Games are now played at a competitive level where each move counts and is crucial. One of these competitive genres is the fighting/arcade style. Many players spend day and night to perfect their skills in fighting games. Many of these players opt for an arcade stick or fight stick as their weapon of choice in the fighting world. So if you want to go old-style and use an Arcade stick for gaming then you have come to the right place. Here, we have curated a dedicated list of fight sticks for both professionals and beginners. So without any delay, here are the 10 best Fight Sticks (Arcade Sticks) that you can buy for fighting games.

Take a look at all the Arcade sticks from our list below. You can click on the link and move to the corresponding stick just like that. Apart from that, if you want to learn how to choose an Arcade stick then go through our explainer below.

  • How to Choose an Arcade Stick?

First and foremost, you should check the material of the Arcade stick. If it’s made of metal then the stick will last for a much longer period. Similarly, if it’s a plastic body then you can expect shorter durability.

How to Choose an Arcade Stick?

List of Top Fight Sticks (Arcade Sticks)

1. MAYFLASH Arcade Stick F500 / Elite (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo, Android, SEGA)

The Mayflash F500 is one of the best Arcade sticks that you can buy right now. It’s a successor to the Mayflash F300 and the stick is made up of a solid piece of metal with rubber feet and a good amount of weight to make it a durable fight stick. The F500 is an 8-button arcade stick with a reasonable joystick. Mayflash has designed the F500 with modding in mind.

  • Wide Compatibility
  • Quite affordable
  • Great performance
  • Mod the buttons
  • Pretty good build quality
  • Offers Elite version with Sanwa buttons

Cons

The HORI Arcade Pro 4 Kai is another highly used high-end arcade stick, with many features to back up its comparatively lower price of about $145. This arcade stick is beautiful while maintaining a lightweight despite the bottom being metal.

The arcade stick is an 8-button stick with a start button on the right and L3 and R3 buttons on the side. The Arcade Pro 4 Kai also has a precise touchpad, and a turbo functionality as well.

3. Qanba Drone Joystick (PS3, PS4, and PC)

Qanba Drone is a really good entry-level fight stick that is compatible with both Play Station 4/3 and Windows PC. The fight stick comes with a single Qanba joystick and eight Qanba buttons. The Qanba Drone features a plastic construction that doesn’t feel cheap. It also sports rubber pads at the bottom which allows it to sit firmly on the table and your lap.

Pros

Madcatz covers all the different budgets, and the Arcade FightStick TES+ is certainly one of their high-end fight sticks. With a price tag of $130, this arcade stick is surely made for the enthusiasts who will utilize all the features this fight stick comes with. The Madcatz TES+ is a tournament edition fight stick made for competitive gaming.

The build quality of the TES+ sets the bar high, with the fightstick being constructed of metal, plastic, and glass, with rubber for a good grip on the surface. The fight stick features an 8-button layout, like many other high-end arcade sticks with high-quality parts. Both the buttons and the handle are Sanwa Denshi parts, with the buttons being extremely responsive with a little resistance to make it ideal for fighting games.

5. Mayflash F300 (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

The Mayflash F300 is the predecessor to the Mayflash F500 but it’s still an amazing arcade stick, especially for beginners aiming to use it with multiple devices. The F300 comes in under $60 and offers a great experience. For the price, you are getting a nice 8-button layout, with some extra buttons on the top for turbo and changing the input of the arcade stick.

  • Best for budget users
  • Great response; almost no latency
  • Wide compatibility
  • 8-button layout

If you are looking for a premium arcade stick for your brand new PS4 or Xbox One then these are the arcade stick you should look at. Both the Razer Panthera and Razer Atrox feature almost similar features with the only difference being their compatibility.

There are ten highly tactile buttons along with an 8 way joystick which is something that you don’t find in budget arcade sticks. I love that they both come with an internal storage chamber that can be used to store the detachable screw-lock cable, screwdriver, and two extra buttons.

Cons

  • Expensive

The Neogeo Arcade Stick Pro edition is a work of art. The front plate has a translucent finish, along with an SNK electrostatic-style joystick. It’s a high-end fight stick one with 720p output and 3.5mm headphone jack. The buttons are all Sanwa Denshi parts with the superb responsiveness, and the clicking noise is minimal.

The HORI Switch Mini is a great starter stick, made for just Nintendo Switch. It is extremely affordable, coming at about $50, and the overall experience is more than decent. This arcade stick is made up of plastic and has rubberized feet to prevent it from moving.

Its build quality is remarkable for the price, with corners being cut at the right places for the reduced price. The plastic construction makes for an extremely light and portable arcade stick, which makes it great for traveling gamers. The footprint of the Arcade Stick Mini is also small, as implied by its name.

9. 8Bitdo Arcade Stick (Nintendo Switch, PC)

If you are a fan of Nintendo games that you will enjoy this arcade stick. I still remember my first Mario game which I played using an arcade stick and this sure does bring those memories back.

The PXN 0082 is an entry-level arcade stick with basic functions and decent build quality. The arcade stick has a small form factor and is made up of plastic with some rubber padding underneath to prevent it from sliding in the heat of the battle.

The PXN 0082 is more aimed towards beginners looking for a starting point rather than professionals and comes in at around $40. This arcade stick is ideal for people who travel a lot due to it being lightweight and small in size. The Alpha does not come with Sanwa Denshi Buttons, but the normal buttons are decent when you get the hang of them.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Which is The Best Arcade Stick?

I would easily pick Mayflash F500 because of its compatibility with wide range of devices and overall great performance. If you have a higher budget then go for F500 Elite which comes with Sanwa Denshi buttons.

From Mayflash to Hori and Qanba, professionals use all kinds of Arcade sticks. You can go through our above list to find some pro-level fighting sticks.

There is a section of gamers who prefer Arcade sticks to controllers mostly because of extra functionality. You have 8 buttons and you can customize them with your quick actions. As I said, for some users, that’s a huge advantage.

Using an Arcade stick is pretty simple, but you need to spend some time to get the grip of the buttons. You will have to connect your fighting stick with your gaming console or gamepad. And then you can start using an Arcade stick.