Yes, but Palpatine made sense. He was presented as an established fact and it worked. When you are introduced to the idea of an evil empire as a fait accompli at the outset of the trilogy, an evil, super powerful emperor just makes sense.
Snoke is both old and super powerful, and since he did not figure in the original trilogy, a time when he must have been around, his presence cries out for an explanation. I will go farther than that. His presence is totally inexplicable in light of what the films reveal about the star wars universe.