While I can't really defend this as a good game anymore, things like Scorpion's spear throw was the coolest thing I'd ever seen as a kid. Good times. The controls are awfully stiff and the gameplay is pretty shallow by modern standards. That said, you got to love MK's style. The series has always had a tongue-in-cheek sensibilities (which is why people who say MK's violence is all sensationalism kind of miss the point) but here the whole cheap B-movie kung-fu flick art design is in full force, which makes the digitalized actors in cheap costumes all the more enduring. Kind of ingenious really.