I completely understand the lack of hype around him from people who just... don't get it. I think you'll find my input interesting at this point, given I loved SMRPG but HATED Geno for how overrated he was. Like, I absolutely couldn't stand him, yet now, I'm one of the biggest Geno fans in my friend circle.
I feel it all boils down to how personal a character becomes to people, and by way of his design and concept, people were able to forge their own reasons for becoming fond of the character. Some people find that, some people don't — and that's okay. Personally, I thought his potential was woefully understated. His design is adorable, and from an artist's perspective (and goodness knows I am knee-deep into the intricacies of art and design), it checked all of the marks of what to do with character creation. His colors are very complimentary and pleasing to the eye, anchored by the brown that ties everything together. His shapes, as used in character design, work for the kind of character he is. He has a lot of round shapes, generally signifying a soft and friendly vibe, but he also features many triangles in his design, signifying something more 'cool' and 'strong'.
His personality has a lot of potential that was hugely squandered, and I'd blame bad writing for that. You can see the hints of something there. He jumps for joy when he possesses the doll, laughs at Mario and Mallow's confusion over his existence, and laughs at Bowser after persuading him to remain as an ally. Like the other party members, he is capable of dancing around in Bowser's Keep on the chandeliers. He's able to cheer Mario on during the game. Those last two aren't character-exclusive, yes, but it does give us a little more to work with. He's also great with children, as seen in the way he treats Gaz. We can surmise that he is a very kind and sweet character, as well as a jovial sort.
Geno is also... kind of a massive dork. He spouts 90's slang like nobody's business, literally giving his whole higher authority soliloquy seconds before shouting at Bowyer to 'chill out'. The way he yells out, "YO, SMITHY!" when in the final freaking battle, the most harrowing of them all, is beyond hilarious to me. He isn't giving some super serious speech or acting like a 'badass'. Just... YO, SMITHY? Holy crap, that screams dork. He runs into a wall when you first see him possess the doll. His facial expressions are a laugh and a half. He's soooo expressive, it's not even funny.
He's very adamant about doing his job, too, to the point that his Belome clone can only, ONLY think of the star pieces. Belome clones show themselves to be exaggerated caricatures, yeah, but it does go a long way to show Geno's dedication. He even gets fuming angry at Mario, SUPER HUFFY AND PUFFY (the sprite is so funny rofl), if he tries to leave Star Hill without the star piece in the area. It's gold. Despite all of this, it's clear that he's had some kind of development from this. With how ambitious he is about his job, you'd think he'd be ready to blaze through the cosmos and get back home ASAP... yet in Smithy's Lair, he shows reluctance to. For the first and last time in your journey, Geno doesn't seem like he wants to finish his mission. He doesn't want to leave his new friends... yet he pushes through and does the responsible thing anyway.
That last bit is incredibly powerful, in my opinion, and probably the best moment of his character. The one most determined to see their mission come to a close... now doesn't seem so gung-ho about doing so. He went from focusing on his mission and ONLY his mission to wanting to be with his friends. It could have been so much more powerful if he was written better and given more screen time, but alas, Square didn't do so.
A more minor thing, but he also cowers when it seems like his life is about to be snuffed out by Bowyer. That's the one time (aside from status effects) that we see Geno genuinely afraid for his life. I wish we could have gotten some expansion on that.
Basically, how I see it is... I see more in Geno than what we got. I wish we could have gotten more. I'd love to see him in a new RPG again, but I doubt it'll happen. A Smash inclusion would lend well to SMRPG's legacy, being the first Mario RPG to inspire the lines of others we got in the future. Geno's farewell was impactful for a lot of people, myself included, and it makes us want even more to see him reunite with his friends, with us. When he expressed such sadness at the idea of leaving them behind, I thought, "Geno does so much for granting other peoples' wishes. I want his wish to be with his buddies to come true, too." He's granted so many wishes for other people, chances are, so... why not let him have his wish finally come to pass?
If we see Geno in Smash, I feel like he'll really be able to live on in the hearts of gamers in so many ways. I could see so much coming from his potential for decades to come, even if not from Nintendo and Square themselves. He'll have his reunion with his friends. Our wishes will be granted and, in turn, so will his. I've crafted a lot of lore of my own personal interpretation of Geno, and I've just forged a love for the character that is so specially and uniquely mine. I will admit that it means my adoration and desires for Geno in Smash, 'deserving' or not, comes from a place of sentimentality and bias... but I can promise that it is entirely genuine and heartfelt. I can't expect anyone else to feel and think the same way, so if you don't and never will, that's perfectly fine. I just hope this kinda gives you more of a perspective as to why someone might want to witness his return, coming from someone who couldn't give a hoot about Geno until revisiting him as a character and making what she could of him.
100% second this, even down to the... unfortunate suicidal implications. I'm not gonna beat around the bush: I'm mentally ****ed up five ways to Sunday. I've always been an outcast with mental problems that only served to destroy my emotional state, and I'm a survivor of abuse, just to top it all off. It's left a lot of mental scarring, and Geno, crafting lore and personality for him, and SMRPG as a whole got me through a very tough patch in my life. It does serve to help make him feel that much more sentimental of a character to me.
There's also one more thing to compound that even further: The Mario RPGs were one of the ways I bonded with one of the closest family members I had, my late grandfather... so... yeah, that... whoof.
