If you are trying to play this on an Analogue NT Mini Noir, you must enable fully buffered video mode in the settings. The game displays all sorts of video glitches if it's ran with the video buffer turned to zero buffer. I don't notice any lag between zero buffer and fully buffered. It's an amazing game so, I'm glad I found the solution to the issues I was having.
Viewing post in Sam's Journey (NES) comments
I'm just delighted to have it run properly on my console. If this game had been released back when the NES was the current generation console, it would be in most top ten lists. I rate it in my top five without any reservation and recommend to everyone. I am not a cartridge collector by any stretch of the imagination but, I would make an exception for this one.