Clunky is definitely how I remember the game as well. I don't see myself ever revisiting it; but if I see a speedrun for it out in the wild, I'll definitely sit down and watch it.

Maybe not back in the 90's, but I imagine some diehard MK fans committed it to memory. Its an older video, but this guy was clearly a fan and has done his homework:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n3K...

(dunno why this video has stuck with me, but I love this dude's videos)

Man, I love the concept of the Sub-Zero game. I never did get the hang of it though.

What I'd give to dip back into the 2007 and play this on a Saturday night at my friend's house one last time...

One example was putting the bonfire scene in Zanarkand right at the beginning, and then basically proceeding with the story as one big flashback. [3/3] (Famitsu, 2021)

Which ended up being really relatable because at that point in my life, not a lot of people used my name. It was a lot of "Hey You!".

And as a funny anecdote, when I got my PS2 and FFX for my 15th Birthday; Since FFX was the first RPG I played with a full dub, I did name Tidus after myself because I was like "No way are they gonna go a whole ass game without saying the main character's name?"

Well, they certainly did.

I wish they'd make the 3DS versions of Ocarina and Majora playable on NS2.

Heh, I remember that armor.

I always knew that traditional introduction books would go away as games got bigger and had better tutorials worked into them. But they could at least ship physical games with either reversible covers or some official art for those that get a copy.