The most fun I've ever had with fighting games is PRECISELY when I understood just exactly how shit I actually was at CvS 2, got a glimpse of what actual CvS 2 looked like and started learning how to do that myself. Literally everyone around me was at a higher level than myself and I spent about a year slowly working my way up, learning characters, learning concepts, trying out different Groove and team combinations and so on.
Once I caught up with my friends I started having even more fun.