Top Five Cave Titles (in order)

[iconoclast]

1. Mushihime-sama Futari 1.5
2. Dodonpachi Daioujou Black Label
3. Akai Katana Shin
4. Death Smiles II
5. Espgaluda II

If you want to separate the Akai Katana modes, then my bottom three would be Shin > AK > DS2.

[Chempop]

1. Espgaluda 2
2. Mushihimesama
3. Akai Katana
4. Dodonpachi DOJ
5. Deathsmiles
6. Espgaluda
7. Futari
8. DFK
9. Ketsui
10. Esprade
11. Pink Sweets*
12. Guwange*
13. DDP
14. Deathsmiles 2
15. MMP
16.  Ibara*
17. Donpachi*
18 Progear*
19. Dangun*

* Havent 1-All or 1CC yet

[SuperPang]

I've given up trying to do this. My top 5 changes depending on what I played last.

[Sapz]

1. DoDonPachi Dai-Fukkatsu 1.5
2. DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou Black Label
3. Ketsui
4. Mushihimesama Futari 1.5
5. Pink Sweets

#5 subject to my whims.

[Orochi S]

1. Futari 1.5
2. Muchi Muchi Pork!
3. DDP DFK BL
4. DDP DOJ BL
5. Akai Katana

Haven't played Mushihimesama 1.5 yet, but my hopes are high...

[DJ Incompetent]

1. Mushihimisama Futari Black Label
2. Ketsui
3. DoDonPachi DaiOuJou Black Label
4. Akai Katana
5. Dangun Feveron

[dimmu--borgir]

1. MMP
2. Doj
3. DDP DFK BL
4. Futari
5. Esp.ra.de

[darkidol]

1.  DDP DFK 1.5
2.  Ketsui
3.  Mushihimesama Futari 1.5
4.  Ibara Kuro: Black Label
5.  Guwange*

*This thread made me imagine all the things I wish they'd done with Guwange on XBLA.  The straight arcade port, yes, but also a version with HD sprites that would look sweet on the majority of screens it was going to be played on.  A highly transparent Shikigami (the light grey would fit with the notion of a spirit/ghost) that functioned in looks maybe like bullets do through your aura in DDP DFK.  A novice (maybe too harsh a term for this) mode where your counter is reset after each stage may have worked also.  All theoretical.

[eckart]

1. Dodonpachi SOJ ( ok it is hyped and new, but i am sure i love this till the end )
2. DFK BL
3. Pink Sweets
4. Muchi Muchi Pork
5. ESPG2

- Didn`t play akai katana till now.
Will play the 360 version soon. Maybe this would be a sidepipe to number 5.

[Tokyo-J]

Top 5 currently

1. Esprade
2. Dodonpachi Dai Ou Jou
3. Ketsui
4. Espgaluda
5. Mushihimesama Futari 1.5

[jep_]

Nice choices Tokyo-J. Esprade doesn't get the love that it deserves. Here's my top five:

1. Ketsui
2. Dodonpachi
3. Daioujou
4. Ibara
5. Progear

[grotto]

My Top 5:

1. Ketsui
2. DaiOuJou
3. Muchi Muchi Pork (still need to 1-ALL that PORKER)
4. Mushi. Futari 1.5
5. Deathsmiles MBL

[koyomiwa]

My Top 5 Cave Games are:

1. DonDonPachi Daifukkatsu Black Label
2. Mushihimesama Futari 1.5
3. Deathsmiles
4. Pink Sweets
5. Muchi Muchi Pork

[ebarrett]

1. pink sweets
2. muchi muchi pork!
3. mushihimesama futari 1.5
4. dodonpachi daioujou black label
5. guwange

haven't really played ibara, and haven't played mushihimesama yet.

[Liquidus0]

1. Deathsmiles Mega Black Label
2. Dodonpachi (Might have been number 1 if it hadn't been for the music loop)
3. Dodonpachi Daioujou (White Label. I like it more than Black Label)
4. Mushihimesama Futari 1.5
5. Tie between Ketsui and Dodonpachi Saidaioujou

Honorable mention : ESP RA. DE. - I do love that game as well.

I'm a Ikeda fanatic, so the list would continue with some of his titles. My Cave PCBs collection is build around the ones he was involved.

I do like the ones from Yagawa too, but I can't say I love them. I play them sometimes on the console versions and will probably never buy the PCBs. Some of my friends have them anyway !

[EOJ]

The Yagawa games are much better on PCB. They feel very different (because, unfortunately, the ports are so bad). I don't like the Yagawa ports, but they are my favorite PCBs.

I have shifted more from Ikeda style to Yagawa style over time. However, I don't like any Yagawa games before he joined CAVE. I mean, I really do not enjoy playing any of them (and I have played them on the original PCBs). I must be one of the few people out there with this opinion (dislikes pre-CAVE Yagawa, but loves CAVE Yagawa). For me, the three best games Yagawa ever programmed in his entire career (as a main programmer) are Muchi Muchi Pork, Pink Sweets and Daifukkatsu Black Label. And then he also did a lot of programming on SDOJ, which is one of my favorite games.

[Liquidus0]

I did try them all on PCB, and I do recognize they are great games ! It just that I don't have that extra sparkle in my eye when I play them. I know the ports don't do justice to the PCBs, but I like to play some arrange modes here and there.

I think the patterns, the weapons and the rank system in his games turn me off a bit somehow. Maybe it's because I am mainly a survivalist 1 CC player that (almost) never plays for score, for any shmup that is. But I can understand the appeal for the Yagawa Cave games, especially for the complexity of scoring in those games.

I do like Recca though   

For Ikeda games, I just get a particular "feeling of power" when playing a game he was the project leader. I like the feel of the core of the game, the patterns and shape of the bullets, the enemy placement, the weapons and rank system if any. I want to say I get a more "technical feeling" when playing a Yagawa title or something like that. It's hard to put it in words ! 

[EOJ]

I agree with a lot of what you said. Yagawa games feel more technical and slower-paced, with more random elements thrown your way. And boss milking is taken to extremes. Ikeda games are more about brute force and core dodging skills (they are also very technical in their scoring systems, but it is of a different kind). As I age and my reflexes wane (I'm 40 now!), I gravitate more toward Yagawa games, because he gives you ways to get by a boss without dodging many bullets.  I also find scoring in his games to be more cerebral, and almost therapeutic at times.

[EOJ]

BTW if I had to list my fave 5 right now, this is what it would be:

1) Muchi Muchi Pork
2) Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu Black Label
3) Dodonpachi Saidaioujou
4) Pink Sweets
5) Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 & Black Label (TIED)

6) and 7) would be Akai Katana and Deathsmiles Mega Black Label.

[OlDirty]

1. Muchi Muchi Pork
2. ESPgaluda
3. Ketsui
4. Mushihimesama
5. Dodonpachi SDJ