That's interesting, and probably a reason why I remember so many games looking much better than they do now.
Well, yes and no.
While it may be part of the equation, I can promise you that even using the most "faithful" equipment out there a lot of these old beloved games would still look way less impressive to you today.
Our memory usually has that funny tendency to fill the gaps.
You remember that old gorgeous animated background scenario in pixel art from your childhood, then you back to it and you realize there were barely a couple of details actually moving, they had two frames of animations each and the whole thing was in 16 colors with pixels the size of a peanut.