Mugita Sokio

I’d probably go for a mini PC, like one from System76. It does have Linux on it (Pop_OS!), but I think you could manage with that in particular.

bluGill already noted that OP is a noob. He literally said:

as a noob you have a lot to learn the hard way.

I’ve played some romhacks, so I get that part too. Otherwise, fan-made projects or romhacks would be much better nowadays than the slop that’s made today.

There’s a lot of undisclosed AI usage in modern games, and they won’t tell us in any storefront that doesn’t require AI disclosure.

Emulating the classics, or playing them on real hardware might be the way to go, and not getting things like a Switch 2 or later (maybe a Switch, since you seemingly own the games you have in those cartridges, and not some DRM-heavy license where the developers will revoke it at any one time).