how can you say alttp wasn't groundbreaking? i think the original game was something like the basic script, but most of the features that make the series really great were introduced in alttp.
i can't understand why people like the first one so much anyway, but i think i'd have to have lived in that time to understand it. i only played it some years ago on the gba, but I thought it was not really playable while alttp is also absolutely great for a modern gamer.