The series began with a 2004 freeware game of the same name (also known as E2) for Windows, which was a personal project by Kanta Matsuhisa under the "Omega" pseudonym.

Stages begin with a set time limit and enemies appearing on screen in randomized patterns.

The goal is to destroy the maximum number of ships on screen by positioning and detonating at the right moment, setting off a chain reaction of explosions and earning combo bonus.

Pulse bombs don't drop items or bonus but instead charge and detonate a wider range than normal once defeated.

It also adds varying explosion types to the Every Extend template, which can link chains in different ways, as well as a "charge" feature.

Each stage is played out to a time limit, with a boss character appearing at a set point towards the end.

An alternative boss named "A-BA HEDRON" can be encountered if the player manages to collect seven quickens, have over 5 lives remaining and accumulated over 800,000 points.

In Caravan, players can choose from any of the stages that were previously unlocked in Arcade mode and compete for a high score.

Players can choose their movement speed and one of two modes of firing prior to the start of the game, "Four Way", and "Spread".

Matsuhisa spent the first month using DirectX for the first time and Windows program to draw 3D polygons and exercising model techniques.

During the time developing the game, Matsuhisa was balancing life in college and didn't go to campus much as a result.

The PSP version was localized by Buena Vista Games for North American and includes an exclusive soundtrack for one of the bonus levels.

[10] Mizuguchi noted the most difficult thing during development was expanding on the scope of game while trying to confine to a download size that users will deem acceptable.

The game was re-released into physical form as a compilation by Atari alongside Rez HD and Lumines Live!

They cited an obtuse initial learning curve and a "defiant obscurity and the resulting barrier to entry" as its main hindrances, but concluded that, overall, the game was "an undeniably exhilarating dance".

[23] Every Extend Extra Extreme was also well received among critics and earned an aggregated score of 78 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 28 reviews.

"[25] Eurogamer was more negative towards the game and gave it a 4 out of 10, criticizing how easy it was to get on the top leaderboard and unable to do anything during chains.