Wonder Boy in Monster World - Genesis Game (Retro Fam)

I was a Genesis kid growing up so I didn't have Zelda. But I'm super glad I found this game. It was difficult to learn about the existence of good games in the early 90s and this was one of my better guesses. The whole thing is open world, and while there is an order for the stages, you will travel all over the world and get a bunch of new stuff along the way. All of the weapons and shields have their own graphics and attack power. You also pick up magic though you won't use it very often cuz it's rather weak compared to your swords. If you want all the best equipment as soon as it becomes available you'll probably have to do a bit of grinding, but there are areas to grind right next to every town so that should be fine. You also get "helpers" on occasion who are useless, but become slightly less useless as time goes on; anywhere from generating hearts to finding gold to attacking enemies. And while I always struggled with the final boss, all in all it's a solid game. It's got a sequel that I never played; I dunno if it's good or not but the series as a whole has been a niche series with a cult following. This one seems to be popular among Genesis fans though.