I haven't played those but Super Mario RPG is regarded fondly by most people, they did do a remake a year or two ago. Secret of Mana looks pretty close to Sword of Mana just glancing at screenshots, I do really enjoy the early Star Ocean games, the battles are instanced but has similar combat to the Mana games and probably would have been more popular but it wasn't ported to western markets until much later. Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 3 are also considered some of the best games on the console.

SMRPG is not really like Paper Mario or TTYD, but it's still great. Instead of prototype Paper Mario, expect a particularly relaxed Final Fantasy with timed hits (and surprisingly good platforming)