Wondering about a full playthrough starting at FF1 all the way to FFXI

I am currently playing FF1 on GBA through my gamecube on TV. Only ever played FF8 a long time ago on PS1. Also plan to play FF2 on the GBA because they are on the same card. When it comes to FF3 should I buy a NES just for it or should I emulate it?. I dont plan on emulating any of the games because I have all the other consoles needed but just for FF3 is it worth it playing it on the console or will emulation be enough? Also for those that have played through all the games. When do they start to have some sort of story. So far FF1 is pretty lacking which I expected. Thanks