Yeah, I was in college when Halo came out.  My friends and I played nothing but Halo, and then Halo 2.  We played other games, but not on Xbox.

For this discussion, I would go NES 1st, PS1 2nd, and Xbox 3rd.

The legend of Zelda on the nes are horrible.... their "unplayable" levels of bad, by todays standards imo.
The first good zelda game was on the SNES, a Link to the Past.
I've never been a fan of metroid or castlevania, and again the NES versions arnt exactly great either.
Tetris is tetris..... I 'll give you excitebike, that shoulda been on the list. Same with Ghosts & Goblins, and Duck Tales.
The first few final fantasy games, as much as I hate to say it, again arnt really great either. Its just too dated, to play the nes versions.

Yes there were games left out, but I'm talking about overall picture here.
My point was there arnt a ton of NES games that aged well, or are must owns today.
The same isnt true for the PS1, theres sooo many games on it, still worth playing.

Zelda and Metroid on NES are still great. Esp 2. Misunderstood. 2D sidescrolling Dark Souls. Castlevania 1 and 3 are still great.

I know you said "in my opinion" at the end, but I still feel the need to point out that it's a tremendously minority opinion.  If the original "The Legend of Zelda" hasn't been able to stand the test of time, I don't think Nintendo would have gotten people to rebuy it on Gameboy Advance, Wii Virtual Console, Wii U eShop, 3DS eShop, etc.  Also, "The Legend of Zelda Randomizer" on PC wouldn't be a thing if the game was considered "horrible" and "unplayable" by today's standards.  Far from it, so many people find the gameplay so endearing to this day that people don't want to just play rereleases of the classic, they want to even mix the sprites around to feel like they are playing the same 30+ year old game mechanics for the very first time again.  Same thing with 3DSEN and 3DSEN VR.  PC gamers are playing the same Legend of Zelda game mechanics from 1986, but seeing it in a new way with 3D sprites.  There is a reason people are clamoring for Nintendo to release a "Zelda Maker" next in their "Super Mario Maker" franchise.  There are plenty of people who would love to craft their own dungeons out of the tool set you referred to as "horrible" and "unplayable".

PS1 bought to me some of my favorite franchises through my childhood and teen years. Tekken, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, FF7-11, Vagrant Story GTA etc etc. Quite a few still plays great and some plays even better today with mods and enhanced through emulation.

NES is okay with a few notable titles though it’s a bit before my time and won’t go back that far due the hugely superior titles on SNES.

Xbox has a good lineup with Halo, Splinter Cell, DOA, Fable though doesn’t reach anywhere near the heights of the PS1.

I never enjoyed NES, I think most of franchises that born by that time only got their true cult and refined status years later with SNES sequels. As a child SNES games were nice to look and played at, even without the 3D PS1/64 bring. Sure some gameplay experiences works better and more sophisticated on 3D, but SNES was the peak of 2D gaming while PS1 was just the start of 3D gaming

For people saying that current indies are mimicking NES gameplay experiences, I honestly feel they are actually mimicking SNES gameplays

But it's not a PS1 vs SNES debate, it's a PS1 vs NES and for me not even in early 2000 NES games were enjoyable anymore. PS1 easily stomps for me

The problem with this is that games NES games were not considered "cult" when the NES was a current console.  They were the height of mainstream.  Mario and Zelda were the GTA and CoD of their day on the NES.  In fact, I am actually lowering their status a bit by comparing them to GTA and CoD.  Mario and Zelda had their own TV show and breakfast cereal.  The NES had a tremendous impact upon the culture of the day.

These franchises became "cult" because they stopped being like the NES games.  When Mario and Zelda turned 3D, especially, they radically changed and their popularity declined.  When Nintendo released 2D Mario on the DS and Wii, the sales were explosive blowing away 3D Mario sales.  When they made Breath of the Wild they decided to back to the original Zelda game for inspiration.  Again the result was massive sales.

I'll repeat what I said before.  The main reason why this vote is competitive is there are plenty of people who never experienced the NES in its prime.  For the people who were old enough to remember the NES in its prime, and also its cultural impact, this is not even a contest.

Well, I at least can say that I grew up in the SNES era so NES always felt dated, frustrating and clunky to me. I'd probably feel differently if I grew up in the 80s, who knows. PS1 was a big part of my childhood on the other hand, but maybe if I'd started gaming in the 2000s I'd be saying that the PS1 felt outdated and clunky.

As it stands though, out of the three systems, PS1 has the most games that I really love. The original Crash and Spyro trilogies will always have a special place in my heart.

PS1 of course.

But you obviously have to give recognition that Nintendo paved the way with the NES bringing it into a brand new world.

This objectively the correct answer. This is from someone who isn't a big NES fan