When I was your age

Well all remember games from our childhood, games that feel like classics to us. Games that we still hum the music to, and can still play and have a good time with. These games invoke a sense of nostalgia in us, and that is part of their lasting appeal on us. But is that it? Or is there something else they have that make them classics that we never tire of. These games, for me at least, are games from the nes/genesis/snes era. I remember the first time I played the original Sonic when it first came out, and I can't remember ever having more fun playing a video game. Is it because Sonic and Mario and such were so much better then everything else at the time?

I also wonder if its possible for games from the psx/64 and so on days to become classic games to people who grew up playing those games. To me it seems like the days of Sonic and Mario can't ever be recreated. Sure there are great games for every console era, but none seem as good for their time as the classics do. I think that's me just being naive though. A classic game defined I believe would be a game that an individual remembers playing as a child, and can always come back to over the years and have a great time. I guess I just don't ever want to see Halo called a classic.. *shudder*