I'll keep this (relatively, for me) short.
My kids and I have been playing Mario Kart World on the Switch 2. It's really well done, free roam is fun (but limited), and the controls, smoothness, graphics, etc. are REALLY well done. It's lacking in many features (ghosts racing, competitive free roam trials, tracks, items, etc.) and I hope many of the gaps will be filled in over the coming years. It's feeling a bit played out already.
BUT... I've also recently introduced Double Dash (Gamecube) and Mario Kart Wii to the kids. They got a kick out of wii motion controls and double dash's gimmicks, but even with a retrotink, playing it on a big flatscreen TV is just not ideal.
So I sailed the high seas for some ROMs (to games I already own), installed the Dolphin emulator, and installed some 4K texture packs. My PC is ok... i7-4790 processor (10+ years old) and a 3080.
Double Dash, a game from 23 years ago now looks almost as good as Mario Kart World (you can easily find Youtube videos). It's staggeringly good. The controls and speed -- better than World, imho. The performance is fantastic.
If you took the base Double Dash or Wii game and compared to World, you would say we've come incredibly far. But, with a little upscaling, some new textures, etc., it's clear that we really haven't.
I get that Nintendo games are not known for pushing the envelope, but I think this is just one good example of how ... empty ... modern AAA gaming is.
You can go back to 3DS games, even PS1 ones, upscale them on emulator and they look good to great on a larger screen.
Personally I find alot of charm in SNES and GBA graphics and music for a good chunk of the catalog. The PC remasters often make the sprites look ugly trying to ''improve'' them ( FFVI comes to mind ).
The catalog of great games that just aged like fine wine, or only need some graphic polishing and an update to User Interface is already huge.
Add to that smaller studios still producing very fun games and you can simply ignore modern AAA DEI-infested mega-projects.
Absolutely! Until I tried Dolphin I would have said my favorite era of gaming for retro was NES and SNES. I play quite a few DOS games with regularity. The early to mid 3D games have turned me off, but I'm rethinking that now..