I think a lot of the draw honestly comes from re-living old memories people have around playing these games (like staying up late in order to beat that one boss in Super Mario or whatever), which obviously is difficult if you never did so in the past.

To a certain extent, yes, these games ARE a chore (all games are in a way - the point is almost always having to practice in order to get good enough to beat them). A well designed game just keeps your hooked with its storytelling and well timed rewards long enough not to toss it aside in frustration.

But if it gets too frustrating because the payout just doesn't seem to be there, I'd say don't try to force it. Get a Switch and play the modern version of the classics, but with newer, fancier graphics, maybe that helps.