I am currently playing Mother 1 (just got to Ellay) and it's the first game in the series I've touched. I've been liking it a lot so far, I don't mind grinding in traditional JRPGs much, I may even go so far as to say I enjoy it, so the gameplay hasn't been too difficult yet. Despite being squeezed through the NES' mediocre sound system, I find that the music has been probably my favorite part. The main menu track and the train ride theme are the two most memorable to me, and a lot of the battle songs I recognize from hearing the Earthbound versions in youtube videos lol. I've seen very little of Earthbound aside from Giygas of course and only know one major plot detail from Mother 3, so I'm excited to experience their stories authentically as I work my way through the rest of the series.