I made it a bulleted list and it looks better now, thank you.

Simon’s Quest is a C- game with an A+ soundtrack

Like those occasional illustrations in Alice in Wonderland or Narnia, game manuals provided a window into a world you couldn’t fully see (in the case of old consoles, due to low res or low poly graphics) and served as a jumping off point for so many children’s imaginations to fill in the rest of the details.

https://atariage.com/manual_page.php?SystemID=2600&SoftwareLabelID=128&ItemTypeID=MANUAL&currentPage=0

Wonder Boy 3: the Dragon’s Trap, a simple “Metroidvania” style platformer with fun action and enemy design. No deep story, but one of my all-time favorite game soundtracks

Agree, the lack of tactile feedback was awful. It’s like playing on a mobile phone screen today

This doesn’t answer your question, but thank you for the love and patience you have for your son.