[TheBigB]

Hmmm. The Specium Ray does take more energy, but since you're right in that 90% of his fights were via Judo, I have no idea. :) The stored solar energy of UltraHeroes depletes rapidly in Earth's atmosphere, and they usually can stay here for only three minutes. The warning light begins blinking red and beeping noisily when time is almost up. It is said that if the Timer expires, Ultras "will never rise again." However, in reality an expired Ultra can almost always be revived. Of course, right from the get-go, the time-limit thing was not taken seriously, and is just a way to add suspense to the storytelling.

[hattend]

Now, don't take this the wrong way, but I have to laugh that you remember the show that well.

Once a fan always a fan, I guess. ;-)