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I just finished StrikerS right after going through the original and A's. Overall I definitely liked it. Of course, as a fan I find it more entertaining to discuss flaws rather than strengths. (Funny aside: my brother loved the new Star Trek and wanted me to see the movie so we could talk about it. The very first things he mentioned were the plot holes. Typical.)
So what was wrong with StrikerS? Well, aside from a significant time skip and a genre shift almost completely out of Magical Girl territory that probably shook fans (I don't see this as a flaw), the biggest problem was the slow pace at the beginning. It took nearly half the show to get into the real plot. Instead of all the focus on training and fighting Gadgets, the characters should have been thrown in over their heads against human opponents much more quickly. That was what made A's so successful: the immediate threat present from the beginning. There were no battles against human enemies until episode 12, IIRC. And no, Lutecia enhancing Gadgets doesn't count. Anyway, when StrikerS actually properly began its plot with the day off, "That Day" and the grand finale, it worked very well.
A second problem was the lack of a true central character. In hindsight, the main character was Nanoha (surprise). She had the most critical role in the finale with the most dramatic personal development. But the story felt like it should have been about Subaru! As a central character she really suffered in the first half of the show, mainly playing second fiddle to Teana's development, and despite her personal connection to the enemies, she was not very relevant in the final battle at all. Subaru should have been to StrikerS what Hayate was to A's, but instead that plot-critical role went to Vivio.
Overall, it was a good series. Hopefully there will be an animated 4th series; Al Hazard is begging for exploration, especially since Precia and even the real Alicia could return from there.
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