The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Good
OOT is held in high regard by all Zelda fans as the best game is the series. While it certainly one of the better games in the franchise, it's far from the best. The graphics, at least in 1998, were top-notch. The world of Hyrule is colorful and detailed, making exploring the land even more enjoyable. The music is equally phenomenal, with the game having memorable Zelda tunes such as the Song of Storms and Zelda's Lullaby. The gameplay's high note is the playability of the game, having a workable (yet flawed) control scheme, a decent-sized overworld, and fun, yet complex dungeons, featuring somewhat easy puzzles (with a few exceptions) and a pretty cool storyline for the time.

The Bad
While the game is mostly a fantastic game, but it's quite flawed. The biggest issue with the game is the camera. I understand that it really was the first 3D Zelda game, but time has been harsh to OOT, especially with The Wind Waker gracing the GameCube. You will be fighting the camera alot, constantly recentering it and wrestling with it to get it where you want it to go. Another is how the items work. In some dungeons, you are required to switch between alot of your items in your inventory, leading to some tedium. The game is a little on the easy side, I had little trouble completing the game within about a whole day. The puzzles can be hard, but the combat is very simple, involving you blocking, attacking, and then blocking again. Not much strategy involved, of course. Epona, your horse, has little use except for fast travel which is important for certain side-quests, making the stupidly easy race to get her basically a waste of time.

The Bottom Line
Now, I'm not saying that OOT is a bad game, on the contrary, it's a fantastic game that you must play, but it is NOT the best game in the Zelda series, and it certainly isn't the best game ever. It really is a amazing game that you'll absolutely love, but you probably won't call it the best game around, especially when A Link to the Past and The Wind Waker available. A great game? Certainly. Best game ever? I just don't think so.