The queue works great in two ways. It makes striking more fluid, and punishes spamming. The input delay for pressing a button is very small. Like .03 seconds. So you would only be slightly behind the CPU if you both had initiated the action at the same time. The "queue" refers to multiple action inputs. Ex: Jab, straight, uppercut. You will finish pressing the buttons if you press them quick enough to watch the animation play out. So if you spam the buttons, you won't be able to block right away. This was in the first game as well. It isn't as bad this game because strikes stop other actions when they land unblocked in a lot of cases.
You have to slow down your striking to avoid not being able to block. There is nothing wrong with the queue.
