1998 Honda Civic Either it accelerates to the max or doesnt

I am running into a problem with my Civic that I have not found on the forums. I really do not know much about cars so I was hoping that I could have some input as to what the issue is with my Civic.

It ran like a dream up until 2 weeks ago. The Engine light came on randomly and suddenly whenever I would lightly touch the gas pedal to accelerate It would rocket to full power and start revving. Imagine trying to switch gear and stay in 2nd, the light gas push that would would keep for that speed. My car seems to have forgotten it and has decided to go all "gun ho" about accelerating. Im worried why my car wont just accelerate slowly or not rev to full rpm for no reason. Its pretty annoying when I have to suffer from ridiculous whiplash from letting the gas on and off and be shot around from the ridiculous acceleration.

Though, when I pull over, turn off the car, and restart it. It remedies the issue for a while but it may start up again at any moment. Sometimes less than 5 minutes, sometimes not for a whole two days.