Yes. I agree. Let us take 2 examples:

1) There is one stage where you fight on a platform following a space ship. This huge ship turns around and flies through nice looking space backgrounds. Then it flies very close to a huge planet - covering 3/4 of the screen. After that it enters the atmosphere with glowing heat effects and then it glides over landscapes through clouds and raises later into space again. All this is only a background while fighting at a platform.

2) The stage from Metal Gear is a Sci-Fi metallic room. But you can destroy the environment. If you destroy the main wall then huge robots appear in the back, almost as big as a house, animated, walking, threatening but still only backgrounds.

This is love for details.