1996 Honda Civic car doesn't accelerate as before

96 honda civic ex, d16y8 AT, car accelerates slowly, and I kind of have to push the pedal almost all the way down for it to keep up with current traffic. The loss of power has been significant.

since it first started to accelerate slowly or not at all when pressing the pedal for the first time followed by some PUCK puck Sounds that appear to be from the engine.

i have been reading that it could be related to the EGR valve.

no check engine light, oil, plugs, fuel filter had been replaced along with the cap and rotor which are in good condition.

also when first starting the car, before getting it onto the street, it kind of wants to shut down getting just below 1mph but when it hits 1 mph, I guess the ecu makes it surge so it doesn't shut down. But after the first seconds of acceleration on the street the low rpms go away and the car functions normally, except for the poor acceleration.