Scold me if you want, but this was by far one of the best ideas that NRS had. If only we could get something like this, but in the form of an RPG.
I actually enjoyed the game a lot when it came out. I was maybe 10 years old. See, clunky gameplay or otherwise, little kids don't give a shit, especially when they are fanboys of the series. I was way too excited about playing MK in a new format that focuses on a specific part of the story to complain about the poor gameplay (turn around button, unfair trap hit boxes, embarrassing dialogue, etc.).
All of the pieces of a good side scrolling RPG are there. NRS (or Midway rather) were just too quick to abandon it. Shaolin Monks was cool, but I've always been a bigger fan of 2D than 3D. Also, 2D just resembles the feel of MK more than the 3D beat me up style of MKSM.