Holding the Guinness World Record for "Most prolific developer of danmaku shooters” — a tenuous plaudit seemingly concocted entirely for their receipt — Cave’s five DonPachi entries form bullet points in the company’s evolution, from Toaplan-esque beginnings to a full-blown, bullet hell renaissance.

SaiDaiOuJou, the series’ final entry and Cave’s last arcade shooting game, makes the clean stylings of its predecessor, DaiFukkatsu, even cleaner; a shiny blue aesthetic wrought from 3D renders and a billion pixels. It also carries over adjustable difficulty options and an auto bomb on/off feature. Its core, however, is similar to DoDonPachi DaiOuJou, the greatest and most beautiful of Cave’s work.

SaiDaiOuJou, despite its saccharine anime facade, is pure, unadulterated rage. And while that’s the motif of most bullet hell games, here it can be felt as early as the stage one boss. Where DonPachi was measured, DoDonPachi fuel injected, DaiOujou a symphony of murder, and DaiFukkatsu precariously experimental, SaiDaiOuJou is plainly vicious. It’s also infamous for having the hardest hidden boss ever committed to circuit board in the form of Inbachi, unlocked if you achieve a nigh-on perfect, no-bomb run. For the record, she has only ever been beaten once in a single credit attempt by Japanese player Sairyou, 12 years post-release.