UPDATE Oct 22, 2022

Did some poking around on this hack to see if there was anything that I could do better:

Removed the Unlimited Continues in the original hack, and instead changed the 255 Continues cheat code can be performed with just one controller, so you can easily choose how difficult you want the game to be. Also removed the penalty that doesn't allow continuing after the Fire Stage and you get to keep your score after continuing.

Other than that there was some graphics cleanup and was able to finally sort out nerfing enemy cheap shot instakills. Believe it or not, it doesn't actually make the game much easier, just less annoying.