I'll just share my thoughts as someone whose gone through everything (barring Macross II and FB7) in the last 8 months. Before I started watching Macross, I remember seeing only bits and pieces of Robotech when I was really young and it was airing on Toonami. I had also seen a bit of Macross Plus when Sci-Fi's AniMonday block was still a thing. But after a year or so of badgering by Crasis of the Preorder66 Podcast, I started watching Macross back in January. There isn't much more for me to add on SDF, DYRL?, and FB2012 as everything has already been said about them; they're classics and as a package, they hold a special place in my heart. For me, the discussion gets way more interesting when you look at the following entries in the series. Macross 7: I think this show is hella underrated. Yes, it's riddled with problems in it's first third, from stock footage abuse to pointless stories, but if you give it time and stick with it, I think it's a perfect successor to SDF. It keeps the themes and world building of the original series, but goes off in it's own direction, not crutching on things SDF did. Dynamite 7: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Macross Plus: As many others did, I enjoyed Plus much more on my second viewing. I was a bit soft on it during my first viewing cause I had just finished watching SDF, and let's be honest here, that's a hard act to follow. After watching it again, I've learned that you've gotta approach each entry with fresh eyes as most of them are going for their own themes and concepts, not necessarily going for what was done in SDF. Macross Zero: Zero had potential with a glance into the Unification War, but kinda squandered it to focus on the Birdman stuff... which was honestly boring as hell until the last episode. It was great to see Focker again, but I don't know if I'd rewatch this anytime soon. Way too boring. Macross Frontier: I really did like this show when I started watching it, but then I noticed how many plot elements it recycles from SDF and 7... and then episode 21 happened. 21 through 24 made me hate everyone who wasn't Sheryl or the crew of the Quarter because they all started acting like dicks. But getting to the point, Frontier relies too heavily on homages and reworked plot points from past series, and when it tries to do it's own thing, it falls flat on it's damn face. Frontier left me torn, it has great moments and some of the best written characters in the franchise (Hey there, Sheryl), but the lack of originality overall has me smashing my head against the wall. HOWEVER, I do like the movies MUCH more than the series as they do their own thing and do it well.
