Thunder Force- Parts II, III, and IV have all been excellent. Part III eschewed the Last Mission style overhead scenes to give us more of what IMO is the real part of the game- the horizontal sequences. TFIV is more than likely the pinnacle of the series with its strong challenge and 10 stages that are in many cases a good 2-3 screens high. TFV is still very good but unfortunately shorter and less challenging than IV.
Rolling Thunder- I like the arcade version of 2 the best, but the quality is consistent through the series.
Darius- Face it, this is Taito- a company who has never compromised on their shooters.
DoDonPachi- Let's pretend that the so-called DoDonPachi II is not a real part of the series since Cave didn't do it. All of Cave's own DP games are sterling.
Streets of Rage- All 3 are excellent. The only bad thing in 3 is the absence of Max. The music is just fine, even if it veers onto a rather different path.
