In some cases no, it doesn't [mostly with older video games]. However, I really liked how the faces and bodies looked in games like Star Ocean 3, Star Ocean 4, Last Remnant, etc. I felt those were very good renditions. Of course, It would be silly to expect the DS to perform on that level, but maybe they could try something like that. It's always possible to go Star Ocean 2's route as well [spirtes on a 3D world]. Or if they want something that doesn't look as shoddy, they could do it in the Style of Ragnarok online [same concept, but the sprites are far more refined and detailed, and have more angles available].
That said, I'm still split on which version I like more, but I'm inclined to want to change my mind and go with the DS version. As much as I didn't care for the character model presentation [at least for the heroes, whereas the villains get special treatment for some reason], I liked that this game at least had some kind of difficulty in it [even if it wasn't much]. I recently have played through the SNES version again, and I was shocked at how easy and effortless it was. I always knew the SNES version was much easier, but I couldn't remember to what extent it was easier since I haven't played this game in years.