There's a lot to recommend classic video games, in terms of design and playability.

You have to remember that the original NES/Sega/Neo-Geo line of games were originally designed as cabinet quarter-eater machines. All the economic drivers in the game were different. Games were necessarily intended to have replay value. "Secrets" embedded in games encouraged players to develope a sophisticated understanding of particular titles and to cultivate certain rarified skills as a means of outperforming. Games were longer and more difficult to encourage you to keep feeding the machine.

Once the games migrated to console, you could explore and refine your skill at the game without emptying your wallet. So the replay value aspect no longer carried an economic penalty.

Modern games no longer play well as arcade cabinet games. They're more cinematic, so they have less replay value. Or they're "always online" to force you to buy subscriptions. Or they're F2P, with lots of soft ceiling you have to effectively pay your way past.

Older games never needed those mechanics to extract people's money. So, despite worse graphics and more archaic systems of play, they can still capture an audience fascinated by a design style that no longer really exists.