If we're talking air to air, j1 is way better for that. Uber fast at 5 frames and a nice horizontal hitbox.
Ares could use a few buffs for sure though. For one, his normals are kinda crap for the most part, especially compared to others who can just swing away with them (Superman f2, GL b1 or whatever the slide is, WW f2, Batman b2 3 string, pretty much anything Nightwing and Aquaman have, etc). You'd think for a guy able to summon all his weapons, he'd add them into some of his normals. It's not TERRIBLE that he doesn't have any; Netherrealm realized how important his teleport is and adding in good normals would just make him a bit too uber. Still, I'd like to see more moves he can use in neutral and footsies. Speaking of teleport, they made Ares's mobility crap to account for this, but by making TP the only way in, people just straight up expect it and it really hurts. But in all honesty, the biggest problem Ares has is how conditional he is. Best mixups, combos, and zoning all require his trait, a trait that may not have a large cooldown, but enough for it to be a problem.