As someone who regularly plays games from the 80s, I have to disagree. Unless you're playing a game from an iterative franchise where all are trying to achieve the same vision (sports, cod, simulator), older games absolutely can be compared to modern ones. Obviously the graphics can't, but if the gameplay sucks or the level design is monotonous then it doesn't matter how modern or old a game is. Look at today's Blizzard, who keep pumping things out that annoy their own fan base. Annoyed to the point that people petitioned them for wow classic, and are now petitioning for them to re-release the original warcraft 3.
The best example off the top of my head is the speed running community. The most popular game is super mario 64, which came out in 96. It has a smoothness to the controls that is almost never achieved even in modern games.
I'm a big fan of interactive fiction (think Zork) where there are no graphics, just talking to a parser.
This is one neat area, where the old Infocom games are well respected (see "Get Lamp" documentary on YouTube) today, but it is well recognized that the technology and text game complexity has reached entirety new heights that have pushed the boundaries forward immensely.
The best example off the top of my head is the speed running community. The most popular game is super mario 64, which came out in 96. It has a smoothness to the controls that is almost never achieved even in modern games.