This is a pretty dumb video admittedly. looking at it closer on video I think the Hudson soft controller's turbo is fast enough to exceed some sort of sprite limit on the NES.
Still interested to hear if anybody has a good lead on another controller worth checking out.
One obvious negative against the Honey Bee not mentioned, is the cord length which is maddeningly short. luckily AES controller db15 extensions are readily available and compatible.