I lived through this, and it captures the era well. I'm trying to see through young eyes, but I can't stress how new things seemed every year during this era. Nowadays, there doesn't seem to be as much progress, just better iteration.
I am a bit younger but I agree. Going from the SNES/Genesis to Playstation/N64 with 3d graphics was amazing. It was like having an arcade machine at home. Going to the PS2/Xbox and then 360/PS3 was again a massive jump. Every console jump was a very noticeable improvement in graphics, so it became a big deal. PS4/PS5/XBONE these were just such minor improvements, there is no big wow factor.
The snes to N64 jump to me is definitely the biggest. It wasn't just graphics, the gameplay completely changed too.
By the end of the snes era I had grown out of games due to endless platforms and 2d fighters (I was 13ish). I was 16 by time I started playing them again. Wave race 64 was just mind blowing. And like nothing else I'd played before.
The best example I’ve come up with for progress in this era is to look at the release schedules of Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9, and X, and compare their graphics.
ecshafer|10 days ago
pipes|10 days ago
bombcar|7 days ago
Sometime around the Wii (being just a souped-up gamecube) or thereafter it stoped being generational leaps and started being refinement.
dangus|7 days ago
Completely insane.
sylens|7 days ago