Alright, I’m gonna fire off a bunch of games for a variety of systems:

NES

• Mother 1,l: the version on the gba is preferable as it has less censorship than the semi official translation and has some QOL fixes like being able to run and an easy mode inclusion. The latter I didn’t use on my playthrough and enjoyed it but it can be rough and I would not blame you for using it especially if you are unused to jrpgs. Overall mu favorite on the console.
• Megami Tensei 1 and Megami Tensei 2: I group these together as they were bundled in the snes remake which generally a better experience but the originals have some charm. They are very hard old school dungeon crawling rpgs. The stand out mechanic is the ability to recruit demons to your party in a similar way to pokemon or Dragon Quest V but with a fusion mechanic to level them. If you chose to play these over the remake use save states as you will have to use a password system otherwise. Additionally get some graph paper to map stuff out.
• Mario 3: Arguably one of the most polished games on the platform. Basically an improvement over its predecessors in every way.
• Castlevania: Pretty hard action platformer with a Gothic monster movie atmosphere. Lacking the distinct style of later entries but still solid fun.
• 1943: WW2 shoot em up. Simple but has good controls and decent music. Castlevania 3: bigger, badder cousin of Castlevania 1. Features a cast of different playable characters with distinct abilities. Very difficult even by the standards of the already difficult Castlevania 1. -The Legend of Zelda: I doubt I need to say much about this one but I can’t stress how ambitious this game is by comparison to many other NES Era games. While simple and a bit jank by modern standards it is very much a whole ass adventure for you to overcome.

SNES

• Earthbound/Mother 2: I’m gonna be controversial here and say the official translation for Earthbound doesn’t do it for me. Censorship of things judged “not kid friendly” and the addition of random humor ruined the slightly dark, and slightly more grounded tone I enjoyed in Mother 1. With this in mind I will recommend you play Mother 2: Perfect Edition which is a romhack that reworks the translation and overall greatly improves the tone IMO.
• The Secret of Mana: Utterly classic action rpg with one of the best soundtracks on the platform. Seriously, go listen to the legend of mana soundtrack rn, I’ll be here when you get back.
• Shin Megami Tensei: Spin off to Megami Tensei on the Famicom. Much easier post apocalyptic jrpg. Demon recruitment and negotiation is greatly improved, demon fusion is expanded and the roster of demons is much bigger. Nothing quite compares to firing a rail gun at the Archangel Michael. While I’m here I will also recommend SMT 2, SMT if, and Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei which is a remake of Megami Tensei. All are good, some are quite hard though.
• Front Mission: Gun Hazard: Mech game set in the near future where there is endless small proxey wars fueling the economies of large coalitions of wealthy nations. I love escapist fiction… Darkly relevant themes aside this is a fun side scrolling mech shooter with a cool aesthetic and a bumping soundtrack.
• Demon Crest: Somewhat unknown action platformer that has started to get some recognition in recent years because it’s just damn good fun. G.O.D.: little known snes rpg that never left Japan. Fan translated it is like a much darker and more adult Earthbound. Has some interesting mechanics.
• Final Fantasy V: Now you might be wondering why I picked this over VI since it’s the one that’s everyone’s darling. Final Fantasy V has the job system where you can change anyone’s class on the fly and mix and match perks from different classes. It’s excellent fun.
• Chrono Trigger: one of the best rpgs of all time. Just a really well made, well produced, well balanced rpgs out there. There’s a reason it’s on so many best game of all time lists.

N64 Imma be real with u fam. I don’t care for the N64. Don’t get me wrong it had some great titles, but most have aged like room temperature chicken. Mario 64, banjo Kazooie and the Zelda games are probably the best aged

Playstation 1

• Grandia: Super charming and cozy rpg. Good music and an interesting battle system.
• Wipeout 2049: the sequel to the anti grav racer Wipeout. Think F-Zero meets the trainspotting soundtrack.
• Front Mission 3: Tactical Mech game where you have a high degree of Mech customization. Also features a cool fake internet with side content and a great soundtrack.
• Ridge Racer 4: Arcade Racer with an amazing soundtrack and great controls.
• Tales of Phantasia: First game in the tales series. Technically debuted on the SNES but that one has some crunchy audio unlike the gloriously uncompressed CD audio of the Playstation. Has a strong character driven story and some surprisingly dark moments.
• Xenogears: Epic multi disc RPG with a unique setting. Imagine feudal fiefdoms with archeologically uncovered Mech suits.
• Castlevania Symphony of the Night: Now there are a couple options. If you want a mor3 serious version with some more features and more challenging difficulty you want the fan translation of the Japanese version. If you want some classic 90’s hammy voice acting then you gotta go with the North American release. Honestly the English VA is so iconic I almost prefer it.
• Resident Evil 1-3: Classic survival horror at its arcadey finest.
• Silent Hill: Resident Evil’s more serious, scarier brother.
• Koudelka: Gothic horror rpg with full voice acting that is actually quite good if theatrical. Good music too.
• King’s field 1-3 and Shadow Tower: First person dungeon crawling from the makers of dark souls. Get ready to get trolled by the developers pretty often.
• Ace combat 1-3: Arcade air combat at its finest. Solid soundtracks and plenty of replay value. Electrosphere is basically the blueprint for the modern ace combat game.