Choosing the right Arcade stick can significantly improve your gaming experience and make it far more fun. Choosing a poorly made one can leave you hating a fighting game and making you wish you had never even bothered following the hype around Arcade sticks.

The problem is that some Fight Sticks look super cool with retro designs for example but when you use them to game in reality they just plain and simple SUCK! If you get an excellent Arcade Stick, you are going to get to know it very well, and eventually, you be using it for all your fighting games so bearing that in mind, you want to take some time to do some real research especially considering the price of the things.

With that being said how do you even begin to find the right Arcade Stick? It’s a complicated process, but with this guide, it is going to be made super duper simple for you. We will look at the materials, longevity, past reviews and give you all the technical details needed to make sure you get the best arcade/fight stick currently available online in 2018.

These Are The Best Arcade Sticks

1) Mayflash F500 

The first arcade stick I am going to write about is the Mayflash F500. This is the newer version of the F300 and comes with a bunch of upgraded features. The F500 works with pretty much every single console out there, The PS3, PS4, Xbox One, 360, PC and even the god damn Android. It is made out of a high-quality metal material on the base and cover making this a high-quality arcade stick. It also features a headset feature which lets you plug your audio device into the arcade stick so you can listen to background music and live chat. If you want too as well, you can buy a separate wrist strap which will let you feel real-time vibrations in sync with your game. This is a superb fight stick for the amount of money and a definite upgrade to the F300.

2) Madcatz Alpha

The Madcatz Alpha is a perfect low-cost play station Arcade Stick. It is made out of plastic and when looking at the pictures you might be thinking that it seems cheap and not that good but in reality, when you have it in your hands the stick has a nice weight to it and the buttons are super responsive. It is quite small in size compared to some of the other arcade sticks on the market, and in this guide so this is ideal for someone who doesn’t want to take up too much space in their room for example. Take note though, don’t get this if you have super giant hands. The Madcatz Alpha is designed to only work with the PS3, and PS4 so keep that in mind if you are planning to purchase this one and another thing you should keep know of is that the buttons and stick both make a clicking sound when you are using it which can either be annoying for some people or a good for others.

3) Qanba Q4

The Qanba Q4 is a fight stick on the higher end of the price spectrum and a good choice for people looking to game on the PS4, PC and Xbox 360. The Qanba Q4 is sometimes quite hard to get hold of due the limited number built as a result of the quality handmade craftsmanship. If you do manage to get your hands on this arcade stick, there was an excellent chance you will not be let down as this stick is recommended by the most hardcore gamers out there. It features USB connection and a jack for your headphones when using it with the Xbox. It has felt on the box and rubber underneath making it sturdy when you are going in hard. It has 8 sanwa buttons and a JLF joystick.

4) Hori Arcade Stick Mini 

This wouldn’t be a good best arcade stick guide without featuring something from Hori and their “Arcade Stick Mini” is the perfect offering for gamers with a budget on the smaller side. This Arcade stick is tiny just like the name suggests and not best suited for people with large hands. Because of the size, however, this is a good option for gamers who travel around a lot. The box is made up out of plastic but has rubber underneath stopping it from sliding around. The handle and the 8 buttons are sturdy and quite responsive. This device will only work with the PlayStation 4 and 3. This is a great beginner arcade stick but don’t be expecting a super high-quality piece of equipment as it is pretty much the cheapest option out there.

5)  HORI Real Arcade Pro 4 Kai

I mentioned already that Hori is well known for Arcade Sticks and that the Pro 4 Kai is their higher end arcade stick for sale. This costs almost triple the price of their mini stick, but that is due to the high quality of the pro 4 and reviews back that up. If you don’t trust reviews, then let me tell you that Pro Gamers around the world use the Pro 4 Kai and I have used this and can say with confidence that this is a beast. The HAYABUSA joystick is super responsive and feels strong just like the 8 Kuro Buttons. I will mention though that the buttons are quite loud when pressing them rapidly so keep that in mind. Because of the price, you can expect this too last longer than the cheaper options out there, and if you are serious about getting an arcade stick, then the Hori Pro 4 Kai is an excellent option.

6) Mad Catz Super Street Fighter IV TE:S

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The Mad Catz Super Street Fighter IV on the surface seems very expensive but as the saying goes “You get what you pay for” and that seems to be true with this device. The Japanese styled buttons can spring a surprise on some people who have never used them before, but for most people, they end up enjoying them as they are generally much faster in response times. This is quite a big device, and so if you are playing for extended amounts of time, it is quite useful to reduce pain in your fingers and wrist if that is something you experience with other devices. The one thing I would say is that the Mad Catz street fighter is probably more geared towards gamers with more experience and if you are a beginner then you should expect to require some time to get used to how this works.

7) Razer Atrox Arcade Stick

Razer is known to have many hardcore fanboys so I thought I would include this arcade stick in here for those guys. They have priced this quite high most probably because of their brand name because nothing else with this seems to justify the high price in my opinion. This is designed only for Xbox One players who have Windows 10 or 8 installed on their computers, so naturally, you are quite limited there straight away. The best thing about the Atrox I would say is the ability the mod it the device but if you’re looking for a high priced arcade stick for serious gaming you might now want to more money and time trying to change up things. It is quite a durable device, and of course, Razer is a well-known brand with a lot of high-quality gaming products.

The End!

So there we have it, 7 amazing arcade sticks all completely at different price ranges meaning that there is something there of everyone whatever the budget. Some of the arcade sticks are more responsive than others, and some are easier to mod. Most of them have good warranty programs and refund policies so even if you take all the time in the world to do your due diligence with articles like this one you will still most likely be safe even after you have ordered the device and have it in your gaming setup. If you have any questions, then leave it in the comments. This post will be updated regularly when new Arcade sticks are released in the market. Remember that an arcade stick won’t work for all PC games and you might still need a good gaming mouse to get the best out of your fighting games.Enter your text here…