I remember looking at Tomb Raider with the blocky low-poly models and low res textures smeared across them and thinking 3D was analogous to Atari 2D graphics. On top of graphics, that era saw the dawn of voice acting in CD media where the VA was horrific (King's Quest Mask of Eternity embodies both).
Thankfully, great 2D has come back and picked up where we could have been in the 90s, as you note. I especially like games that don't go for imitation pixel art and really go for beautiful 2D presentation.