Palladium makes really fun games; the company is frustrating as all hell, but the games pass the crucial test: they're fun to play.
I seem to remember someone telling me that Kevin's beef with CJ's stuff was how deadly it was (massive damage). CJ had at one point commented how ridiculous it was that Coalition grunts carry a pistol, that generally couldn't even penetrate their own armor (the gun did 1d6 MD, had 10 shots; their armor had 50 MDC, making a kill unlikely, even if you hit with all 10 shots).
Different design philosophies. If HU taught me anything, is that Kevin likes slugging match attrition in his later games!
Are there "objectively better" games out there? Sure! But most of them are boring as hell. Palladium definitely puts a stamp on it's products, an originality I happen to like. It's not for everyone, but if you like one setting, it's likely you'll like most of Palladium's settings.
About my only real gripe, book-wise, is the Rifts: Ultimate Edition (R:UE) book; the original Main Book is better. It has a better tone, it doesn't read like a walking advertisement (not only for Promises for Power, but also their later game line! It almost felt like they were saying "You shouldn't have bought THIS book; you should have bought THOSE OTHER books."). I also wasn't a fan of a lot of the rule tweaks they brought in with the book (I actually think RIFTS and Robotech run better, using the earlier rules).
My 2 cents.