Quake 2 physics are AWESOME. I played Q3v OSP CPMA etc, but always love Q2 more. Rockets are slower: true... It requires more anticipation in order to hit !
what i loved the most in Q2 was reaching incredible places by doing some non-rocketjump moves :i.e in q2dm1's megaroom you can do the famous 3-jump to megahealth !
The chaingun is also very nice to use and yet requires quite some skill compared to the lightning gun. It has a full-power charge time.
Also weapon switching is very low and requires alot of (again) anticipation and skill. I like that alot.
For me, slower = nicer :)
Still, I loved cpma and i play quakelive atm and love it:)
(And the hand grenades were awesome too !!! I miss those !)
You can reach/read most q2 tournaments/leagues and demos from this portal -> http://q2scene.net
Check the forum if you need help with installing/setting Q2 up.