328, 1284, 2560, its all SPI - just a matter of where the SCK, MOSI, and SS pins get connected. Very minor.
The picture and the youtube video are my current board - an Arduino and 4 MAX7219's.
Any arduino will do - SPI.begin ( ) ; takes care of setting up the pins for you.
Mine aren't cascaded, so you need to adjust the setup tab and the display_update tab a little to reflect that.
I taped some "parchment paper" (cooking stuff, like waxed paper but sturdier) over the display and that seems to make the letters stand out more too. I'll do another video & repost it. I think I have it moving the letters along with either 50 or 75mS pause now, goes by nice.