I played Ocarina of Time for the first time about a year ago and was completely absorbed. Most players rave about this game, so it's not much for me to say that. What I did appreciate about Ocarina is it's completeness (the game felt very holistic), it's great look, feel, and sound, and it's dedication to other Zelda titles.

Master Quest is there for those of you want to play through Ocarina again, but with an additional challenge. And really the challenge starts as soon as you enter the first dungeon and doesn't quit until you confront The King of Evil himself. Now Master Quest is flawed--graphics clip from time to time, and some of the dungeon puzzle solutions seem arbitrary, but there are plenty of new twists on old challenges that make you understand how much love and thought the designers were putting into this alternate version.

This is essentially the same as the N64 version but the graphics are a little smoother, and there's the option to play the Master Quest version, which is the same but much harder. So here's my review of the N64 version to save time:
Out of my experience, this game is by far the best in the series. Its better than Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, and yes, even A Link to the Past, a fan favorite. The graphics are not amazing, but they work just fine, and at the time they were made, were quite high end. The story is original and fun. The quests are varied and entertaining, unlike the fetch quests you get in today's action rpgs. It has a good enough sound track, and some of the ocarina songs will be stuck in your head forever. My point is, go out and find this game now or your videogame experience will never be complete!

i love the original and i love the challenges in master quest! there is nothing to complain about!

this game is awesome its by far the best zelda game in my opinion! the only problem is the fact that you get stuck sometimes. however its still a great game the ocarina songs and spells are a great add on to the main storyline and intertwine well.if youre looking for a good rpg game look here.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest actually includes two games, Ocarina of Time and Ocarina of Time Master Quest. Master Quest has the same story and landscape, but the dungeon puzzles are changed; it is actually harder to play Master Quest after you have played the original.
Both games have you start out playing as a boy living with other children called the Kokiri children of the forest. The game begins when the guardian spirit of the Kokiri, the Great Deku tree Summons the boy (whose name is what ever you type in at the beginning but his general name is Link) to him after the Deku tree is cursed. After breaking the curse Link travels all over the land of Hyrule to search for the spiritual stones of fire and water to stop an evil thief named Ganondorf from finding a powerful object called the Triforce. To do this he must collect items like a boomerang, slingshot, and bombs. Link will battle dinosaurs and travel within giant fish and trees. In the later part of his journey he goes inside volcanoes, under the water, and even under a graveyard!
To complete the game it will take 40 hours or more! Add in all the side quests and you are looking at 70+ hours of gameplay; and then you can redo it in the Master Quest! The only problems I found is that the controls feel strange compared to other Gamecube Zeldas (like Wind Waker and Twilight Princess). By today's standards the graphics are not that good, but when the game was released in 1998 they were some of the best seen on the Nintendo 64. However despite these problems the game is still one of the best I have played on any console. You should get this game!