Critics call 0.78 "buggy." Fans call it "forgiving." The audio might have a slight pitch variance, and the sprite scaling might be off by a pixel, but the gameplay is tight. For 99% of players, that is all that matters.
You don't have to use the command-line MAME 0.78 executable. In fact, you shouldn't. mame 0.78 romset
Arcade games often had multiple versions. For example, Street Fighter II had a World version, a USA version, a Japanese version, and later "Turbo" editions. Critics call 0