Yeah, I feel like the cavalry, always coming late ...
First I'll give an overview of the whole saga. I have attached a zipped Excel
list which tries to summarize what I know about it (including some video files information).
So as you and redrooster said, there is several periods or "eras" in the
Cream Lemon franchise. Hold your breath and read ... :snicker:
"Original" series: 16 episodes, easy to classify because they are called "part 1" to "part 16".
Includes the most famous episodes (Ami, Escalation, Pop Chaser, Ikenai Mako-chan, Rall), runned from 1984 to 1987.
"Shin" series: 9 episodes, not numbered.
Includes new sagas or stand-alone episodes (Etude, Moriyama Tou episodes, Evil Doll, Summer Wind), runned from 1987 to 1988.
After that there was a short break until new episodes were released.
"Ami Sorekara" series: 4 episodes, longer running time than standard episodes (37 mn). We follow Ami 3 years after the end of the previous episode (Tabidashi Ami). Runned from 1988 to 1990.
"Best Hit" series: 4 episodes. Includes Astarot and 3 manga author contributions, longer running time than usual (30-35 mn). Runned from 1989 to 1990. The latter three episodes releases suffered from the Miyazaki case (see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Miyazaki, it had a strong impact of adult material releases in Japan).
"Miscellaneous" series: 6 episodes. Anything not fitting with the series above. Includes Ami Image (mostly music video), Tabidachi Ami (feature movie played together with Project A-Ko), Sotsugyou Album (compilation of the Orginal Series plus few original material), Dark (special episode, not clear why), and the 2 extra episodes released in 1992/1993, Aoi Sei (apparently produced as a "bonus" for a LD-Box) and Black Cat Mansion part 2 (upgraded graphics compared with the first part).
Then come the "Shinseiki" series (2 episodes, 2001-2002) and the "New Generation" series (4 episodes, 2006). I don't like this so much, especially the New Generation episode which suck big time, despite being uncensored (because non-explicit).
So the total of episodes for the whole Saga is 16+9+4+4+6+2+4 = 45 episodes, or say 39 episodes for the Classical Era. I count Sotsugyou Album because it has original material (and is counted officially as such by Fairy Dust).
On top of that, there was several compilation-only episodes, including the infamous "Part 0" episode. I will come to this particular one later. There was compilations of the stories having several parts, like Ami, Escalation, Ikenai Mako-chan. Also a "Climax" series came out, having grouped episodes by 4 or 5, showing mainly the (still censored) sex scenes. There was also an odd "Moriyama Tou" compilation grouping his three contributions to the Cream Lemon Saga.
About how to "collect" them, you can try this topic:
http://www.akiba-online.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22205
I think it's pretty much complete (up to "Shinseiki" series, so 41+part 0 episodes).