I think one thng old nintendo got right over new nintendo is sound, this goes for music and sound effects. Sound effects play an important role in games for me as it shows the extra polish developers put into their games.
Who remembers in SMW how good it felt to hold that turtle shell in the first level and kick it towards the koopa's lined up in a row, it just made a satisfying sound as it hit each koopa and you got the extra life, or the impact you felt when you power dived into ground with the cape, nothing ever felt cheesy or annoying or as some would say kiddy.
And the music were the best back in those days, SMW, Link to the past, DKC, all had excellent music ,proof being that most of them are still recycled to this day and I rather not have any other way.
Edit- As a matter of fact nearly all 16bit era music was great.
p.s. new super mario bros has terrible music
My 3ds friendcode: 5413-0232-9676 (G-cyber)
