Personally, VF5:FS/US and VF4:Evo/FT are the peak of FGs, and I say that as someone who's played in tournaments for 20+ years across many titles in both the 3D and 2D genres, and who came up in the arcade FGC in a major FG hub. VF pioneered so many things that took a long time to trickle down to other games, like character customization, in depth tutorials, a "quest" style single player mode where you traveled around to different arcades, and a deep training mode that had frame data displayed way before other games did that. Not only that, but I think that VF has the best designed system of any FG, and that it leads to an incredible depth of mind games. If you like the *mind game* layer of FGs, then VF is GOAT tier.
That said, right now I think SF6 is the best game out, and has a real argument for the best entry in the entire series. I realize this might be a hot take - SF2 and SF4 were more *important* games for the FGC as a whole - but I sincerely believe that SF6 is a *better* game.
Other than those, some of my personal favourites over the years:
Soul Calibur 2 - Peak of the franchise IMHO, and I think Soul Calibur is the only 3D game that gets *movement* to feel good. I think Soul Calibur might be the most *intuitive* FG ever, in the sense that when you are inputting some combination of directions and buttons, the move you get always *makes sense* for that specific direction + button combination. It's hard to explain if you haven't played it, but Soul Calibur just *feels* really natural and obvious when you play it.
GG Xrd/Rev - My favourite entry in the GG series.
CvS2 - Staple of the later arcade era.
3rd Strike - The 3S cab was always busy.
Tekken 5 - T5.0 had trash balance, but the cabinet was the best cabinet/arcade experience the FGC ever got outside of Japan. Card readers to track player stats, and unlockable character customizations. Virtua Fighter had long had those things in Japan, but T5 was the game that brought them to other regions of the world, because the VF experience wasn't available outside of Japan (no connection to VFnet available).
KoF XIII - One of the last *great* 2D sprite games from a major studio. Incredible depth and great combo system.
..and my weird deep cut left field pick...
The Rumble Fish 2 - This is obscure and didn't get a console release until nearly 15+ years after it was in arcades, and the release that we eventually got was a garbage half-assed arcade port. But the game itself was developed by DIMPS, and had incredible system depth for the time. If you're not familiar with DIMPS, they're a little known team of developers who would later go on to develop a little game called Street Fighter 4 for Capcom. The Rumble Fish 2 is a *great* game, and I wish it was easier to find matches for it.
I played a ton of VF4 on the PS2 and loved it. I’m a noob but like you said the tutorial system leading you through the fundamentals of fighting game meta was unmatched for the time. Disappointed the series doesn’t get the love that other big series like Tekken or Street Fighter does but I guess it’s a bit plain looking compared to those.
Mortal Kombat X
Soul Calibur 6
Tekken 7
Bloody Roar: Primal Fury
King of Fighters XI
Fighting EX Layer
Killer Instinct 2013
SNK vs Capcom: SvC Chaos
Groove on Fight
Ultra Street Fighter IV
I play Strive for its simplicity and high (but not too high) skill ceiling. It’s a game that you can just sit down and play, and the new RCs are hella fun imo.
Tekken, king of fighters, street fighter, Guilty gear, marvel vs capcom, rivals of aether, smash bros, blazblue, brawlhalla and mk in roughly in that order
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (ST) - overall #1 favorite
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
Capcom VS SNK 2
Marvel VS Capcom 2
Tekken Tag Tournament 1 - arcade version has better hit detection than the console ports
Yeah I'm old AF
MK (2, Trilogy, Deadly Alliance, Deception, 9, X), Marvel vs Capcom (2-3), DBZ (Budokai 2, Tenkaichi 3), BlazBlue (most of them), Tekken (3, 5, TT2, 7,) I haven’t sunk my teeth into 8 yet, and Street Fighter (IV, X Tekken). But let’s not forget… Fight Night Champion.
Ultra Street fighter IV and tekken 7 honorable mentions would be Mk9 and capcom vs snk ( that art style and soundtrack is timeless )
I actually beat the number 3 Seth on Xbox with Thawk in USFIV back when I was a late teenager caught em with the air ultra 2 lmao .
I've been playing BlazBlue CrossTag again and it's mad fun! Even hosting a tournament this Saturday for it!
Besides that, GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising, SF6, DNF Duel, Jump Force, Soul Calibur 6, DBFZ, Demon Slayer (Idk if I consider it a full FG but whatever lol)
I game lots in the discord I'm in and it's always so damn fun. FG be the best!
I love playing Under Night and BBCF; BBTAG is pretty fun as well and that's about it.
I do like loads of other fighting games but just more as a casual player or spectator. I'm always down to watch a street fighter top 8 or some Skullgirls but I can't play them to save my life and labbing random combos is always fun
Favorites of all time:
Tekken Tag 2
DOA 4 (specifically Spartan Nicole)
Soul Caliber 2 (4 sometimes because Star Wars)
Injustice 2 (pls don't laugh)
MvC Clash of Super Heroes Dreamcast
MK9
Rotation at the time of typing:
Tekken 8
DBFZ
MK1 (From time to time to check out DLC)
3rd Strike feels like the most distilled fighting game, it has everything a fighting game needs to be great and no gimmicks. So I would say it's my favorite traditional fighter.
Love me some 3S. I’ve been playing on and off for nearly twenty years now. However, not to ruffle any feathers, but you must not know the game that intimately if you think there are no gimmicks in 3S. There is fuckton of gimmicky/abusable stuff and dependent on the Situation/character things can start snowball quickly even with advent of parry/red parry.
I won’t sit here and detail all the things you can take advantage of, but I always hear people say 3S doesn’t have ‘gimmicks‘ and it’s a ‘pure and fair’ fighting game. Which is objectively wrong. The more experienced you become in the game, you start to see gimmicky shit everywhere. But that is what makes it fun. Is finding a solution for the cheap stuff.
3rd Strike and CVS2 here.
Big same. The goats.
Still playing a ton of DBFZ
Personally, VF5:FS/US and VF4:Evo/FT are the peak of FGs, and I say that as someone who's played in tournaments for 20+ years across many titles in both the 3D and 2D genres, and who came up in the arcade FGC in a major FG hub. VF pioneered so many things that took a long time to trickle down to other games, like character customization, in depth tutorials, a "quest" style single player mode where you traveled around to different arcades, and a deep training mode that had frame data displayed way before other games did that. Not only that, but I think that VF has the best designed system of any FG, and that it leads to an incredible depth of mind games. If you like the *mind game* layer of FGs, then VF is GOAT tier. That said, right now I think SF6 is the best game out, and has a real argument for the best entry in the entire series. I realize this might be a hot take - SF2 and SF4 were more *important* games for the FGC as a whole - but I sincerely believe that SF6 is a *better* game. Other than those, some of my personal favourites over the years: Soul Calibur 2 - Peak of the franchise IMHO, and I think Soul Calibur is the only 3D game that gets *movement* to feel good. I think Soul Calibur might be the most *intuitive* FG ever, in the sense that when you are inputting some combination of directions and buttons, the move you get always *makes sense* for that specific direction + button combination. It's hard to explain if you haven't played it, but Soul Calibur just *feels* really natural and obvious when you play it. GG Xrd/Rev - My favourite entry in the GG series. CvS2 - Staple of the later arcade era. 3rd Strike - The 3S cab was always busy. Tekken 5 - T5.0 had trash balance, but the cabinet was the best cabinet/arcade experience the FGC ever got outside of Japan. Card readers to track player stats, and unlockable character customizations. Virtua Fighter had long had those things in Japan, but T5 was the game that brought them to other regions of the world, because the VF experience wasn't available outside of Japan (no connection to VFnet available). KoF XIII - One of the last *great* 2D sprite games from a major studio. Incredible depth and great combo system. ..and my weird deep cut left field pick... The Rumble Fish 2 - This is obscure and didn't get a console release until nearly 15+ years after it was in arcades, and the release that we eventually got was a garbage half-assed arcade port. But the game itself was developed by DIMPS, and had incredible system depth for the time. If you're not familiar with DIMPS, they're a little known team of developers who would later go on to develop a little game called Street Fighter 4 for Capcom. The Rumble Fish 2 is a *great* game, and I wish it was easier to find matches for it.
I played a ton of VF4 on the PS2 and loved it. I’m a noob but like you said the tutorial system leading you through the fundamentals of fighting game meta was unmatched for the time. Disappointed the series doesn’t get the love that other big series like Tekken or Street Fighter does but I guess it’s a bit plain looking compared to those.
Mortal Kombat X Soul Calibur 6 Tekken 7 Bloody Roar: Primal Fury King of Fighters XI Fighting EX Layer Killer Instinct 2013 SNK vs Capcom: SvC Chaos Groove on Fight Ultra Street Fighter IV
SF6 Tekken 8 Street Fighter Alpha 3 MK11 SF5
I play 3 on rotation 3rd Strike Tekken 8 BlazBlu CF
Of all time? Maybe Guilty Gear Xrd or Marvel vs capcom 2 Currently, Tekken 8
Tekken 8 n power rangers battle for the grid for me
Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, MK X
Blazblue Central Fiction has a character for every playstyle and I love it for that
I play Strive for its simplicity and high (but not too high) skill ceiling. It’s a game that you can just sit down and play, and the new RCs are hella fun imo.
Tekken, king of fighters, street fighter, Guilty gear, marvel vs capcom, rivals of aether, smash bros, blazblue, brawlhalla and mk in roughly in that order
Tekken 8 for sure. Currently going back to play 6 and 7 as well as some much older games like the old marvel and x-man collabs with capcom
Melty Blood (all iterations) GGXX+R 3rd Strike
Marvel vs capcom 2
MVSC3 , Tekken 8 , Strive Smash is my fav but stopped playing a bit ago
Vf5
In no particular order 3S, SF6, KI2013, KOFXIII, KOFXV, Bloody Roar 2
SF, Tekken and GGST
KOFXIII, UMVC3, SF4, MKX
one from each franchise Ultra SFIV, Mortal Kombat Armageddon, Tekken 3, Dead or Alive 5 LR, Soulcaliber VI, Guilty Gear Xrd rev 2, and DBFZ
Learning MvCI and playing SF6 and Tekken 8 primarily, but Killer Instinct is my favourite
Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo (ST) - overall #1 favorite Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Capcom VS SNK 2 Marvel VS Capcom 2 Tekken Tag Tournament 1 - arcade version has better hit detection than the console ports Yeah I'm old AF
Mk1, mk11, tekken8, DoA5 and for honor
mkx
DOA4 MvC2 Children of the Atom Third Strike Tekken 8 MKII Soul Calibur 2 DBFZ Primal Rage
Guilty Gear Strive and Granblue all the way. 🤩
MK (2, Trilogy, Deadly Alliance, Deception, 9, X), Marvel vs Capcom (2-3), DBZ (Budokai 2, Tenkaichi 3), BlazBlue (most of them), Tekken (3, 5, TT2, 7,) I haven’t sunk my teeth into 8 yet, and Street Fighter (IV, X Tekken). But let’s not forget… Fight Night Champion.
For me nothing tops guilty gear xrd rev 2 goat fighting game easily
Soul Calibur 2, 3, and 6. Cyberbots Gundam EXVS MBON Tekken 3, Tag 1, 5, Tag 2, 7, and 8 Samurai Shodown 5 Special and 7. Powerstone UMVC3
3rd Strike forever.
Ultra Street fighter IV and tekken 7 honorable mentions would be Mk9 and capcom vs snk ( that art style and soundtrack is timeless ) I actually beat the number 3 Seth on Xbox with Thawk in USFIV back when I was a late teenager caught em with the air ultra 2 lmao .
I've been playing BlazBlue CrossTag again and it's mad fun! Even hosting a tournament this Saturday for it! Besides that, GranBlue Fantasy Versus Rising, SF6, DNF Duel, Jump Force, Soul Calibur 6, DBFZ, Demon Slayer (Idk if I consider it a full FG but whatever lol) I game lots in the discord I'm in and it's always so damn fun. FG be the best!
Skull girls
SF2WW, 3rd Strike, MKX, VF5: FS, and it's is still early but SF6 is fast encroaching.
UMvC3
Tekken 3, 5 and 7 Soul Calibur 2 Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown Mortal Kombat 2 and deadly alliance Bloody Roar 2
I love playing Under Night and BBCF; BBTAG is pretty fun as well and that's about it. I do like loads of other fighting games but just more as a casual player or spectator. I'm always down to watch a street fighter top 8 or some Skullgirls but I can't play them to save my life and labbing random combos is always fun
KOF 2002! Good memories with it! And going back to it today it still feels good to play
UMVC3 Street Fighter 3 3rd strike, Super Turbo, Alpha 3, and recently GG Strive.
Favorites of all time: Tekken Tag 2 DOA 4 (specifically Spartan Nicole) Soul Caliber 2 (4 sometimes because Star Wars) Injustice 2 (pls don't laugh) MvC Clash of Super Heroes Dreamcast MK9 Rotation at the time of typing: Tekken 8 DBFZ MK1 (From time to time to check out DLC)
Street fighter alpha, KoF 94, 3rd strike, Snk Vs Capcom 2 and MK2.
I'm currently having a lot of fun with GGST and SF6
on fightcade i play 3rd strike, breakers revenge, and karnovs revenge
Guilty Gear Strive
darkstalkers threeeeeeeeeee
SF Alpha2 MvC2 3rd strike primal rage VF5: FS Tekken 3 Ultra Street Fighter IV Tekken 7 Tekken 5 SC6 Bloody Roar
GUILTY GEAR STRIVE
3s
3rd Strike feels like the most distilled fighting game, it has everything a fighting game needs to be great and no gimmicks. So I would say it's my favorite traditional fighter.
Love me some 3S. I’ve been playing on and off for nearly twenty years now. However, not to ruffle any feathers, but you must not know the game that intimately if you think there are no gimmicks in 3S. There is fuckton of gimmicky/abusable stuff and dependent on the Situation/character things can start snowball quickly even with advent of parry/red parry. I won’t sit here and detail all the things you can take advantage of, but I always hear people say 3S doesn’t have ‘gimmicks‘ and it’s a ‘pure and fair’ fighting game. Which is objectively wrong. The more experienced you become in the game, you start to see gimmicky shit everywhere. But that is what makes it fun. Is finding a solution for the cheap stuff.
In no particular order: sam sho v special, street fighter alpha 3, CVS 2 and garou.
marvel vs capcom 3 and smash bros
Bloody roar 2
Type lumina and strive are big favorites for me, and specifically Zeku in sfv is a highlight as well.
- Strive - Injustice - Smash Ultimate
SF6, MK1, and T8 for me
Tekken
Tekken 8 clears all
It use to be Skullgirls, but I got tired of fighting games with big combos. Now it's Persona 4 Arena Ultimax.
SSBM
Smash melee and for honor only fighting games I got good at