I just can't muster up any sort of excitement for a SNK character no matter how hard I try. Metal Slug is the singular IP of theirs I've ever had fun with, and the rest has always looked super plain from afar and really not that noteworthy. I suddenly see all these people super happy about it, but again, I can't stress this enough. Despite being someone immersed in most of the gaming community all the time and who actively goes out of his way to find out about new games and investigate new series/have discussions on those matters, I've never encountered any one who really cares that much about the SNK properties and they don't seem as "fondly" remembered as I keep seeing people claim they are. That's anecdotal of course and I know the SNK brand is more popular than that, but it's just astounding how much of a non presence they are in basically all conversations in the gaming community (except for showing up in some crossovers).
My bigger issue is that, much like Capcom, having a crossover SNK character isn't anything special, it's just pretty standard fare. SNK crosses over with a lot of stuff and doesn't really break into anything new or make a crossover event that hasn't happened happen (Joker, Hero, and Banjo & Kazooie all managed this, so, yeah). It's the epitome of a "safe" pick, and somehow even more safe than the Tekken character I had halfway expected to show up.
Like, no matter who it is, they literally fail to check off any boxes for me personally:
-Character I enjoy or am interested in? No.
-Character from a brand new genre or underrepresented genre? Nope, Smash is a fighting game anyway, so there's not a whole lot to be gained here.
-Expands the crossover that is Ultimate in a big, new, and exciting way with a franchise or company that doesn't usually cross over with others? Nope.
-Character from a super successful series or games that reaches millions? None of SNK's IPs achieve anywhere near that notable of a success (and I can't find any information on any of their sales either).
-Character that Smash fans are interested in? Not really, a few people like Terry... but nobody from SNK comes close to being a main fan request.
The best I can say is that a SNK character represents the NeoGeo which does have a place in gaming history and that it will make some people happy (as would all characters). Like the SNK games are classic to a degree, and I know they have their fans. I'm not really disputing that as much, and if Sakurai does have a genuine interest in incorporating a SNK character into Smash, more power to him for doing what he wants. But it's difficult not to see this as a misfire unless there's just a much greater scene for SNK outside of literally every circle I've run in since devoting a big chunk of my life to gaming and collecting...