A Link to the Past is still the best Zelda game right next to Ocarina of Time.

You know, it's weird, I have kind of an affinity for pre-Ocarina of Time Legend of Zelda. It's hard to say what it is about these games that appeal to me that never felt like they were fully recaptured in Zelda games since, even games deliberately aping it's look and aesthetic like A Link Between Worlds. I guess one way to put it is that they were fairly simplistic, even silly at times, but without feeling outright childish and also knowing when to take themselves seriously. It might also be that all Zelda games made after Ocarina of Time are basically living in its shadow, other than Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, which on a broader scale try to go back to the pure exploration the first Zelda had, but at the same time feel very "epic" and "grandiose". I suppose that's why I really like A Link to the Past, it takes itself seriously and has some dark moments, but it feels a lot more "whimsical" in ways post-Ocarina of Time Zeldas don't often feel like (not even The Wind Waker, which I love for it's more cartoonish look and feel, but doesn't quite have the same vibe). It definitely feels like the pinnacle of pre-Ocarina of Time Zelda, even if Link's Awakening is still my favorite for how off-beat and strangely personal it was. Edit: Knowing that Shigeru Miyamoto was largely in charge of Zelda before Ocarina of Time while Eiji Aonuma took over since then helps explain a lot of why I get different vibes from both "eras" of games.

WOOHOO

I first played Link to the Past back on my WiiU. It passed me by when I was a kid, and thus I don't have any special relationship to it. But I have heard of people who play it once every year, like a tradition. That' pretty sweet! :-)