This is a very simple patch which changes only one thing: it increases the frequency of health and weapon energy item drops to 12.5% each - that's it. Otherwise, it is nearly identical to the base game.
However, doing this one simple change drastically reduces the (cruel) difficulty of the game. There are still limited (3) continues to keep the high-stakes gameplay, however many (often not avoidable) mistakes are forgiven. Both the sub and main bosses are still very tough, and should the player get to the last level, their heart will be pounding.
In short, this simple changes makes the game NES hard - not NES impossible.
Database match: Journey to Silius (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Nintendo Entertainment System (v. 20210216-231042)
File SHA-1: FE8620E1C3BCC5DD66291A55E94F996145098492
File CRC32: 4563F40D
ROM SHA-1: E12500475AE3F76F36A2C49175B3A6B783DD904C
ROM CRC32: E2C4EDCE