Ahhh, the bouncy mode. Admit it, that's why you bought this game and tecmo paid close attention to that decision. thanx.
The game was also very pretty for a 1998 release...though at the time all fighters were pretty as they had such a small focus for all the animation in the game. the characters and their fighting styles were all relatively creative, and were based in large part on actual martial arts styles in the real world rather than the fantasy style that fostered ryu's "Hadoken!" fireball.
if it weren't for the bouncy i'd say realism was to be the focus of the game's mechanic. however the game also introduced the idea of the -danger zone-. out side the regular ring one would enter a zone that if they were to fall an explosive reaction would double or triple the combo's damage. it was very innovative, and more games today still need to take advantage of it.
This game eventually would give birth to team ninja, and thatb team ninja would eventually break sony fans hearts, but we'll always have dead or alive.