After much wait, it is now possible to play Superstar Hero on a gamepad. Now if you press SHIFT on a keyboard or the Y button on an Xbox 360 controller, a cursor will cycle through your 6 item slots and pressing the attack button will use the item (or do nothing if the key item is selected), kinda like in Super Metroid when selecting missiles, etc.
The original control scheme that uses the number keys will remain intact, so both can be used. Also, RPG Maker 2003 now supports the D-pad rather than just the joysticks.