Perikles - 2,010,400 - 4-6
Ended the run right there as it was getting late and I didn't have the energy left for tedious checkpoint recoveries. I do have quite a few things to say about the game.
First of all, the looping is quite weird. Enemies in loop 2 are highly durable and more aggressive, a combination that lends itself to frustration. If you have a precise route for every stage and checkpoint recovery, you can mostly blast through the game, still. However, all recoveries starting from the final checkpoint of stage 5 are extremely aggravating and dependent on luck. The problem is that you absolutely need at least a couple of speed-ups to get past trickier sections, preferably three. Since most power-ups are random and the weapon upgrades of loop 1 are replaced with speed-downs, it usually takes forever until you get what you need. I had one run prior to this one where I was losing over 20 lives in a row on the final checkpoint of the game, because frankly, you can't fight the final boss without three speed-ups. There's a neat semi-safespot in the bottom left corner in the first loop, you only have to move away once or twice, it won't work in loop 2, of course.
The third loop is identical to the first one, the fourth is the same thing as loop 2 and I'm sure it just alternates like this ad nauseam. This furthermore tells me there wasn't much thought put into this aspect of the game, if anything it should've ended after two loops. What's particularly silly is that you get the weapon upgrades in loop 3 again even though you're obviously completely maxed out at that point.
I also took a couple of pictures for those neat super power-ups (those exclamation marks) because I'm a caring soul:
The first one is in stage 3. After you encounter the yellow salamanders that shoot at you, there will be squadrons of those regular enemies that try to crash into you by surrounding you. Once you see these enemies, the third gathering of crystals on the left contains the power-up. Just hit it with the regular shot.
The second one can be found in stage 5. It's in the first generator on the right after the mid-boss (those three green creatures that look like something out of Dogyuun). You have to hold left quickly after unveiling it because otherwise, it will slowly float upwards, making it impossible to grab it.
You can get both super power-ups upon recovery, they're right in your vicinity in that checkpoint. I believe there is a specific increase in difficulty when picking these up, it's nonetheless worth it for sure since the rank resets once you die, anyway.
Overall, I still really enjoy - dare I say love? - the first loop, I wouldn't recommend bothering with subsequent rounds on the other hand. It's not the worst case of an additional loop I've ever seen, and rapidly switching weapons to take out enemies as fast as possible can be tense for you have to act quick lest you get overwhelmed, but it's not balanced whatsoever. Some bosses just have way too much health, some sections cannot be beaten with enough reliability and later checkpoint recoveries are torment.
