Mecha Ritz Steel Rondo 1CC - Master (Max Starting Rank) - PC - S***clear (w/ Commentary)

Link to the run without commentary: • Mecha Ritz: Steel Rond...
(S***clear: a complete run of a game that ignores optimized utilization of its various mechanics, scoring, and precise routing, and that requires comparatively little effort)
In a genre full of seizure-inducing visual mania and ultra fast-paced gameplay, Mecha Ritz Steel Rondo just might take the cake for most brain-meltingly fast, most visually fucking bonkers shoot-em-up out there. The game has 332 levels of rank (difficulty), and depending on how well you're playing the system adjusts itself, so if you're versed in STGs you may find yourself up against terrifying odds quite quickly... and conversely, if you're a beginner and you're reluctant to play aggressively and score, you may pleasantly coast to a pretty tame 1CC.
I don't love scoring in the game, which involves getting up in enemies' faces and chaining their "sweet spots," each of which have their own health counter and shake the screen maddeningly when destroyed. It feels too punishing -- the game encourages you to play risky and get hit, doling out shield and bomb items by the dozens, but even one shielded hit and your sweet spot score chain drops massively. That, combined with the games' intense proclivity to switch things up from run to run with rank, can make for frustrating times.
Cranking the rank up and just trying to survive was where I found the best time here, and without focusing on score I was able to more actively appreciate the game's pretty stunning aesthetic nuances -- its synthy soundtrack especially.
I will say: there is some weird shit going on under the hood. I experienced MAJOR slowdown in my first playthrough, helping me blind-clear the game at fairly high ending rank and with a halfway decent score to boot. In subsequent playthroughs, though, the slowdown seemed to lessen, and lessen, until I felt like it was almost completely gone. Was there something weird going on with my computer that first play session? Or did this developer engineer a handicap for new players that slowly dissipates as they gain experience? I really have no idea, but judging by how dynamic many other elements of the game are, I wouldn't necessarily be surprised if it turned out to be the latter.
Mecha Ritz is great foremostly because it defies many of the what one might consider the 'laws' of shooting games, de-emphasizing memorization and precision while placing heavy value on splashy, hectic creative play. While this puts it a bit further outside my particular wheelhouse, I have to count it among the most unique and confident shmups I've ever played.