I think you misunderstand the list/criteria. These are JUST the games I LOVE. Many other games fall below these scores on my list. I gave Dead Connection a 4/5 for graphics and 4.5/5 for gameplay. That's pretty damn high. Yes there are games above it, but out of ALL the games of this genre in MAME, these are at the very top. You just don't see all the tons of games below these because of where I cut off the list.
Same goes for Raiden & Twin Cobra. They are the bottom of THIS list which is my Top Favorites (so they are still amongst the best as far as I'm concerned). There are actually hundreds of Vertical Shooters I've rated that are below them that you don't see.