Got some time last week to get some games in. It definitely helps to use the 9 credit cheat, just to see more of the levels. Slowing grinding and memorizing enemy patterns, making progress.
I even fired up the arcade Air Busters on EMU to credit feed it to see the differences in the port. The anti-gravity stages are even more brutal b/c there is no inertia(you never stop unless you back your ship to the edge of the screen). Arcade only has 6 stages, so that gives me hope I'll have a chance to beat the TG/PCE port.
The Genny version seems more faithful to the arcade, but I'm so used to the obey version that the "true" version seems off to me.