A Link to the Past is my favorite Zelda title, but it's also the one I've been playing and revisiting for the longest, so I've grown accustomed to the way it plays. I remember my first time in the Misery Mire was the absolute worst thing ever, and now it's one of my favorite dungeons in the game. While I still dislike the Skull Woods, optimizing the shortest route in that nonlinear wallmaster hell has saved me a lot of frustration in following playthroughs.
I feel like a really important part to the combat is the spacing. It's a lot easier to avoid being hit, and getting stuck in a spot where you'll be hit, if you get the feel for how far away you can stand from an enemy and still hit them with your sword. Since the sword pushes most of them away after being struck, if you get the feel for this, then you can time your swing for when they get back into that range. It's not the most exciting combat, but there's some fun mixups you can do with items and such once you're comfortable with the enemies you're facing. After you get the hookshot, it's actually a great item for both offense and defense, as it has a similar effect as the boomerang on some enemies, but is stronger than the boomerang and can kill. And the range is quite comfortable. Those dumb jellyfish are perfect victims for the hookshot; takes them out from a safe distance without having to wait for the right time to hit them. It's the item I always keep equipped if I'm not using another item. You can also stall (and kill) enemies with your sword beams until you get hit, and that can be a very valuable tool at certain times, since your chances of being hit from that range are pretty slim.
I don't really personally have issues with the magic meter outside of the boss of Turtle Rock, but if you ever need magic potions, just throw an empty bottle into the Waterfall of Wishing. The fairy there will give you magic potions for free. Dungeons should have some pots that refill your meter every so often, and I believe late dungeons that require lots of magic use like Turtle Rock will give you full refills at certain points. But outside of that, I'd recommend rationing your magic use until you get to the dungeon boss. Just avoid the antifairies (the flying skull things), cuz they eat your magic. If you're lucky enough to get them with the magic powder (which is kind of hard and I would say to only try like three sprinkles if you miss because then it's just a frenzied waste of magic), they'll turn into actual fairies and then you don't have to deal with an annoying thing flying around the room.
I try to get by playthroughs by just using my bottles for fairies, but it's mostly out of convenience and laziness since they're easier to come by than stopping to buy potions. The potions are definitely available to make things easier though, but I can agree that stopping to get refills on them can get very tedious with repetition.
I hope your experience with the game gets better. It's definitely a game that aged in a lot of ways, but holds up in others.
