Yeah, that was the whole point of playing on original hardware. Also, I can't remember, but there was a point where DK would become unstable after so many screens, making the high score even more hard to achieve, further putting emphasis on playing on the original hardware. They were often performing live, or had multiple cameras to bring more validity to the claim and ease having it approved by twin galaxies.

It's a niche thing and doesn't have to be liked by everyone.