Tekken, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Smash Brothers, and more. At this point, regardless of your stage in life, you’ve already had an encounter with a fighting game one way or another.
Maybe you grew up with arcade culture, seeing dozens of people lining up their coins or power cards to have their turn in Timezone. Maybe you and your cousins spent afternoons together during vacation just beating on each other button-mashing. It could even be possible you just got swept up by the crowds watching a masterclass on execution on the internet or at a random convention. Whatever the case, you know what a fighting game is.
The fighting game landscape has changed over the past few years with innovations in both games and controllers. Tournaments come and go with grander prizes being awarded, like with the ongoing Esports World Cup boasting million-dollar prize pools for Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, plus prestige at the grandest fighting game stage of them all, the Evolution Championship Series, or Evo. But it’s not just the players behind the screen. It’s their controllers too.
Whether you’re a fan, an enthusiast, or even just curious, here are the main types of fighting game controllers along with their pros and cons.
Gamepads AKA Pads
When you purchase a console, regardless of its brand (whether it’s a PlayStation, an Xbox, or even a Nintendo Switch) there’s usually a controller that comes with it. This controller is called a Pad, with its defining characteristic being its directional pad, or more commonly known as its d-pad.
While it may not be prominently used in the fighting game space these days, there are notable pros who use them at the highest level of competition, like multiple-time Mortal Kombat Evo champ SonicFox or Luffy, known for using a PS1 controller for Street Fighter V.
PROS:
✅ Already comes with your console
✅ Easy to use and play with, even for non-fighting games
✅ Ergonomically designed for long play sessions
CONS:
❌ Most pads need a full replacement when broken
❌ Stick drift (specifically Joy-Con drift in Nintendo Switch controllers) can tamper with movement in games
Arcade sticks AKA Fight sticks
The tried-and-true bread-and-butter controller for arcade culture is the arcade stick, characterized by its joystick and 4–6 button layout. Go inside any working arcade or amusement center and you’re sure to find a joystick in some capacity, ranging from crane games to fighting games.
Commonly considered almost everybody’s first arcade controller back in the day, the arcade stick is a timeless classic that still makes sense functionally to this day. The stick dictates movement, and the buttons trigger actions.
PROS:
✅ The most intuitive game controller, even your grandparents could use one
✅ Easier execution for circular movements (i.e., King’s Giant Swing in Tekken or Zangief’s Spinning Piledriver in Street Fighter)
✅ Highly customizable due to interchangeable buttons, stick, layout, and gate
✅ Masher-friendly and built for punishment
CONS:
❌ Requires a flat surface to maximize use
❌ Prone to misinputs, especially with faulty wiring or an uncalibrated stick
❌ Expensive, ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars
Leverless controllers AKA Hit Box controllers
What if you wanted the ease of control from a fight stick but faster, more accurate, or even more ergonomic? That’s roughly the story of how hitbox controllers were developed in the 2010s. They take the best part of the fight stick control scheme (the button layout) while removing the strain of holding a joystick for long periods, even improving control in the process.
Making waves in the competitive scene for a while now, hitbox (or leverless) controllers provide what some consider an unfair advantage to already skilled fighting game players. There was even a time when arcade stick veterans like Daigo Umehara faced controversy because of the “unfair” advantage these controllers gave, especially with the faster, more accurate inputs they allowed.
PROS:
✅ The most precise movement and action inputs available
✅ Can be used in other games like platformers, rhythm games, and even metroidvanias
✅ Similar to a keyboard, making the transition from desktop to console easier
CONS:
❌ High cost of entry to own a complete hitbox controller
❌ Steep learning curve with an unintuitive control scheme
❌ Difficult to perform circular inputs compared to conventional arcade sticks
Continue?
While gaming as a whole will continue to change or get “revolutionized” one way or another, gamers will always gravitate toward whatever they’re comfortable with.
One reality we as gamers need to accept is that to reach the highest levels of competitive play (or even just to “git gud”) a lot of time and effort must be put into the lab to execute combos, whether they’re flashy, cool, or simply optimal.
The price of “getting good” can be daunting, but the truth is you don’t actually need the most expensive controller (or even to be the best) to enjoy the game.
Apart from improving with what you have, there are local businesses in the Philippines, like Juanminidiy, that offer stick and hitbox customization to cater to your budget and needs as a gamer.
Video game controllers have a rich history, and this is most evident in the fighting game community (FGC). There are more stories to be told, and whether you’re a tryhard, a seasoned veteran, or even just an enthusiast, there’s definitely a controller out there for you.
