Seriously, dude. I feel the same way. I remember never knowing that Mortal Kombat 2 was even going to exist. So, back in the day (I'm an "old man" myself, obviously
), when arcades ACTUALLY EFFING EXISTED EVERYWHERE, I remember walking in and seeing the arcade cabinet. I effing. freaked. Mortal Kombat was the only game I cared for at all once I played it the first time and here was its sequel.
I didn't have any idea what to expect other than probably lots of blood (and my God was there so much more in this one than the first one) and some gnarly Fatalities. Once I got my turn to play, I popped in my quarters and was presented with the character select screen. I took one look at Kitana and was like, "I want to play her." After I threw my first fan (after figuring out how) and saw the literal rain of blood that came out of my opponent when it hit them, I was immediately hooked. She was the only character I wanted to play as.
Then I saw both of her Fatalities and fell even more in love with her. I played and played and played the game for I don't know how many hours, nor do I know how much money I dumped on it. Every time I went somewhere and saw an arcade, I immediately looked for an MK2 cabinet and was thoroughly disappointed when I wouldn't see one and would ask the people that worked there if they were ever going to get one.
Fast forward to the game coming out on consoles and I was in freaking Heaven. Then came MK3 which didn't have Kitana, so I wound up playing Kabal (go figure) up until UMK3 came out and I saw my Edenian Princess had made her return and was just as badass as before. My love for MK kept growing up until the fourth installment came out. I played it, but it just didn't click with me like the others did. That's when the game kinda dropped off the planet for me.
I didn't start playing MK again until I went to a buddy's house and saw he had Deadly Alliance for the Xbox and was thrilled at the new level of gore (THE BLOOD FINALLY STAYED OMFG YOU DON'T KNOW THE JOY I HAD) and Konquest mode.
After Deception, I kinda lost interest. I played Armageddon but it felt like an effin' cash grab and I had NO interest in Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe.
Then, it happened. MK9 came out and I discovered the competitive side of me and have been heavily into competitive gaming ever since.
Thank fucking God (NRS/Midway) for Mortal Kombat and now Injustice.