@mitu thanks for the response. yes, i've just tried changing this - i accessed the RGUI, navigated to Options - MSX Video Mode, and changed it from NTSC to PAL. after resuming the game, the music is slower but i no longer have control of the game - i.e., i my d-pad won't move the character and my buttons aren't mapped as they were before making that change. MSX Video Mode is the only change i made. odd...
if i put it back to NTSC and resume the game, the music is sped up but i still don't have control of the game character. i have to exit the emulator and relaunch the game to get my controller mapping back. is this as expected?