Here's how I breezed through...

Level up Cloud to at least 50, remove ALL materia equipped to him.
Firstly his weapons & armor;
Ultimate Weapon is a must
I had a Mystile for Defence & the Godsend that is the Ribbon.
Now as for Materia keep it simple. I have the 'Slash All' the 'Enemy Skill' (a MUST HAVE) and HP Plus & MP Plus...and that's it. Keep the materia to 'Command' and 'Intependant' that way you can make most Handicaps minimal.
For enemy Skills Get 'Big Guard' and 'Death Force' just incase, cast big guard as soon as u battle & hit them all hard. The only time you need to attack with Magic is if you time the slots wrong & break your weapon. I got 64,000 points inm no time. The important thing is not to panic. You'll do it