Joseph Campbell loves this game, and you should too, you horsefaced dweeb!
From a gameplay standpoint, it's just plain good ol' fashioned fun. it's got all the elements that make a good classic style game. freaky beastly monsters, swords, magical crystals, spells and such. Each item not only effects gameplay (and each works completely smooth and responsive in their own right) but have the feel of a childhood toy, like a pogo stick or a yoyo. it's just plain FUN, man. The pacing and difficulty levels are also superbly designed. sometimes one can't help but simply MARVEL at the amount of thought went into some of the dungeons (particularly the water and shadow temples). Ocarina of Time just does everything right. the Z targeting system works marvelously, and the ocarina songs add yet another original element to the gameplay. (you can actually just jam out on the ocarina using the control stick and the Z and R buttons; great for amatueur musicians)
Despite all that Zelda has going for it in the superficial elements of graphics, sound, gameplay, value, story, i think the appeal of it goes beyond any of that. Ocarina of Time, moreso than just about any other game (especially certain final fantasy games) embodies perfectly the classic example of good ol' joseph campbells concept of 'the hero's journey'. i can't think of many other games that simply nail this (save for, maybe, ICO for PS2). Above all this is a grand myth of the 'hero of time' savior of hyrule, that becomes just as magical, just as engaging as any one of our ancient myths, from gilgamesh to icarus.
But it all boils down to one thing, folks, that the game is FUN. diving into the depths of lake hylia, hookshotting your way around 80-odd feet tall rooms, stomping around in sturdy iron boots, dorking around on your 'fairy ocarina', this game provides countless hours of fun things we would all love to do in real life, and makes them just as fun in a videogame.
i still haven't defeated ganondorf, but still i know in my heart of hearts, that this is, in all my 16-odd years of gaming, the finest piece of software i have ever played. play it. today.
scratch that, get a copy for yourself, and continually talk about it in every single social situation you can think of. go buy a triforce t-shirt. eat zelda cereal for breakfast. dream in hyrule. name your crappy car 'epona'. have your girlfriend dress up like zelda, or even RUTO for that matter. humm the zelda theme song constantly. STOP SHOWERING, SHAVING, eating anything but pop tarts, pepperoni pizza and root beer to play this game. don't pay the gas, phone or water bills.
PRAISE NINTENDO
LEGEND OF ZELDA: OCARINA OF TIME
OWNS
ALL
OTHER
GAMES
10/10 "anything you could ever want or need from a videogame. period."