Xiahou Shake posted...
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.
Even games like that I think lives aren't worth having
Playing Sonic Mania was fun, but the lives was one of the worst aspects. It made it feel outdated rather than retro, and having to restart an entire level (even if you're on the end of the 2nd act) due to a particularly cheap death takes a lot of the fun out of the game
I feel like lives existed primarily to get a lot more playtime from otherwise short games due to system limitations, which isn't an issue any more (or, it shouldn't be)