Best Joysticks for Fighters

orion3311

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Yeah I know its been covered a million times, and for some reason some searching just isn't doing it today. I have a Dynamo HS-5 with Darkstalkers in it, and plan to keep it as a fighter cab. Already put all new buttons on it, but whats the best joysticks? I know Happs aren't really well regarded for fighters, so is there any other models of Sanwa or whatever thats a great overall fighter stick? Not looking to spend a ton of $ but wont mind if they'll last a while and make the cab much more enjoyable.

(I dont play fighters that much but have gotten complaints that the beat up joys in it now just don't work that well - won't do the moves).
 

Thanks! Thats the thread I was looking for.

To save someone the time of having to read it, the general consensus is that it looks like Happ Competitions are the overall best for fighters. Its really personal preference but I'm looking at it from a "what should the cab have if I were an OP and gave a crap" point of view.
 
best joysticks for fighters are sanwa jlf and seimitsu ls32

competitions suck,I guarantee for that as a current competitions owner and hardcore (enough) fightings gamer,even sanwa and seimitsu knockoffs work by far better than competitions
 
Coulda swore we discussed this recently. :p

It always has, always is and always shall come down to personal preference. Unless you're looking for something "authentic" based off of what you played on back in your day, what matters is what you feel comfortable with here.

The only "wrong answer" here is that there is an "absolute answer". In all the years of competitive play, I've never seen a situation where everyone is absolutely fine using the same stick/button hardware as everyone else. It's like a bowling ball. Drill it for you, not everyone else. ;)

In my American cabs, I use Happ/IL since that's what is closest to what was originally in those cabinets back in the days. For my tournament stick and candy cab, JLF TP 8YT.

Edit: The JLF, once you get use to Japanese hardware in general, requires less wrist/arm movement compared to a Happ/IL. *My* reactions come out quicker on this stick, but again, mileage varies depending on who you are. Depending on the restriction plate you have installed, this will also alter how you execute moves (square allowing a guide for the corners ((down forward, up forward, up back, down back)), octagonal allowing for a notch for every "side" of the stick ((down, down forward, forward, up forward, up, back up, back, back down)). Happ/IL has no restriction plate per say. If you're the type of player that likes "feeling" where the stick is, you can still play based off of how the bottom of the shaft hits the switches (but its still a world apart). Perfect 360's are hell if you need that "feeling", because there is absolutely nothing there to tell you where you're at (not restriction plate and no switches).

Good luck.
 
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Well said SOSAGE... Competitions don't "SUCK" and don't talk trash about them like they are "american" because they aren't. They are actually Italian. Happ imported them and re-named them. iL in fact stands for industries Lorenzo, which Happ eventually bought them and then shipped production to China or they cloned the same stick in china, where quality went down. the Competition is just Happ's name for them and Eurostick is what Ultimarc called them since they couldn't call them Competition or shouldn't.

The game is DarkStalkers and it shipped with Competitions and Ultimates. The problem with Ultimates is the fact that the square actuator is so think that it can easily crack. Also it barely hits the button on the cherry switch so that many operators put a washer bellow the E-clip just to move the actuator down so that it's more reliable. Ultimates shipped in many MVS machines so they are pretty common in that application. Universally they are not known to be as good.

I have watched the best american fighters take home built Happ competition sticks go against Daigo w/ his Namco PS2 joystick which is much like a Sanwa. (few years ago.) They have lost but at competitive play you'll see everything under the sun so there is no "best." In small sticks JLFs do well.

It really is up to you but you're not going to find Sanwa JLFs in a Dynamo or other JAMMA wood cab cause it's just weird.

The basic answers are.
Competition or Supers for US style cabs. I prefer older iL (Spanish) built sticks myself for my upright fighters
Sanwa or Seimitsu for Japanese candy cabs.
Dunno for other regions.

Both styles work for the best players and it's really up to you. The stick you grew up with is most likely the most consistent stick for you to execute your moves on.

There is no true answer. Joystick range of motion, dead space, gate shape, spring weight, and grip style all play into this.

Some sticks also work better for different games.

Another example is that I ran into this Korean (@ EVO) player that happen to like Crown joysticks cause they are very common in Korea. He was pretty awesome and I got a couple of them just to check out. I just never installed them in a stick or machine. Round gate, lever actuator and a rubber grommet for the return to center spring. They are well made and play fine but have a "different" feel.

There is no one answer... "what did you grow up with?" is the answer to your own question
 
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IL is spanish not italian and competitions suck for 2D fighting games(only for fighting,for all others are excellent)if you are a casual in fightings you wont notice that they are bad,but if you play somewhat serious you will hate them,like what I did

you can ask any dude whos making custom fighting sticks which stick he prefers,90% they will answer sanwa or seimitsu and 10% or less,competition

korean joysticks are famous for tekken because koreans are the best players in tekken and are preffered from serious tekken players only
 
How did I guess Oyama would be touting his opinion as fact in here? lol

It's all personal preference. I enjoy the feel of competition (old style, not the new remakes) for 2D fighters, and Sanwas for 3D fighters. A friend of mine just came over to play some Tekken 5 DR not long ago, and couldn't stand the Sanwas in there. However, he's awesome on GGXX AC, which is 2D and uses Comps.

I had some Seimitus in my candy cab, and could NOT stand them. I hated the gate on them for playing KOF98. But, again, just personal preference.

So, it all boils down to what you like best. I enjoy them both, and have been playing fighters.... forever.
 
Yomama

Yes they are spanish, tried to correct myself but I missed a mention of them being italian which is incorrect.

Why do should I justify my recomendations against your sweeping statements here?

At one time I was a top custom joystick builder at BYOAC forums. I was building Sanwa sticks when no one could even figure out how to order them. I would get them from hong kong since I'm chinese. I documented simple hacks to PSOne controllers, mod Hori sticks for the Octagonal gate or the whole JLF body. I was first to build using Flash optical JLF for example.

I've also worked at Capcom and built custom sticks for some of the top players that happen to work there. Many were Competition based sticks.

In the fighting games that I play, they mostly range in Capcom and 3D fighters. You self admittedly are heavily SNK fighter slanted/biased. The OP was about a Dynamo HS5 Darkstalkers machine so sticking JLFs in there is just wrong. Context dude, context

I know, I know, I know...

Personally I believe that Japanese sticks are better because of the smaller, faster, shorter acurate movements. I would not say that any particular stick would suck as long as it has consistent movements. Many top tier US players do fine w/ competitions. Ultimates are not as good but some machines have them so if I must hand someone their ass on an ultimate... I'll do it.

I have built all kinds of sticks and actually can play on almost anything. Ultimates, supers, competitions, seimitsus, JLFs (bat and ball), JLWs (which feel different from JLFs), Happ P360s, Optical, switched, Square gate, round gate, Octagonal JLFs.... just never tried fighting games with a WICO. I have a personal custom and console joystick collection that is pretty huge. I may have been one of the very first custom builders as I built a pair for the Japanese release of SF2 for the Super Famicom.

Maybe it just boils down to this simple thing... the Competition doesn't feel right to you cause you aren't used to handling something with a thicker shaft...

I love the movie Ip Man staring Donnie Yen. @ the end of one of the bigs first fighting scenes he told his opponent that it wasn't the style that was better, he said. "it's just you"
 
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so you are chinese,lei ho ma? :)
I have been to china many times before and played in arcades,something that few people here did.
you worked before in capcom usa right?of course they would bring competitions to people since that was the standart in usa.But as you know,things have changed,japanese sticks dominate the arcades and the custom sticks worldwide,even in usa.
actually I found competitions even worse for capcom games,I couldnt even execute the helicopter kick with ken. :)
if someone thinks that competitions are fine in fighters its ok,stick with them,whatever

Another great new movie with Donnie Yen is Legend of the fist:the return of Chen Zhen,highly reccomended :)
 
Seriously? Regardless of joystick, you couldn't even do the helicopter kick? I don't see how your opinion even counts on this topic. :)

yep with competitions I can hardly do it,sometimes cant at all,that shows how much crap competitions are for me and that was a ridiculous small but serious example
with my other seimitsu clones I didnt have any problems,kens helicopter kick executed at ease and ofcourse not only that!
I am not a noob in fightings,dont rush so easy pal :)
 
Analogy: A good photographer can compose great photos regardless of what camera he uses.

The fact you can't do simple moves on a standard joystick tells us a lot about you as a player.

Again, it's the player, not the joystick.
 
Analogy: A good photographer can compose great photos regardless of what camera he uses.

The fact you can't do simple moves on a standard joystick tells us a lot about you as a player.

Again, it's the player, not the joystick.

then why I can with seimitsu or sanwa or their clones or with keyboard or with joypads?
and I told you I am not a noob,dont highlight only what you want
its the player AND the joystick,competition sucks,at least I cant go far with it,thats all
fighters are made for japanese style sticks anyway
 
then why I can with seimitsu or sanwa or their clones or with keyboard or with joypads?
and I told you I am not a noob,dont highlight only what you want
its the player AND the joystick,competition sucks,at least I cant go far with it,thats all
fighters are made for japanese style sticks anyway

I smell a noobity noobie noob! LOL

wow, you accusing someone else of taking something out of context. That's what you're all about bud.

Back to my point about the OP (ORIGINAL POST/POSTER) and his question about the stick in the context of Darkstalkers in a DYNAMO HS5. Look it up. Metal panel in a wood body. ALL AMERICAN BUDDY. It's not a candy cab.

Like I said to you. IMHO japanese movements are better. They are smaller and many in the US can't get used to the ball top and smaller movements. Maybe YOU really are just used to the thin shaft and short strokes.

In the context of his question, an american popular stick is the best choice. Sticking something odd in there would also be bad cause it gives him the advantage over guests that don't play on the uncommon stick.

It's also why cross train on all sorts of controlls/sticks. It's so that someone can't just say.. this stick sucks! I can say... works fine for me.... HAHAHAHAHAH, You must be a NOOOOOOOOBBBBBBB

Maybe you can just start a thread that is accurate where you call it.

"I SUCK ON US STICKS."
 
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