While this is true, I find the distinction between graphical fidelity and art style to be important in these matters.

While the graphics of Super Metroid might not be anything spectacular, the pixel art is phenomenal, and replaying it recently I gained a whole new appreciation for how future-proof the art direction in that game is. I think there are many more examples of this out there, too. For instance, people often bemoan early 3d games (Nintendo 64 games especially) for aging horribly. On the whole, that is true. But there are certainly exceptions, such as Majora's Mask, where (again) the art direction saved the game's graphics from the awkward low-polygon limitations of the system.