I was really only interested in Bowser's Castle, so I downloaded the original version of the hack and blasted through the whole thing (with cheats). Even using cheats (because I just wanted to beat Bowser's Castle), I could tell that the game suffers from awful design choices. I would have gone mad playing through most levels, especially after World 3.
Just because beating Bowser's Castle was too plain and simple for me, I decided to give myself a nice masochistic challenge and beat the whole level without taking damage. (Section 5, the magikoopa one, is really rough.) I haven't actually completed this challenge yet, but I did get
very close one time.
i died on the vanilla bowser fight at the very end of the ten-section level
that bowling ball will haunt me forever...
I'm still going to work towards actually beating the level entirely, but you could say that I did legitimately beat the actual "level" part that Anikiti designed themselves. With that being said, I believe I am the first and only person to beat the "level" portion of Bowser's Castle without taking damage (or collecting any powerups).
Just as a safety net for next time so I don't look like a fool on the Bowser fight, I'll probably grab the mushroom Peach throws out. A no damage run could still be possible doing this, but regardless I'd rather just beat the level rather than die at the Bowser fight again.