Not only visually. Gameplay wise, most 5th generation games control and play like shit. The only exceptions being turn based RPGs... And 2D games xD

Many of us instinctively understood that it was a step forward and that the scope of gaming had been expanded forever. The potential was exciting and it invigorated the industry.

Looking back offers a completely different perspective than looking forward.

I'd argue there are plenty of 3D 5th gen games that hold up control/gameplay wise; Starfox 64, Banjo Kazooie, Ocarina of Time, Crash Bandicoot trilogy, Spyro trilogy, Panzer Dragoon, etc.

It's true that lot of 5th gen titles don't hold up due to the experimental nature of 3D at the time, but I wouldn't say RPGs/2D were the only exceptions.

Eh VF still plays fine. Some racing games still play well. Esp arcade styled racers. I have played some Shmups 3D or 2D still play great. I have played some Run n Guns from the era that are still good and Edge of Skyhigh or Panzer Dragoon still play well.

Yeah, there's plenty of games that control quite well from that period, especially if one is not coming from modern controls and expects that...and even then, there are games like Rayman 2 that have actual feel of modern game controls.

I admit that maybe I got a little too extreme. It's not JUST RPGs and 2D games.

However, some of the games you mentioned, while completely playable, REALLY show their age in their controls. This is especially obvious with Banjo and Ocarina for example. Sure, they are functional, but we've come such a long way since then that playing things like Super Mario Odyssey or even something not so new like Wind Waker and then going back to Banjo and Ocarina... I don't know, it doesn't feel great. Banjo and Ocarina were regarded (and still are by many) as some of the best games ever, but I would argue they haven't really survived the test of time.

This doesn't happen if you jump from Metroid Dread to Super Metroid or from A Link Between Worlds to A Link to the Past for example. The 4th generation (generally) has aged better due to having simpler and more down to science controls and pixel art.

I would also argue that some of the games you mention, while being 3D, don't work all that different from their 2D counterparts, so it's natural that they don't have the quirks of early 3D games. Star Fox, Panzer Dragoon or even Crash Bandicoot ARE 3D games, but most of the time they play and work essentially as a 2D games.

I have been playing a lot of PS2 games lately and honestly I find a lot of those more so with wonky controls.

Those are still very much 3D, they simply take place within a linear space. Personally Ocarina or Banjo still feel fine to me. Obviously they're not as smooth as something from 2025, but they hold up in my opinion.

There are inevitably growing pains whenever there's a paradigm shift such as 3D. The sense of discovery and excitement made it a great gen regardless.

Yeah, that's why I said they are indeed 3D games. It's just that due to their genre or perspective, they don't play too differently from a 2D game, which makes nailing the controls much easier. 

Maybe I should have clarified: most 5th gen games in which you control a character freely in a 3D enviroment have not aged all that well.

Of course, there was a "period of adaptation" in order to make 3D gaming work well, and most games, even the masterpieces, show that struggle. I'm not trying to shit on the entire 5th gen... It's just that I feel it's easier to revisit or play for the first time 4th gen games than 5th gen games.

And yes, regardless of how those games might have aged, it was a great time to be a gamer. Personally, the N64 felt like magic. Until then, I just had been playing some NES and GB games (mostly Ice Climbers, Mario and Pokémon). Playing something like Donkey Kong 64 or Pokémon Stadium was absolutely incredible to 6-7 years old me.

They've certainly aged a TON better. I love the vibrant sprite/pixel art look (even for 8-bit but especially 16-bit) far more than the blocky early 3D graphics, which just look gross now, minus racing games and I guess some FPS. By the early 360/PS3 era, and even late GameCube era with stuff like Gears of War it starts to get a lot more refined and pretty looking, but yeah, from like 1996-2006 many of the games look so ugly they're almost unplayable to me.