review that I did, this is NOT a review of the various seasons and movies that these Riders were apart of this is only my thoughts on the wardrobe. Also, imma answer this question before it's even brought up, "Why are you including J/ZO/Shin/Rider 3/ Rider 4?" Because the Wiki lists them as Showa Riders.

Also, I will not be reviewing the Canonical Ichigo and Nigo suits for two reasons: 1) The looks are so iconic and beloved (even by me) that I would feel bad picking on you them. And 2) The designs for both of them were tweaked several times over the course of that first series. Instead, I will be looking at the suits from the First and Next movies.

Let's begin.

Kamen Rider V3 (classic) - Not really a fan. The worst thing about it is the color, it's just painful to look at. And the helmet always seemed kind of off to me.

Riderman - This one also suffers from the clashing of colors, but the issue is not as prominent here. What I really like about this getup is the helmet: it is unique among Kamen Riders for obvious reasons, and I think it works here, if only for the novelty. Not the best, but not the worst.

Kamen Rider X - This does not work at all for me. This looks more like an evil Rider design than a hero's.

Kamen Rider Amazon - Probably my least favorite suit in the Showa era. The coloring, the stripes, the helmet, it just looks cheap and fake. Where X had the misfortune of looking like an Evil Rider, this looks like an Evil Rider's foot soldier.

Kamen Rider Stronger - this one does stand out for me. I never watched the series, but the suit at least seems to want to try something new. It looks like it wants to be better than the ones before it. I know that's an odd thing to say in a suit review, but that id the feeling that the suit inspires in me. And I do like the design in of itself. The big green eyes, the horns, the puffed out chest with the Superman-esque logo. It's just neat. This is a guy that belongs on the cover of a comic.

Kamen Skyrider - This is an odd one for me. I do like it a lot. In fact it's probably my third favorite. But I just don't have a lot to say about it.

Kamen Rider Super-1 - this is AWESOME!! Seriously, this is definitely my favorite of the Showa suits, and one of my best designs of the entire franchise. I love everything about it! The helmet, the eyes, the mouthpiece, the torso, the scarf, the colors! Everything about this suit is awesome.

Kamen Rider Black - Meh. Just not feeling it. Overall, it's fine, but it just doesn't inspire anything in me.

Kamen Rider Black RX - this one is slightly better, if only because it stands out more from you the pack. But once again: meh.

Kamen Rider ZX - No. Let me repeat that: No.

Kamen Rider ZO - Also not one of the better ones. There's a definite cheepness here that mirrors the franchise's decline in the 1990s

Kamen Rider J - Ditto. One of the problems with these who is that they're so interchangeable. I guess you could make the same argument with the classic Rider 1 and Rider 2 designs, but at least they had distinctive gloves. Plus, they had an In-Universe reason for looking similar. J and ZO have literally nothing tying them together.

Kamen Rider Shin - oh boy. Honestly? I don't really dislike the design. It's unique, and the makeup is pretty good for the budget it has. And the fact that it's kind of terrifying fits into the overall theme of the Kamen Rider Franchise: it sucks being a Kamen Rider.

(now we're entering the 'Showa by Extreme Technicality' territory)

Kamen Rider 3 - I do love this design. It's scary, it's awesome, it's unique, and it has a gold scarf! The only thing that keeps it from being my favorite is the fact that the torso always seemed a tad too bulky for me.

Kamen Rider 4 - while I do like the Nazi Aviator thing they have going on, he just seems too thin to be particularly intimidating. Cool, but not particularly awesome.

Kamen Rider Ichigo (the Next) - I like it. The updated form of the original was the best thing about an otherwise mediocre set of films.

Kamen Rider Nigo (the Next) - Ditto.

Kamen Rider V3 (the Next) - unlike the previous two, I feel I ke this is a vast improvement on the original design.

Agree? Disagree? Comment below and let me know. Thank you for reading.