We already have things like this mod of Half Life:
http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns/about/But perhaps you're right. There does seem to be a sweet spot in the balance of 16-bit era games, where the technical complexity wasn't so constrained as to force a boring outcome (as with 8-bit and earlier), nor so complex as to require a herculean amount of effort.
Time will tell. I would rather err on the side of being hopeful.