I can't say the controls played any role in my so-so reception of Ocarina of Time. I thought they were fine, and I'm a big fan of both the N64 and its controller. I can't really say what about the game didn't click with me like with so many others. I think I just found it too slow-moving and long, so it wore out its welcome on me. I remember I quit awhile while in the Shadow Temple. The Water Temple was frustrating and annoying (even with using the Nintendo Power guide for assistance), and the well and Shadow Temple were annoyingly dark and gave me with the creeps (which is the point, yes, but I'm not really into horror games and those parts almost feel like one).

I never even fell for the hype either. Despite having a Nintendo Power subscription at the time, where they were treating Ocarina of Time like the Second Coming, both before and after its release, I was never that excited for it and didn't bother buying it at launch. I think it was around half a year after launch (which at that age, felt like I fairly long time) when I decided to pick up a copy and give it a try.

Quote Originally Posted by Gameguy View Post
I know I'm not in the overall minority, Sega counted on Shenmue to be the saviour title to save the Dreamcast, it didn't and the console died out.
I think that's more a matter of the game's budget than its reception. The sales figures weren't bad at all, so if it had a regular budget for a game of that time, it would've been considered successful. But Sega dug themselves into a hole with how much they spent on Shenmue, and it would've taken ridiculously high sales to turn a good profit.