A few days ago, after nearing the end of my third Knights of the Old Republic playthrough, I plugged in my old Nintendo 64 and started playing Zelda.

If you've never played The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I pity you. It is the greatest video game of all time. Games like KOTOR just can't touch it.

Here are a few ways in which Zelda is superior to KOTOR and other games:

- Old-style dungeons. KOTOR may have entire worlds, but Zelda has dungeons. Bosses, mini-bosses, and all. And when the game needs to challenge the player, it relies on puzzles rather than baddies. In all of KOTOR, I can't remember more than three or four puzzles. But there were a lot of enemies to kill.

- No waits. If you've played KOTOR, you've had to sit through a zillion "loading" screens. Every time you exit an area, the game pauses while it loads your destination. In Zelda, there's no wait. Want to visit Kakoriko Village? Walk up the stairs and you're already there.

- Ocarinas & Songs I had no idea how cool ocarinas were until I played Zelda. Majora's Mask even let's you play a guitar and drumset, but ocarinas remain my favorite. And the music is awesome, from the Song of Time to the Serenade of Water (my favorite Temple melody).

For those of you who are interested in ocarinas, check out SongbirdOcarina.com. Not only do they sell ocarinas themselves, they provide resources for learning to play the instrument. And they offer playable replicas of the fairy ocarina and the Ocarina of Time.

Also, the next Zelda game should be released in time for Christmas. It's called Twilight Princess. View trailers, artwork and descriptions at zelda.com.

:-D