You really can't go wrong with any 3D Zelda game. Whether you decide to play Ocarina, Majora, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, or Skyward Sword, you're in for a great experience. I realize that it's not realistic to expect you to play all these games this year before Zelda Wii U comes out, but I would recommend that you do try to play them all eventually. Such an incredible franchise...

Well in terms of reception, it was the N64 days and OoT was a genuine revolution in the genre and the first time seing Hyrule in 3D.  So that is one reason it was so incredibly well received.  As for being considered the best...well that's a question you don't want to ask on a Zelda forum, you'll start a civil war :P .  I'll leave the more knowledgeable ones to respond, just wanted to put that out there.

Link is the main protagonist of the games
Zelda is the princess, not the main character
Ganondorf is the main antagonist
In each game, it is a different Link and Zelda with different personalities and different looks
Example:
Link and Zelda in Wind Waker

In Wind Waker, Link meets Zelda at the beginning of the game and they become better friends as the game progresses, Zelda has a much more sarcastic personalilty in this game, but knows when to be serious.

Link and Zelda in Skyward Sword

In this game,  Link and Zelda are very close friends, and have been together since childhood. Although they are not really a couple, they obviously show interest for each other through out the game. Zelda is very light hearted but likes to boss Link around alot.

Twilight Princess

In Twilight Princess, Link and Zelda are not friends, they aren't a couple, in fact, they barely know each other. She talks directly to Link about once or twice in the entire game, most of her dialogue is towards Midna. This Zelda has a much more serious personalilty, unlike the two listed above. 

thanks man

Link is a transgender?...or a transexual?Or just a transvestite?

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!

I dare to admit that for many years I was thinking that his name is zelda and I was wondering why a guy has a girly name!FACEPALM!

As for the writer,me too,till 2013 because this year I played hyrule warriors and I intend to buy a zelda U!

It's a big stupidity of me that I had never played a zelda game before.

For a start I will buy all 3DS remakes!:P

No, man! xD Link is the main hero, the one in my avatar. :p The villain is usually Ganon.

I think we love Zelda for many reasons: its clever puzzles, cool combat system, deep lore, beautiful art styles (and good graphics for the capabilities of each console it was released), touching and epic songs, etc.

You're lucky, the next game looks like a great place for starters since it's open world + traditional button-style.

I was in your shoes up until about 3 months ago. I always though Zelda as the game with square pixels and an overhead veiw[like the old days]. I bought the VC Ocarina of Time on my Wii out of boredom 3 months ago. The game is soooo complicated and wonderful at the same time. You absolutely need a walkthrough or you would never know to do about half of the elements in it.  One complaint is that it was designed for a controller  other than the classic that plays on the Wii. So the right joystick takes the place of the old 4 yellow button  64 controller. This makes for some awkward item selection moments as you cant let the joystick snap back to nuetral as it selects the opposite item sometimes. And the crossbow aiming is too touchy with the left joystick to be accurate in a hurry.  The gameplay is very fun and innovative though and I certainly recommend it  But keep your laptop with a walkthrough loaded handy, as you will need it.

Well, A LOT of Zelda Fans here say Ocarina is OVERRATED which is Blasphemy! (JK... It's okay for them to have their own personal Favorites). It is not so much better than the other in my opinion, but I will tell you why it's the Magnum Opus (best) of the Zelda series.

First it's the first game of it's time to manipulate time within the game (Turn day into night etc.). Also manipulate weather from Rain to shine. And it developed the Revolutionary "Z-Targeting" mechanic (it's basically locking an Emeny with a button and just focusing on attacking him, and to simply switch to another by tapping it again). Also you traveling in time from a Child to an Adult to defeat Link's and Zelda's Arch enemy Gannondorf gives an epic feel to the game as well. That and it's variety of dungeons (Forest, Fire, Water, Shadow, and Spirit), the characters are memorable, theres some female Eye candy (Zelda, Malon, Nabooru). The story is great, the music is beautiful, the items have some of the best abilities TO this day! Has a GREAT TWIST NO ONE SAW coming...

Plus there's this... (MAJOR SPOILERS in that Link below! Warning! Don't click on the link if it you plan on playing Ocarina of time. But it's one of thed best moments in Video Game history IMO).

https://d3esbfg30x759i.cloudfront.net/ss/zlCfzS4LjV8ZXwLJtx

(MORE SPOILERS!! Link lifts an at LEAST a 100 TON piece of granite in that pic... and then he throws it like clothes to a laundry rack. He does this with the Golden Gaunlets... Gaunlets blessed by the Goddess of Power, Din. End of Spoilers).

And those are my reasons.

Bit of a few spoilers, no?!