[Brainchild]

I'm gonna look at it from the perspective of the 'artistic vision' of Toku, if you want to call it that. Since its inception, Kamen Rider and Toku in general have been about the spectacular aspect of it. You know how Power Rangers was received in the US, no doubt; it was such a unique phenomenon to have a live-action fighting show like it that it blew up, and over time it saturated because it was having trouble offering much more than that. I think I can say without offending anyone too much that clever writing and deep plots are mostly lost in shows like this.
So the big spectacle aspect. Kamen Rider Black fans in the late 80s probably looked at the cheesy jump cuts and flips that Ichigo did as silly-looking, and kids nowadays more than likely see the same stuff that Black fans saw as showy and spectacular as silly-looking pre-CGI effects. And in 10 years, who won't be laughing at how bad Suika Arms looks?
For a show whose entire purpose is to be flashy and cool to keep surviving, it has to keep up with what looks flashy and cool with the time period. So I'd say that the gimmicks do a good job of keeping Toku set aside from the hordes of action and mecha anime available to kids now. I think they're added on top of the unique aspects of live-action... action, not detracting from it. That's what keeps Kamen Rider fresh, unique, and away from stagnation like a lot of Super Sentai shows seem to struggle with.