DoDonPachi DaiOuJou is a turning point in the game series, shifting it towards being more character- and story-based. The gameplay is still there, though, and is some of the best that Cave has to offer.

Good:

• The soundtrack is Manabu Namiki's first for Cave but fits well with the atmosphere.
• The art style is very distinct, hardly anime-esque at all, and quite gloomy.
• The stages are much more distinguishable from each other than in DonPachi and DoDonPachi
• The characters and their stories are not typical cheesy Robot Girl at all

Bad:

• The graphics and sound quality are worse than DoDonPachi. It was a good thing Cave moved away from the PGM arcade hardware quickly, although that hardware also gave us Ketsui
• Unlike all of the other games in the series, there is no ship with turning shot.

Don Pachi had a lot of good ideas but Do Don Pachi would really show what could be done with those ideas.

Good:

• The soundtrack is full of The Power Of Rock
• The visual effects and mechanical designs are arguably unmatched in their detail and style for the whole series, except possibly by SaiDaiOuJou
• This game's version of Hibachi stands apart from later ones for having unique flaming bullets and other neat details.

Bad:

• This game is not just hard, it is also unforgiving and you will oftentimes find yourself wondering how it is possible to complete this game without dying.
• There are only different songs for the stages.

Don Pachi is the game that started it all. Upon release, the world of 2-D shooting games would never be the same.

Good:

• Some aesthetic elements, such as the announcer, the sound effects for enemies being destroyed, and the appearance of the Bomb-Laser are unique to this game and are not repeated elsewhere.
• Despite being the first game in the series, it is still very hard. Its second loop causes enemies to release suicide bullets upon death much like Batsugun.
• Its gameplay is still interesting to this day, with later games in the series adding little to it.

Bad:

• It looks very dated compared to later games in the series.
• The music is very forgettable, unlike all of the other games in the series.