The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64)

Best: The new standard

If the first game was a foundation and A Link to the Past is the full realization, Ocarina of Time is a complete overhaul and the golden standard every Zelda game would draw from for years to come. The series’ jump to 3D holds a near-universal level of notoriety most games in the series can’t claim, and that’s because it was the new blueprint in structure and design. The dungeons and puzzles are still pretty great, the music is incredible, and to this day it’s still just a really solid action-adventure classic.

Worst: It feels a little generic these days

As with the first game, Ocarina set a new standard, and more interesting takes came later as future games iterated and experimented. Majora’s Mask in particular riffs on everything Ocarina of Time did to great effect, and as a result, Ocarina of Time’s strides can sometimes feel less impactful after you’ve played everything that sprang from it. This is the curse of being a paradigm shift for an entire genre and franchise.

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