When I started soldering everything was big and had leads that went through holes in the board. You inserted the leads, bent them over to hold the component, flipped the board over, soldered everything, and trimmed off the excess leads.
Now I’m soldering things down to 0402 SMDs (1/4 the size of the smallest component in the picture) using a needle point soldering tip and a microscope.
A pair of 2N2222 transistors, one SOT23 and one TO-92.
I’ve repaired several handheld devices from the era. The Atari Lynx had a bunch of SMDs. So does the NEC TurboExpress. I just sent out half a dozen NES which thankfully were mostly THT. I have a couple of SNES and a couple of N64s out there waiting for me.
Those boxes are the reason I upgraded from the Weller WESD-51 to the Hakko FM-302. I really need tweezers for SMD rework.