I disagree that this is how it works, although I understand that many/most people see it this way. The constant evolution and outclassing that you're describing is how science and technology works (thus the car example), but not how art works, and I prefer to value the latter over the former when it comes to videogames. Modern films have not outclassed older films due to technology, for example, and I think videogames work similarly-- most people will not give a silent film a chance because it's become less accessible due to technological limitations, but there exist silent films that are still fantastic when viewed today, even ignoring the context of their impact on history. Unlike with technology, a videogame is something where more is not necessarily more. You can make a creative decision to go backwards and do less than what technology is capable of and feasible craft a more effective and appropriate experience. A game's greatness could be benefited by advanced technology, depending on what it's trying to do, but it is not proportional to it, which means that a game made under limitations CAN become outdated and improved upon but is not necessarily doomed to that fate.
There happen to not be any text adventure games that still hold up (I wouldn't know, I haven't tried many), but I don't think it's impossible to imagine one that still holds up, if it truly is done that well. Even if a lastingly good one was made, it would be niche, and most people would not appreciate it even if they tried it because most are stuck on the bells and whistles of modern technology, but that's more of a comment on general ignorance and open-mindedness than quality.
Personally, I find actual forward thinking innovation to be an overstated quality. It's a factor, and can play into how inspired a game feels, but it's by no means the required thing that makes something great.
I think that judging things relative to what was possible at the time and not expecting them to hold up gives people the wrong impression about how worthwhile the experiences can be and does a disservice to things that actually still hold up.
The fact that things can be timeless and hold up forever is probably what I like most about things like videogames, films, and music, and if that were not true, I would be very disinterested in keeping up with never-ending meaningless escalator that just continuously goes up and up and makes all previous things redundant (which is why keeping up with technology and record-based athletics kind of bores me).