Ah yes Athena, the game that gave us the Athena (albiet a bit better clothed) that would appear in lots of SNK fighting games. That NES game was my first exposure to SNK.
My theory on why Capcom is more popular is because their games appeal to scrubs, especially arcade scrubs more than anything. (Though they can be played on a high level.)
Man I'm going to miss SNK, they tried to innovate in fighting games and produced some of the greatest 2d fighting games I've ever played. Too bad it wasn't enough to save the company.