I've played 1943 quite a bit (after the fact, I never owned an original NES + copy) and while it is definitely a fun shooter for someone who really never plays shooters, and I did enjoy it, I never really invested much time into it, at all. However, it's amazing how a great coat of paint and fresh ideas can really change how invested you can get into something. Going from "Standard combat bi-plane" to playing as the titular "Porco Rosso," imagining that your mission is now to help him save his friends and achieve his dream life, really makes you invested in reaching the end of the story. This is so far probably one of my favorite NES hacks of all time.