I have played this game only a little. And predictably only an emulated version, due to the simple fact the game has never had an official release outside Japan. Excluding the brief and temporary release for iOS.
Even with that, I know this and the other early SMT titles are extremely difficult. But with this series, it is part of the charm.
If it were up to me, I'd certainly make it so that the games, including this, the very first one, would be accessible for people on newer devices.
Could you actually make it happen? If you did, I'd be truly impressed.