They're worthwhile in games that are built around the limitation (old school platformers) and useless in games where you can get so many that the mechanic is trivialized.
I was really glad to see Odyssey drop them because there's pretty much never a point in modern Mario where you're going to have less than 90 lives.
Really though something like Shovel Knight or Dark Souls where the punishment for death is losing a large chunk of your resources is more appealing than just losing the time it takes to get back to where you were.
Let the voice of love take you higher,
With this gathering power, go beyond even time!