Wow, great topic. A question that I've never considered before, even after being involved in this community in some capacity since 1998.
I'd say I'm a Neo-Geo fan first, SNK second - but that came later. Like
@Orpheus said, I was too young/not exposed to many pre Neo-Geo SNK games outside of a hand full of titles. Actually, my first proper SNK experience was the DOS port of Lee Travino's Fighting Golf on our hand-me-down 386 (Thanks Dad!). It wasn't until I played Fatal Fury 2 on the SNES that I began to pay attention to SNK as a brand. I guess I was around 13 at the time - 1994 or so because I discovered KOF 94, Samurai Shodown and Fatal Fury Special in the local arcade not long after I rented FF2. I became obsessed with SNK games after that.
The post golden age games (anything after 2000) I generally shun. The only games in my Neo library from the Playmore era are KOF 2K1. 2K2, and 2K3 just to have a complete KOF set on AES. That said, as an adult who has gotten more into the history of the art of video games, I've discovered many pre Neo era SNK games that I think are fascinating. Not "good" games, but fascinating from a historical stand point. Sausuke Vs Command is really neat, as well as weird shit like Fantasy. Hell, the original Prehistoric Isle and Beast Busters are also bangers in their own right.
SNK's output 2003 - 2019 didn't at all interest me. Even though I thought the new SS was cool, I didn't really get into it. KOFXV is very, very fun and aside from a few gripes, really feels the most like "classic" SNK in a very long time. That said, I'm "retired" from competitive fighting game play so I'll never put in the hours to really dissect the game. Glad all the kids are playing, though!
thanks for coming to my ted talk