After really feeling burned by the netcode in USF4, and KOF XIII, I was thinking… what fighting games do we say have the best netcode? I feel like whatever fighting games I’ve tried over the years, haven’t been the ones that play well online. Not just “acceptable,” or “playable” but what games are the best experience online, and also, on what platforms? Assuming by platforms we are going by PC, PS3, PS4, 360, and X1.
The Best Fighting Game Netcode Award on 360 and PS3 (and I guess PC) is shared by Skullgirls and Darkstalkers: Resurrection for their excellent implementation of GGPO.
I’ve heard good things about Killer Instinct on Xbox One but have never tried it myself.
First of all theres two types of netcode - fixed delayed input (what most games use) and rollback (like ggpo)
For obvious reasons the hardcore FGC tends to prefer rollback style netcode but the quality of netcode/implementation varies by title to title.
From my personal experience and observation of what people have to say about it I would rank them something like this:
Fixed input delay netcode:
top tier: VF5 TTT2 Blazblue SC5?
okay tier: SF4, GGXrd, Persona4?
garbage: MVC3, NRS games, kof13, older titles basically everything else
rollback/ggpo style netcode:
top tier: skullgirls, ggpo(PC), Killer Instinct, Darkstalkers:Res, Divekick
The rest unfortunately have some issues with quality
like much more frequent rollbacks/teleports (HDR,3sonline),Sound issues(SFxT)
Feel free to add or correct my list. I’m curious myself
Pretty much anything running on GGPO. Skullgirls and Darkstalkers Ressurection being prime examples.
Playing next to someone in real life is the best netcode 
Get your friends to level up with you. If you dont have friends then try to make new ones
SS-tier (good rollback implementations)
Skullgirls, Darkstalkers Resurrection, MvC: Origins, Divekick, Killer Instinct
S-tier (not so good rollback implementations)
SSFII HD Remix, 3rd Strike Online. SFxTekken pre-patch
A-tier
SFxTekken post-patch.
B-tier (decent variable delay implementations)
Virtua Fighter, Tekken Tag 2, BlazBlue, Guilty Gear
C-tier (not so decent variable delay implementations)
USFIV, DOA5
D-tier (shitty variable delay implementations)
KoFXIII, MK, Injustice, MvC3
None of the examples you listed have “fixed input delay” since “fixed input delay” requires rollbacks.
What if you have a buddy who just isn’t into fighting games or most games in general? Just titles like Battlefield, NBA 2K and GTA5? Well I guess that’s where your second advice comes in.
err sorry I meant Variable not fixed lol. i musta been sleeping when i typed that
Even with GGPO I feel there are tiers.
SG has a solid implementation of it but I feel ST on Fightcade has it the best. I can play 180 ping matches with no noticeable lag. In SG I’d have a bit of jitter.
Arcana Heart 3 has decent netcode. Blazblue CT and CS2 (CS, post patch) had decent netcode too. I played all 3 on 360.
The old MVC2 game on PS3 and 360 had great rollback netcode, but they aren’t sold anymore. I would also like to point out that even though Tekken Tag 2 has average-quality netcode, the game itself mostly does not require split-second timing. It results in remarkably robust online gameplay that feels almost like offline.
But that would require playing Tekken…
Games you play with people right next to you.
Call of Duty Advanced Warfare.