Except old games, even beloved ones, are frequently unplayable compared to even mediocre modern games. Serious Sam HD was a terrible port, but that isn’t because the updated engine - it’s because they didn’t port the game well at all. Shadow of the Colossus is fidgety and awful to play. The controls are borked, there are tons of glitches, and the game is fueled by nostalgia and maybe the best environment construction of any video game.
I mean, the Final Fantasy remakes alone are about 50-50 because you have something like the GBA FFVI port that was perfect except the music was all fucked up or the mobile port of FFVI running perfectly with orchestral music but a terrible art filter. Then you have the FFX/FFX-2 HD remake combo that is completely updated and gives you the ability to use basic emulation tools like fast forwarding and turning encounters off to enhance the experience.
