Back in the days of my yoof I used to dream of thrashing all and sundry at the Snes version of Street Fighter 2 on the legendary GamesMaster and bringing home the coveted golden joystick. While there is talk of a remake of the show, and I’ve got my fingers crossed, the closest I can possible get to this is the Street Fighter 4 joystick. Ahh ahh ahhhh!!! (angels not screams).
While it takes a while to get used to the sheer accuracy of the Madcatz fight stick to master the ultra combos, you’ll instantly be taken back to being the ten year old kid down at the arcade in Rhyl on your (rainy) summer holiday, as soon as your mitts touch down on the brilliant white joystick.
Even if you never manage to master some of the more complex moves, it’s just fun to throw any move strategy you have out the window, mash the buttons like a mad man and throw everything into the joy stick. However, I reckon the best bit is facing off against all comers in multi player with the Street Fighter IV controller. When your mates come over, they’ll brick it when you crack it out, plus when you go online on the winner stays on mode you’ll know that you’ve got the advantage.
It’s not just Street Fighter games that you can blister your fingers on either. All the recent fighting games can feel your button smashing fury. Tekken 6 was made for a controller like this. Plus there’s the new Soul Caliber games coming out soon to test your golden joystick skills out on.
The Street Fighter 4 controller is a bit of a grown up kid’s toy, like the arcade machine Tom Hanks gets himself in Big. It’s over £100, so it’s not exactly a cheap one and with the Xbox Kinect coming out in November (with a price tag not too dissimilar) you’ve got to imagine that it’s days are slightly numbered, but for sheer nostalgia and brutal old school arcade fun it’s class.
Street Fighter 4 arcade joystick review: 4.7/5
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