Interesting points in favor of the Inner Senshi, but I fear I must contest.
As an aside, I'm not going to include Sailormoon as an Inner Senshi when referring to them below. I personally always considered her (along with Chibimoon) to be separate from them - her being of the Royal Moon family and the Inners being her guardians. Like the Asteroid Senshi for Chibimoon; they protect her, but she is not one of them.
It has nothing to do with their power levels. It has all to do witht the way they fight. Standing alone yes the Outer senshi are stronger however the inner senshi are a much stronger team and all five of them complement each other.
I think a lot of the Inners' "more powerful" teamwork comes very circumstancially. Since they've been together more often on Earth and in battle than the Outers, they've had more of a chance to really bond and gauge each other's strengths and weaknesses. A strong knowledge of each member's skills is what really makes a good team.
I must also point out that while you might consider the Inners' teamwork more powerful, that does not mean the Outers make a horrible team. Neptune and Uranus work wonderfully as a team (see S episode 124 for just one example), and I know Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto have combined their powers at more than one point (Stars episode 167) to great effect. Saturn unfortunately does not have much opportunity to add to the team as she really only was able to fully perform with her fellow senshi in Stars. Pluto is similar to this in a way in that she is not always able to leave her post at the gates of time to join the other senshi in fighting. Still, Saturn's powers are incredibly powerful in both offense and defense, and she is responsible for awakening the Super powers in the Outers.
It'd be interesting to see the Inners go against the Outers in an all out brawl to see whose teamwork would prove most effective. Both have their strong and weak points, which makes it difficult to say whose is more powerful.
Woah now, that's really glossing over a lot of the intricacies dealing with the "betrayal" situations involving the Outers. If you're referring to how Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto were focused on killing Saturn in S, keep in mind that they thought doing so was necessary to keep the Silence from happening. They were willing to do anything they could to prevent the destruction of the world, including killing one of their teammates, as they thought they had no other alternative. Luckily Sailormoon is "the senshi who loves all" and protected Saturn until she could be awakened.
As for Neptune and Uranus' "betrayal" in Stars, the Outers had discussed in the previous episode that "one has to live and defeat Galaxia." They understood that at least one of them must do anything to keep herself alive to defeat Galaxia. Pluto and Saturn appeared to have understood this when they allowed Uranus and Neptune to take their star seeds. They knew in the end that Uranus and Neptune had not really betrayed them and were keeping up with the promise they had made earlier to do anything it took to destroy Galaxia.
Heh, in my experience with the game, it's the other way around. With the right equipment, Saturn is one of the most powerful in the game, Pluto's essential for her time stop technique, Uranus provides great strength, and Neptune can be used to provide healing and support items. Mars and Jupiter have powerful attacks, but their defense is usually pretty low, so their constant healing can become a nuisance. Mercury has horrid attacks, though she can be used for items like Neptune. Venus is the only Inner with a decent combination of strength and defense when I play.
And for the record, I rarely use link attacks except when dealing with characters like Neptune and Mercury whose standalone attacks are fairly weak. So, the lack of them among the Outers doesn't get to me.
Saturn can also provide defense ("Silent Wall") and has a mean glaive that would certainly do damage when swung around (really, destroying the world and killing herself aren't all she can do). Neptune's Aqua Mirror can be used to show illusions and such as well (S episode 124, again, along with the SuperS movie). Like you said, Pluto's time stop does kill her, but she's also the most experienced and knowledgeable senshi and is the source for all time travel needs (Chibiusa would be stuck in the future without her). Uranus provides the main strength and leadership, of course.
I wouldn't say they caused trouble, really. I mean, they saved Moon and the Inners in the first episode of S (before Moon had her Cosmic powers) and continued to weaken the Daimon, letting Moon finish them off. While the Inners are certainly powerful, at that point their attacks weren't doing the job. Not to mention the fact that without Neptune, Uranus, Pluto, and their talismans, Moon would never have been able to transform into Supersailormoon, nor would she have been able to defeat the Deathbusters.
Well, if protecting the city had been Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto's plan, they probably would have been doing it alongside the Inners. But the Outers fight differently. Their use of the helicopter really only proves their resourcefulness. The Inners are also unable to keep Mistress Nine from dragging Moon into the building, though in the end that actually works in their favor.
Not really sure why Pluto's time stop is seen as a negative. Sure, it kills her, but using it proves her loyalty to the team (helping even if it means her death), and really, not using it would have meant her death anyway, plus Uranus and Neptune's. I vote good decision and amazing power. While I know Uranus and Neptune's attacks really weren't much of a match for Mistress Nine (nobody really was, though Supersailormoon could've given her a run for her money if Moon used the Grail and was willing to attack Saturn's body), neither were the Inners, who had trouble holding back the Daimon coating the building.
Why do you say that? I think if it meant saving the world, Uranus and Neptune would certainly give all their power (which is what all senshi do!). Remember that they do give Moon their power when she is trying to transform into Supersailormoon after Saturn has left to destroy Pharaoh Ninety.
I understand where you're coming from and agree with you in some ways, but I still think the Outers are on the same level as the Inners, if not superior.
They're just too cool...to not be cool ^^
