You're saying FF4 feels like a NES game?
I would agree that it's pretty clunky and dated in various ways, but not far off from the earlier SNES RPGs I've played - I found it about as enjoyable as FF4. It is a bit of a stretch in that I only focused on the good stuff I guess.
Edit:
Some
1991 games:
Metal Storm (NES, 1991) - Action platformer/Puzzle platformer, Early mech action game
-Fleshed out reverse gravity mechanics with creative level design
-Very good animation and some large, detailed bosses. Parallax scrolling
Cocoron (NES, 1991) - Action Platformer/Proto-Platform Adventure
-Interesting character creation system (gain a new one after each boss; combine three parts - body/weapon/head, name each build, builds can be canceled after testing them out (in an empty room though), each part has a few different looking sprites to choose from)
-Choose which order to tackle the levels in (hub map)
-Different paths depending on where you were previously when picking a new level to play (similar to Clash at Demonhead)
-Some good enemy AI
Dragon Crystal (GG, 1990/SMS, 1991) - Early console Rogue-like (along with Fatal Labyrinth)
-New gear shows on your avatar
-Dragon familiar (follows behind the player)
-Deteriorating armor and items to prevent it temporarily (one armor type won't rust)
-Can transform equipped weapons into other weapons
-Some interesting items (item that transforms monsters into other monsters, HP exchange item, berserk item (double dmg but half hp), random teleport)
-Pay to continue mechanic (up to 3 times only, lose all unequipped items, keep levels and status)
-From Rogue?: Hunger mechanic, Dropped items are preserved on the floor, Throw items at enemies or at walls to identify them
Seirei Senshi Spriggan (PCE CD, 1991) - Vertical Shoot 'em up
-Visually impressive with some cool effects and busy action without slowdown and only minor flicker, Good cutscenes with voice acting
-Interesting weapon system (collect coloured orbs in 4 different colours that you can do a triple combo with (each new orb replaces the first one in your inventory) - 3 orbs of the same colour gives you a strong but specialized weapon)
-Two types of smart bomb (waste an orb or pick a flashing one up - the latter option is not always practical and the first one downgrades your weapon though),
ToeJam & Earl (MD, 1991) - Early console Rogue-lite/Collectathon w/ 2-Player Co-op, Platforming via temporary gear, Stealth element
-Dynamic split screen
-Various interesting mechanics and tools (decoy item, can high five each other to average out your life bars in co-op, can pay the opera singer to take out all enemies on screen, move faster on roads, random teleporter item, present randomizer item, unfall/togetherness item for going back if you fall down accidentally or joining with the other player in co-op, can avoid lightning and tornadoes while underwater, can avoid death from a total bummer by timing using a healing present right)
-Randomly generated levels and items
-Funk and hip hop culture theme
-In-game epilogue
Sonic the Hedgehog (MD, 1991) - Hop 'n Bop Platformer
-Very fast and fluid movement with great visuals for the time as well as great music for an earlier MD game that uses the chips more fully (FM, PSG, PCM)
-Ball physics in a platformer
-Loops and curved slopes, rotating bonus level
-Ring system increases accessibility (stay alive as long as you can keep catching them after getting hit unless you fell down a pit or got crushed)
-Alternate paths through levels (each levels tends to have 2 or more "floors" and staying up top is generally harder)
-Expressive character sprite with "attitude" where they were usually cute or goofy beforehand - became a trend
-Environmentalist theme
Master of Monsters (MD/PCE CD, 1991) – TBS, 4-Player vs.
-Five different factions
-Unit evolutions (pokemon-like)
-Animated battles (Fire Emblem)
-Music select (Herzog Zwei?)
-Day/night cycle that affects unit strength (Simon's Quest)
-Some interesting spells (Warp, Again (the affected unit gets one more turn), Reverse (reverses the day/night cycle))
-Good unit variation
-Shows damage calculations before attacking
-Speed options
-Impressive music for the MD
Kingdom Crusade/Legend of Prince Valiant (GB, 1991) - MP Action/RTT, Top Down View
-A sort of evolution or Archon where you capture land and castles by moving onto them with one unit at a time and fighting 1 vs 1 battles when encountering enemy units (capture all castles or defeat all enemy units to win)
-Mini-map on GB
-Some advanced gameplay options (world/map size – also affects army size, handicap - affects how much land each player starts with+units' starting HP+eventually army size if you drag the slider far enough), switch between characters on the fly)
-TD jumping with adjustable jump height and direction (w/ the wings)
-Diagonal movement and attacks
-Stat upgrade items (each unit has seven stats)
-Context sensitive melee attacks (Shinobi?)
-Some interesting spells (tome/open book - reverses enemy movement, staff/circle of life - homing attack, necklace - revive a dead unit of your choice (you also get to redeploy the unit), etc.) and power ups (scroll - see enemy HP, etc.), terrain effects and low+high obstacles (can jump over the lower ones), can regenerate HP by moving up to a friendly castle's entrance, etc.
-Block projectiles by facing the enemy and standing still
Street Fighter II (ARC, 1991/SNES, ) - Fighting, 2-Player vs.
-Set a new standard for Fighting games
-Pretty large and memorable character roster
-Combos and throws (Double Dragon had throws)
-Can make your opponent dizzy by playing well
-World traveling theme
Lemmings (PC/AMI etc., 1991/PC Win, 1995?) - Action Puzzle/RTT, Resource management element (limited jobs)
-Assign jobs/roles to units (decent assortment of roles)
-Semi-control over a tribe/flock of lemmings automatically moving forward (inspired Ico)
-Destructible environment (Scorched Earth)
-Create platforms (Solomon's Key), Dig paths (Dig Dug)
-Nuke button (blows up each lemming individually, taking part of the environment with it)
-Mini-map
-Hotkeys
-EGA & VGA 640x350 resolution widescreen modes (Snarf (1990))
-Fast forward function (Win 95 version)
Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood (PC, 1991) - Quest Adventure, Hybrid gameplay (Light Gun-style mini-game (archery), Strategy mini-game), Hub map, Partially non-linear
-Adjustable difficulty for action sequences (set it to lowest and they are skipped)
-Pretty good attention to detail history-wise
-Unusual intro (background story told via a bard's song)
-Fairly well developed characters (displays scenes at the end of each day where you get to know the group)
-Ranking system (affected by various optional things like giving money to people or how you deal with strangers when taking their clothes, three alternate endings to find; QfG?)
-Call on your band/party using a horn (somehow this usually doesn't alert the enemy)
-Some fun ways to get killed (there are also post death scenes where the party discusses your idiocy)
-Some somewhat randomized riddles offering extra replay value
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES, 1991/GBA) - Action Adventure, Top Down View
-Game structure gradually opens up (not to the point of the first game though) - begins with a tutorial that doesn’t feel like one, most of the gating doesn’t feel too forced
-Parallel worlds (light and dark; Silviana FDS) with a few puzzles involving traveling between them
-Teleportation and fast travel (by bird or warp points in the water, later warp tiles), can warp out of dungeons (and even boss fights), save & quit to restart at link's house or the sanctuary)
-Interesting mechanics (bomb jumping, hook shot, block switches in third dungeon, magic effects, create blocks with a magic cane)
-Large selection of equipment
-Some context sensitivity (flippers/lantern light/glove/boots are all equipped automatically)
-Various control improvements and new moves (diagonal movement, strafing with the sword, three kinds of sword attacks including the spin attack, block projectiles with the sword beam, swimming)
-Holds your hand a lot more than the previous games, Making money is pretty fast
-Guards that start attacking Link directly when alerted to his presence (game's a bit inconsistent about what they'll react to though; Metal Gear)
-Running with the boots - 005 (ARC, 1981)
-Respawn on the spot if you have a fairy in your inventory
-No traditional dodge move but you can dodge some things by ramming walls
-Some sequence breaking is possible using bombs and ramming knockback around pits
The best looking 16-bit games:
https://worldsunraveled.weebly.com/1991-16-bit-games.html