This is about 8-bit games seeming like 16-bit games (or 80s DOS vs 90s DOS for a sort of PC equivalent), 5th gen games seeming like 6th gen games, and so on up until today. Not just at the time but in retrospect as well!

Pics and vids are encouraged though you can also focus on mechanics, controls, world building, audio, story or whatever you want. This is basically an opportunity to gush about games that you find impressive post-hype.

I'll do an obvious retro game to get it out of the way. I recommend using a similar format with a bolded title (lists are optional though):
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 1988) - Playthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2LTcQwmOV4
-Controls that were unmatched even by most 16-bit games
-Smooth multi-directional scrolling
-Interesting hub map with branching paths, non-hostile locations, wandering monsters, destructible obstacles and temporary secret locations. It advanced its genre's complexity to near zelda levels while keeping it level-based and mostly straightforward
-Variety that would've been impressive for the next gen with water levels that also had on land parts (and vice versa), the giant world, ice and fire levels, underground and indoors levels, maze castle levels, mini-bosses, the various and creative suits as well as a persistent item inventory
-Couple of other neat touches: slopes that you can slide down, blocks thrown by enemies also affect other enemies
-From previous games: unlimited continues, music changes within levels, power ups that carried over between levels, pick up and throw blocks, level skip ability (with better control over it here)
-Includes Mario Bros. on the cart

Mentioned games:
FF6
Chrono Trigger
Commander Keen 1
Doom 3
Crysis
Quake 2
Control
Conan Exiles?
Magic of Scheherazade
God of War 1-3
Last of Us
Tobal 2
Tekken 3
Soul Blade
Dragon Quest 6
Secret of Mana 1-2
DokiDoki Penguin Land (SG-1000, 1985)
Deja Vu (MAC, 1985)
Mercenary: Escape from Targ (PCs, 1985)
Brain Breaker (Sharp X1, 1985)
Starflight (PC (1986/MD Remake, 1991)
International Karate (post-Spectrum versions, 1986)
Mind Walker (AMI, 1986)
King's Quest III (PC, 1986)
Solaris (A2600, 1986)
Defender of the Crown (AMI, 1986)
The Great Escape (Multi, 1986)
Cauldron II (C64, 1986)
They Stole a Million (PCs)
Star Citizen
Homeworld
Elite (1984)
Phantasy Star 2
Alien vs Predator (PC)
The Magic of Scheherazade (NES, 1987)
Metal Gear (MSX2/NES, 1987)
​Sid Meier's Pirates! (PCs, 1987/AIIGS, 1988/AMI, 1990/NES, 1991)
Colony (C64 etc. 1987)
Ys: Vanished Omen/Ancient Ys Vanished (FM-7/X1/MSX etc., 1987/SMS, 1988)
Hydlide III/Super Hydlide (Multi, 1987/MD, 1990)
Driller/Space Station Oblivion (Spectrum/C64/CPC, 1987/AMI/ST/PC, 1988)
Dungeon Master (PCs, 1987)
Habitat (PC/C64, 1986 (Beta, full game in 1987)/FMT, 1990?)
Knightmare II: Maze of Galious (MSX, 1987)
SaGa 1/FF Legend
Galaxy Force II (ARC, 1988/SAT/3DS, )
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (PCs, 1988)
Exile (Electron/BBC Micro, 1988/AMI/C64, 1991)(Superior Software/Audiogenic)
Bionic Commando (NES, 1988)
Dragon Quest III (NES, 1988)
Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished – The Final Chapter (PC-88/PC-98/FM-7/X1/MSX, 1988/PCE CD, 1989/NES, 1990/PC DOS, 1994)
SimCity (PC/AMI, 1989/SNES, 1991)
Quest For Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero (PC, 1989)/VGA ver., 1992)
Prince of Persia (PC, 1989)
It Came from the Desert (AMI, 1989)
Aleste 2 (MSX, 1989)
River City Ransom (NES, 1989)
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (SMS, 1989)
Ys Book I & II (1987 port/PCE CD, 1989)
Herzog Zwei (MD, 1989)
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX, 1990)
Final Fantasy III (NES, 1990)
Bomberman (PCE, 1990)
Moving Adventure Psy-O-Blade (MD, 1990)
Gargoyle's Quest: Ghosts 'n Goblins (GB, 1990)
Race Drivin' (ARC, 1990/AMI/PC/MD, )
Alpha Waves/Continuum (PC/Atari ST, 1990)
Wing Commander (PC, 1990)
46 Okunen Monogatari: The Shinka Ron (PC-98, 1990)
SaGa 3/FF Legend 3

I could put Final Fantasy 6 on the list, as it, in a way, feels more like 7 than 4 or 5. There actually was a change in director there, which could explain the change in the series at this point. (Apparently, the new director wanted to be a movie director, which could explain the change in style here.) I could also point out that this game feels like the beginning of the era where Square stopped caring about game balance, an era the also contains FF7, Final Fantasy Tactics, and SaGa Frontier.

Then again, FF6 did have some nice features, particularly the nonlinear open world nature of the later part of the game. It felt like FF7 took FF6's bad features, threw away the good features, put a shiny coat of paint on it, and released it.

Incidentally, Chrono Trigger does not fit int this group of games that have the balance issues; it feels more like a late generation SFC/SNES game stylistically, although the way it handles encounters feels a bit more modern. Or it could be an opportunity to complain about early adopters of the negative aspects of the following generation. But, no save feature, and the game was long enough to need it (if you don't use warps).
(It's actually *very* hard to find SNES and later games that lack save features, whereas it was quite common in the NES and early Sega Genesis eras.)

Commander Keen Episode 1: Marooned on Mars popularized smooth scrolling (previously thought impossible on PC), has a vast overworld with multiple optional levels, secret techniques and levels, and even an entirely alien alphabet.

Doom 3 is the first one that comes to mind. I'm a PC only guy so I don't really think in terms of console generations, but for big games with amazing new graphics that made me upgrade my computer... Doom 3 is the big one. I remember sinking tons of money into a new rig when it came out and then being amazed at the result. Even today I think that game looks damn good.

Crysis is another obvious one. I already had an 8800 or whatever it was though, so it wasn't an upgrade game, but it definitely was the next step in graphics. Oblivion too I suppose.

If you wanna go way back, I know I upgraded to 3D for Quake 2, which blew my mind.

I guess Control's ray tracing would be the modern leap forward, though I think it's a bit overrated.

Yeah I would agree with CT; it looks about as good as Suikoden and other 32-bit 2D RPGs, the non-random encounters should've been the standard in the next gen, and the story and characterization are rather ambitious and well done. It also sounds about as good as any game could on SNES, which while it can't quite compete with redbook it's on par with a lot of the midi-like music in the next gen and on PC around that time.

Didn't know about the alien alphabet in Keen 1, that's cool. It would've been nice to see VGA versions of the Keen games at the time, the audiovisuals hold them back I think.

Doom 3 made a great first impression, particularly with its lighting effects IIRC. I liked most of that game though I think it got really cheesy towards the end, and kinda lacked the intense action of the prequels.

Hardware accelerated 3D was huge on PC.

There's one other thing I like about Chrono Trigger, and that's that the cutscenes, while unfortunately unskipabe, are reasonably short and to the point; that's more than could be said about FF6 and FF7.

On the other hand, there is one ugly aspect of the game that makes me reluctant to replay it; there is one part where you have to literally mash a button to proceed. Even worse, IIRC this happens between when you kill a boss and the first opportunity to save afterwords, so you can't just quit the game and come back later when your hands are more rested. Really, this part should not have been in the game, or if it had to be, at least should have made Chrono pass out drunk after a few tries regardless of success.

Then again, this sort of thing could also be seen as a generation ahead; look at how often, in the N64/PSX generation, games include parts that really hurt the accessibility of the game. This can include things like action segments in non-action games, stealth sections in non-stealth games (looking at you, Zelda: Ocarina of Time), and other aspects that don't belong.

Of course, I should mention that Ultima 1, which predates every other game mentioned in this thread, has a mandatory action minigame. Fortunately, the series layed off the real-time action elements, at least until Ultima 7 came along and ruined everything.

Sadly we can't really argue that skippable cutscenes are next gen here when they were a thing on NES (Ninja Gaiden) and in various arcade games, but it is certainly preferable to the vast majority of players.

I don't remember this button mashing thing you're talking about from CT.

I'd argue that various earlier games also included things for variation that seem shallow or poorly executed afterwards, and occasionally you saw hybrid games where no part on its own was all that great. Off the top of my head there's Disney's Adventures in the Magic Kingdom and Snake's Revenge for NES, and action segments in various earlier P&C adventure games. Some were good like Guardian Legend or Golvellius and I do like most of the mini-game and action segments in the PS1 FF games too.

OoT's stealth wasn't all that great, or at least how you start over from one mistake wasn't.

Conan exiles , it was so laggy i had to buy ssd :P

Minor spoilers:

When you go to prehistoric times, you have to go into a dungeon, and after that, you go back to the camp where there's a drinking contest, that you take part in and have to rapidly press a button in order to win. If you fail to press the button fast enough, the game makes you try again until you succeed.

Once you finally manage to press the button enough times during the time provided, you end up passing out, and the game can continue, but until then, the game does not continue. Saying that OOT's stealth "wasn't all that great" is giving tat section more praise than it deserves. I do not think it belongs in the game at all, and will probably never replay it unless there's a mod that removes or trivializes those sections.

Also, starting over from one mistake, in addition to being bad, is not how the rest of the game works. If you get hit in battle, for example, all that happens is that you lose some health, and unless you lose all your health, you don't have to start over; this means you are allowed to make the occasional mistake, unlike in the stealth sections. The Guardian Legend works because both gameplay modes are major parts of the game, and neither is really a side thing; with that said, I would have preferred it if the game had started in the Zelda-like mode rather than with a SHMUP section.

That game actually reminds me of the game Magic of Scheherezade, which may be the only game I've played that I might be willing to call an Action/RPG hybrid. It plays like Zelda with some RPG elements, but sometimes when you go from one screen to the next, the game switches to an RPG-style combat system, where you enter commands for you and your companions and they then get executed. One thing the game that did that was ahead of its time is combo attacks; you can combine the magic of everyone in your formation to launch a powerful attack (including multi-target instant death). The catch, of course, is that enemies can do that too, which can result in you losing a life and a companion to bad luck (time to go back to a mosque to revive the character, and if you die 3 times, it's game over, you lose half your money, and you go back to the start of the chapter (but keep quest progress)).

And I would prefer if no one used that weird semi-abbreviation for shoot 'em up, since it sounds like a swedish word for dorky weirdo (mupp) and like muppet.

Scheherazade was really advanced for a 1987 NES game, and a solid game too.

I don't agree with this at all ;)

My memory of the games is very different. And this is from someone who cherishes FF6 and was one of the first games I ever experienced for the SNES in my childhood.

Final Fantasy VI, whilst being one of the greatest games of all time - came really late in the twilight of the SNES era. But it belonged there. It was a huge project in Japan, and the pixel art and midi synthesiser music was zounds better than anything up to that point. If it had been one of the first 3d era games, we would have gone from Final Fantasy V straight to 3D and missed out on Final Fantasy's epic culmination in VI during the SNES era. V is great and all, but let's be honest here, it's far from the storytelling, complexity and presentation of VI. But does VI belong in the early 3D era? I don't think so, not only due to the graphics and music etc., but also because it doesn't quite achieve the greatness of VII.

FF VII is thus also where it belongs - one of the greatest of all time but for wholly different reasons. The dark, psychological and quirky main story with a big twist was something new for Squaresoft. Coupled as per usual with solid addictive gameplay that appeals to both casuals who just want to enjoy the story, and more grind dedicated players, it made for a truly complete package back in the day. The 'shiny coat of paint' was actually pretty ugly at the time for the 3D models. Though the CGI and backgrounds were indeed beautiful. But it's hardly 'the worst bits of VI with a coat of paint' as you put it. VII also doesn't belong to the next gen even though it seemingly stretched the PS's capabilities at the time.

In my opinion there aren't very many games that belonged to the next gen, and it's difficult to gauge this for the PC (what exactly is the boundary for next-gen in the PC world?). I think Crysis had some elements of this - it came a bit early for what it offered - not only ridiculous presentation but interactivity with the world.

It's actually really difficult to think of ones to put on the list.

God of War. (And, by proxy GOW 2)

This game stretched the power of the PS2 with creative level building and incredible set pieces. Looking back it still feels like a PS3 game they managed to somehow cram into the limitations of the PS2.

Honestly a PS1 style FF6 would be pretty damn cool to see (early 3D warts 'n all) and might make some scenes more impactful.

While Paladin mentions it, God of War 3 and Last of Us are also good examples of PS4-caliber on PS3.

Tobal 2 is one of those rare instances where Squaresoft (now Square-Enix) released a non-RPG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ePJmr-COEQ

It had higher resolution models than most PS1 games. The animation was fluid, and comparable to PS2 games. It also ran at 60 fps, in a time when most PS1 games struggled to make 30 fps. Unfortunately, it was never released outside of Japan.

Its predecessor, Tobal No. 1, had an international release. It was also well-animated and ran at 60 fps, but the character models were more crude. It also had the distinction of including a demo for Final Fantasy 7.