In your opinion what are the top three games where the skill gap between nubs and skilled players is the largest.
rock paper scissors
Virtua Fighter
Virtua Fighter topic over etc.
Yep, yep.
Next, would probably be third strike, because even though I don’t personally like the game that much I do respect that those that get into deep will pretty much always triumph over a less experienced player. Button mashing won’t work, unless you’re opponent is dead set on parrying everything (I guess).
I would say MvC2, but sometimes I see people get away with so much shit in that game…
Which one and I asked for a top three.
Dude, it’s Virtua Fighter, trust me. You can destroy noobs easily in that game if you have more skill…not like SF4 and it’s random HOLY SHIT button(coughcoughULTRAcoughcough)
VF4 Evo
VF5 R
VF2
Wow, I’ve actually never played VF, maybe I should give it a try.
All of them, except for probably VF1.
Generally, when a game is made to purposefully appeal to specific audience, and that appeal includes not being able to play it on a moderate level right away, than the skill gap will be higher between noobs and experts. When a game is made with a more casual intent and appeals more to the masses, than the skill gap will be much smaller and the time to get to a moderate level will be much quicker.
God, I love Virtua Fighter so fucking much.
BEST
GAME
EVEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!
No, but seriously, I’d say Stuart’s list is right. Virtua Fighter 5: Version C is pretty good too.
In any serious fighting game a more skilled player will always beat a scrub, yes even SFIV with it’s so called “random” Ultra’s (which I would argue don’t give worse players an advantage at all, but whatever). Though if I had to say which fighting game I know of that is most skill-based, I’d have to agree with VF, either # 4 or 5.
I prefer VF4 and its revisions over VF5, but that’s just me.
VF3 is also really good in my book. The terrain effects and its overall different approach make it really deep.
Samurai Spirits I think is another good example of having a wide margin between experienced players/newcomers.
Most people will take the easy route and answer based on an assumption that “skill= doing hard stuff with the joystick”.
So you will hear alot of VFVFVFVFVFVFomgTekkenTagtookthemostskillVFVFVFVFVF
But overall I don’t see how he who plays better isn’t the one to win, in (almost?) any fighting game.
What makes VF the most skilled? (Though I would agree it is at the top of the pile when limited to 3d fighters.)
I agree. I think in alot of games, people like to just whip out excuses for why they may have lost, and the easiest thing to say is “this game’s to easy, the scrub got lucky”. For example, Soul Calibur/Tekken can both be kind of button mashy and accesible to very casual players, but I doubt a tournament level player in either of those games is going to get beat by some idiot who blindly mashes on the stick (or pad).
I remember a guy that was in the Marines that lived a few blocks down from me that was really into fighting games. He was of course, a button mashing maniac that would always seem able to beat people with more skill. A lot of beer and rent money was lost because he would manage to eke out victories by pulling off some random crap because he was just a maniac masher. Especially if we were playing DOA or Soul Calibur.
That is until he tried playing Virtua Fighter and got his arse handed to him by a cat we used to call “Ninjak”. The look on his face was priceless. “Nothing I’m doing works!!” 
When he lost 400 bucks one night, I could see tears of joy in the eyes of some of the guys…
Smash.
I think 3D fighters in general tend to be alot more button-mashy (save for VF of course) than 2D fighters. The reason being that in a game like SF, GG, or KOF you can’t just hit one button 5 times for a canned combo ala Tekken or Soul Calibur.
Motherfuckin punch out, nigga!!