Graphics technology has come a long way since the medium's debut, of course, but seeing old games next to their modern counterparts really highlights the improvements. Handheld platforms in particular have come a long way, and it's fun to compare the old and the new.
A post on Reddit gifted us with the series of comparisons, and I've drawn a couple of additions from the comments as well. The series represented include Pokemon, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Call of Duty and more.
The individual differences are too obvious to even need to point them out--the games are completely improved in all aspects of textures, lighting, resolution and effects.
You can debate the choices of comparison (another top-down Zelda was used rather than a more visually impressive 3D game, for example), but the point gets across regardless.
