One thing I find interesting about video games that differs from other mediums is how sometimes the true vision of a game isn't reached till a sequel released on more advanced technology comes out. That doesn't really happen in the world of books movies or music I feel. We didn't need to wait till blurays for Wizard Of Oz to truly reach its vision, or for MP3 players for Steely Dan to get good, or for ebooks for An Experiment In Love to truly shine. That'd be silly right? But that is kinda the case for some older games. Zelda and Metroid on NES, or Super Mario Kart and Star Fox on SNES were groundbreaking works, but they feel so rough around the edges in ways that, say, Super Mario Bros and Mega Man on NES or F Zero and Donkey Kong Country on SNES don't. Zelda is cryptic, movement is limited, there's no map and on the off chance you're given a hint it can only be one sentence. Metroid is also cryptic and lacks a map, and it doesn't even let you save!! You had to rely on writing down long passwords... Super Mario Kart is squashed to take up only half the screen because there was no way for the SNES to adjust the game's resolution between single and multiplayer, and the faux 3D environment looks like TV static when squashed to half the screen. And Star Fox runs at a whopping 5 frames per second.
The tech at the time just wasn't there to let these games exist in a comfy way... In my opinion it wasn't until their sequels on their successor consoles (Zelda Link To The Past and Super Metroid on SNES, Mario Kart 64 and Star Fox 64 on N64) where their visions were truly reached. This is where they truly began, at least in my opinion.
