@NovaSquirrel well the gba/gbc/gb ones that come to mind are, to start with the obvious:

- Minish Cap
- Oracle of Ages
- Oracle of Seasons
- Link's Awakening (we're more nostalgic for the non-DX (also easier to do the select glitch) but either)
- Four Swords + A Link to the Past (for alttp specifically)
- Super Mario Land 2
- Metroid Fusion
- Metroid Zero Mission
- Kirby's Dream Land 2

if you like rpgs, i can also recommend
- Tales of Phantasia
- Golden Sun + Lost Age
- the GBA releases of Final Fantasies IV through VI
- Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga
- all three Final Fantasy Legend (Sa Ga) games

Tactics games:
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
- Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
- Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (just "Fire Emblem" in the US)
- Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade (never released outside Japan but repro carts are available with a translation hack)

and some more obscure titles we also recommend:
- Boktai: The Sun is in Your Hand
- Boktai 2: Solar Boy Django
- Shining Soul II
- The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (legitimately a pretty good diablolike, despite being a licensed game)

And two we recommend mostly for their soundtracks but also pretty okay games:
- Pokemon TCG and TCG 2 (translation hack)

-F

@Felthry I recognize a lot of those games - I guess they're well-known for a reason then! I have been wanting to get into RPGs and it's definitely helpful to have a few recommended ones rather than just randomly picking one to try, too.

@NovaSquirrel so as rpgs go, Tales of Phantasia is a Tales game, with the unique battle mechanics that entails--battles play like a fighting game more than an rpg

and superstar saga is a mario and luigi game, with that series' own unique battle mechanics--lots of button pressing at the right time to pull off special attacks and dodge/counterattack enemy attacks

the other ones on the list are more traditional jrpgs

i think superstar saga is a great one for someone new to rpgs, the others might be more intimidating

if you're really interested in getting into rpgs we could make some more beginner-friendly recommendations that aren't playable on gba
-F

@Felthry As far as getting into RPGs goes my current plan is to try and get through the Chrono Trigger playthrough I started, and also try out Dragon Quest XI because I fell in love with the world and setting through the spinoffs and I'd love to try the main games too.

But I'll definitely try out Superstar Saga too - I know I've got other friends who like that series.

@NovaSquirrel chrono trigger is a good one, probably pretty beginner friendly too

the dragon quest games are mostly all set in different worlds, like the final fantasy games, but there's a lot of commonalities and i think you'll still enjoy it. dragon quest IV, V, VIII, and XI are, i think, generally considered the series' high points (though don't play V unless you want a *really* tragic story, seriously the protagonist of V has basically one good thing happen to him in his entire life), with III, VI, and VII also generally well-liked

-F

@NovaSquirrel as far as NES games go (we're not familiar with game gear or SMS),

The obvious ones:
- Zelda 1
- Zelda 2
- Castlevania 3
- Super Mario Bros 3
- Kirby's Adventure

Less well-known ones:
- Crystalis
- StarTropics
- Lagrange Point (JRPG, japan-only but there's a fan translation, only game ever to use the audio capabilities of the VRC7 chip so really neat soundtrack)

I don't know if the NES version is any good but:
- Ys I
- Ys II

One that I think you would appreciate just from the name alone (but we know nothing beyond the name and the fact that it's apparently really rare):
- Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom

If you just want to experience something really really awful:
- Hydlide
- Hoshi wo Miro Hito (never released in english) (seriously this game is truly awful, just watch a speedrun or something, it's been at GDQ once or twice)

-F/R

@NovaSquirrel oh also mega mans 2 and 4 in particular (and any others you want to play, those are just usually considered the best)

and we can recommend one SMS game, though this isn't one for someone new to jrpgs and definitely not one to play without a guide: Phantasy Star
-F

@Felthry Thanks for all the suggestions! The NES ones here I'm a lot more familiar with, and I've actually played some amount of Crystalis and Princess Tomato. Maybe wanting to kill time portably is what I need to give them another go.

@NovaSquirrel we're not too familiar with the NES library honestly, so a lot of these are less obscure
-F

@NovaSquirrel oh yeah and since it looks like you're playing them on a flashcart, warning that boktai and boktai 2 both make heavy use of extra hardware on the cartridge (a photosensor with a filter to detect only sunlight) and can't really be played without it
-F

@Felthry Yup I knew about those as a result of my hobby of "reading technical documentation for fun"

http://problemkaputt.de/gbatek.htm#gbacartsolarsensor