DonPachi

DonPachi features a scoring system known as the "Get Point System" (GPS). By destroying large groups or chains of enemies in a short period of time, the player can build up a number called a combo, similar to the kind found in fighting games. They receive an increasing number of points with every enemy they shoot down; the more enemies the player hits in one chain, the more points they receive. They can break the chain by waiting to shoot an enemy; the combo number will turn blue when the player's chain is broken.

This system brings a new challenge after the player has cleared the game; plot out the stages to achieve a high score. The player flies their selected fighter over 5 areas of various terrain, encountering a number of land, sea and air enemies. The player's ship has two modes of fire: by tapping the fire button, shots are fired; holding it down produces a concentrated vertical beam, but also reduces the ship's speed.

The premise of DonPachi differs from most of its brethren: the players assume the role of a pilot whose mission is to survive an eight-year-long training mission, where he proves his worth as a fighter and gain entry to the future elite "DonPachi Squadron". The twist lies in the fact that the enemies are, in truth, the players' very own comrades posing as enemies and sacrificing their lives for the sake of allowing only the most skilled pilots to pass the test and survive. After completing the first loop, it is revealed that the commander tells the pilot to continue the missions of fighting against fellow troop members until one side is completely destroyed, with the second loop taking place seven years later. After defeating Hachi, the story reveals the commander's "mission" was to turn the existing army into a race of super soldiers. However, since the missions are aerial attacks, many soldiers have taken battles into air and performed sacrifices, with the many lives lost in the process turning the mission into a success and the "DonPachi Squadron" is formed as a result.

DonPachi was the first project to be developed by Cave, a Japanese video game developer founded by former Toaplan staff who previously worked on multiple projects before the company declared bankruptcy and wanted to keep creating shoot 'em up games, with producer Kenichi Takano helming its development. Tsuneki Ikeda, Toshiaki Tomizawa, Hiroyuki Uchida and Ryūichi Yabuki acted as programmers, while Yabuki also acted as composer. Artists Atsunori Aburatani, Kazuhiro Asaba, Jun Fujisaku, Riichiro Nitta and Naoki Ogiwara were responsible for the pixel art.

Ikeda and his team recounted DonPachi's development process and history through various publications. The concept for their fledgling project was to create a Toaplan-style shoot 'em up game that evoked the same spirit, which was also a request from publisher Atlus, while introducing a new ship system Ikeda had thought at the time. The staff was inexperienced and members pointed several elements that were not similar to Toaplan shooters during development, with Ikeda stating that there was conflict as to "Toaplan-ish" their game should be. However, Ikeda also stated he only worked on V・V and Batsugun prior to DonPachi, deeming the two titles as "very un-Toaplan games" and claimed he may not have understood the "soul" of the company well.

In Japan, Game Machine listed DonPachi on their 15 July 1995 issue as being the twelfth most-popular arcade game at the time. However, Tsuneki Ikeda deemed the title to be a "creative failure" in a 2011 interview with website SPOnG, stating that Cave was criticized "from all sides that our game was nothing like Toaplan!" as well as claiming he and his team did not accomplish what they were going for.

The Sega Saturn version was met with mixed reception from critics. 1047 out of 10 score, ranking at the number 625 spot. AC's Christian Blendl gave the Saturn release a mixed outlook. Mega Fun's Björn Souleiman noted its varied but confusing display of colors, stating that the game could have been made on 16-bit hardware, recommending it solely for shoot 'em up fans.