I ordered a Miyoo Mini Flip the other day and I want to curate a slim list of games for it, maybe three to five titles per system so I can just pick it up and quickly choose what to play. Therefore I need a selection of games that are actual heavy rotation material. What I mean by modern feel is quality of life stuff and a manageable difficulty curve rather than graphics. Most older games I've tried (that I didn't play as a kid because nostalgia makes anything palatable) are just too hard without feeling rewarding. With my current emulation setup I find myself playing a lot of ROM hacks and Pico8 titles because while often with a simple concept those do usually check the modern feel marks I mentioned.

Do you have any particular recommendations that managed to hook you not just for the challenge of beating them but for the actual gameplay? It can be retro, homebrew, ported, hacked or whatever else runs on my handheld. I'm also fine with spending a few bucks on itch.io if necessary.