I think it depends which movie critic, if any, one listens to. I also think the ESB favoritism of ANH is due to the changes of taste as one grows older. In my experience kids liked ANH MUCH more than ESB. My friends and other kid acquaintances loved the variety of characters(jawas,droids,cantina aliens, stormtroopers Vader and space battle of ANH. We all LOVED the x-wings, tie-fighters, and y-wings. the great story with epic battle! In ESB we thought it was entertaining with the hoth battle, asteroid chase, yoda and Luke vs Vader BUT NOTHING beat the DS assault of ANH.

As me and my SW buddies got older we learned to appreciate the details of the stories, and the multiple impacts of dramatic scenes provided by ESB. I cant get enough of the deep storyline of ESB nowadays! I still prefer ANH by a smidge, but i think ESB is the best sequel ever. Who knows how good ROTJ would've been had Kershner/Kurtz/Brackett/Kasden been allowed to remain. I can remember back in 93', when SW was beginning its comeback, reading sci-fi mags and talking with fellow fans, and thats when I 1st started hearing that ESB is the best of the OOT. Many friendly debates ensued!