I recall graphics having an enormous priority in the early 90's. Where it was almost a major selling point behind several games. Donkey Kong Country being the biggest example. Te revolutionary graphics system it used helped make it the best selling game for the SNES. Which later led to DKC...
This is kind of a hard one to answer. I would probably say graphics matter depending on the game I am playing and how new it is.
When I play NES games I do not care mostly because I know what I am getting into when I decide to play them. A 20-ish year old game with bad sound and 8bit graphics...