I don't mean to poo poo all the work you've done, but I am able to work the buckets pretty nicely using MESS, emulating the original game.  I just got to level 7 with my spinner and I am by no means great at this game.  You have to set mouse = 1, map the mouse x axis to left/right, select sensitivity = 100%, and select 'paddle' controllers in MESS.  The sounds and video are pretty much perfect as far as I can tell.  I would avoid Stella.