Surely everyone has played a game with a joystick at least once, right?

I'm talking about myself... I've played handheld consoles like the Game Boy a few times,
but I've never actually played a game using a joystick.
At arcades, I only ever played things like spot-the-difference,
and I've never owned a console in my entire life...
Cases like mine are probably quite rare, right?
As I'm considering buying a retro gaming console this time,
one of the things I'm most hesitant about is that I don't know how to use a joystick at all...
Modern joysticks seem to have so many buttons...
If I try using one, will I get used to it quickly?