PixlBit

FF4 was really the game that got me into RPGs, even though I had played Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior prior.  The problem with the DS port is they made everything way too hard!

I'm not a big fan of Castlevania games, mainly because Simon Belmont controls like he ate a big breakfast before going out to fight vampires.  With that said, Super Castlevania IV has neat music and I like how you can hold out your whip and swing it all around.  If you have the Castlevania collection, try Kid Dracula.  That's my favorite.

Unfortunately the Mega Man games just keep getting harder.  For Mega Man 4, I'd try Toad Man's stage first, as his pattern is pretty easy to figure out.  Or maybe Ring Man.  His pattern is a bit harder, though.

The game where Link washes up on a shore is Link's Awakening, which came out after Link to the Past.  Link's Awakening is my top favorite Zelda game, so if you play that one, I'd be happy.  But Link to the Past may be my second favorite Zelda game.  

For me, a sidequest needs to be one of three things to be worth completing.  It needs to be fun.  It needs to give you a good item to help you in the game.  Or if you like the story, it needs to flash it out.

I would've used Chocobo Hot and Cold from FF9 as an example, but in the past I remember you all saying you didn't like that one.  But I liked it.  It was like a treasure hunt that used the whole world map. 

I had to beat a lot of sidequests in Tears of the Kingdom to get good enough items to beat certain bosses.  I would just pick and choose which ones sounded fun and didn't take a long time to beat.  I finally finished that game at the end of July.  Took me three months and my Switch says I spent 100 hours on it.  I think I enjoyed about 50 percent of that.  Sorry Tears of the Kingdom, you're not getting my GOTY award.

There was one sidequest in Tears of the Kingdom where you had to find Nazca-style lines in the ground to flesh out the story, and that one was fun, though.  There are a lot of sidequests in FF6 and Chrono Trigger that help flesh out the story, and I did all of those.

Top Man's stage is the easiest in MM3.  That's what I start with.

I think $70 is way too much for FF1-6 Pixel Remasters.  Unless it's the phyiscal version.  They didn't make enough of those.

Try Top Man's stage first.  It's the easiest.

"I felt like I was sliding around the whole time and could not tell where stuff was for jumping."

That pretty much describes most Sonic games to me.

I think I paid about that much for my Genesis Mini 2.  I know I wouldn't paid too much more than that anyway.

Elemental Master was made by Technosoft who also did the Thunder Force games, which are also known for their music.  So that may be why you liked the music in that one as well.

At the end of July I finally beat The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.  Yay!  Took me three months and my Switch says I spent around 100 hours on it.  I think I enjoyed about 50 percent of the game.

Now I'm playing Disney's Illusion Island.  It's a family friendly Metroidvania starring Mickey and friends in their Paul Rudish designs.  It's pretty fun although very easy.  But I'm OK with that.

I hope you get a chance to play Final Fantasy 3 (FF6).  It's one of my top five favorite games of all time.

I doubt Super Mario World is that expensive.  It was a pack-in game initially and there are many ways to play it.  It's one of my favorite Mario games.

I loved playing Magic Sword and Final Fight in arcades.

I wish we got the Parodius games in the US.  It's a shame that in the 90s, everyone thought Americans hated cute games.

Hate to break it to you, but Mega Man 3 is harder than 2.  MM2 is actually one of the easier games in the series.

The best way to play Bonk's Adventure is on the TG-16.  I wish I had a TG-16 as a kid.  Looking back on it, I think I would've really liked that console.

Here's some more 1990 games to look into:

Little Nemo: The Dream Master (NES)

Dr. Mario (NES)

Lemmings (PC)