@lanodan @icedquinn @a1ba Pygame has a built-in sprite module which makes managing game objects much easier. It's my go to recommendation for a beginner who wants to get into game programming, but doesn't want to use a full-blown engine. Speed might be an issue, but it's decent for SNES/GBA-styled games.
@lanodan @icedquinn @a1ba Genesis/Mega-Drive programming might be easier because I know for a fact that it is possible to write games for it in C (judging from an unofficial CaveStory port). I don't know if there are any C compilers that support the SNES's architecture.