I don't want to say that people are wearing rose colored glasses, but that is part of it. Games when we were kids have a special place in our memories. They are even more important when they were the first of a series. If you compare them to games these days, it's not like they have better gameplay or characters or story. I think it's the same reason you look at the top movies of all time, almost all of the top 20 are like from before 1950. People give more credit to things that pioneered a genre.
As for A LLTP? gameplay was great, story was lame (no character development, it was just a filler between gameplay segments) I really liked the graphics, but I'd say my favorite was the atmosphere. The weather, design of the buildings and wilderness, was just so fun. I spent a lot of time just exploring.