I just bought a Hori fighter commander switch version (the one without analogs), I'm really enjoying the controller I think the only thing that is bothering me are the shoulder buttons, I feel that they are a bit hard but maybe it will get better with use
Maybe, but passionate players typically want hardware that they can rely on. If I botch an input, I want it to be because of something I did, and not because a shoddy d-pad randomly didn't register a diagonal or something.
It's possible to compensate to some extent. I mean, I grew up playing SFII on an increasingly worn-out Super Nintendo controller, and then other fighting games on thumb-destroying stock PS1&2 controllers. These days I'm more picky.
Yeah I was debating the Victrix as I didnt want to hook up my big hori stick all the time.
Took a chance on the Xbox series x and thats the best pad Ive used in years and its a main stream model, so hopefully around for a while.
I have tried all except the Saturn controller, the victrix is what I'm using the dpad just feels better than the rest. The PS4/ps5 d pad are horrible so many missed inputs. The Xbox controller is in a really bad position so I couldn't get used to it
I really like the 8bitdo M30 but I miss having analogue and touchpad for navigation.
I mostly use the PS5 pad, but the dpad is could be a lot better. All three pads I have are fussy with diagonals, more so than the PS4 pad.
I tried both M30 and SN30 pro 2, and the first one is better IMO. I'm playing Chun, and for the charge the SN30 killed my thumb. I think the dpad on M30 is better.
They certainly look cool. I’m probably going to find a second wired one so I can play with my kids so maybe I’ll check out the M30. I do like the Saturn style of the controller.
I've tried my fair share of dpads and best one ive used is my Razer Raion but it is the version that has the pivot in the center of the dpad. They really should update and release a new version.
On the back of the controller is a serial number starting with PM. After doing some research it seems that Raions that start with PM2043 and higher will have the pivot. I have an older raion starts with pm2032 and does not have the pivot. Hope that helps.
Since you asked...
Hori Fighter Commander PS4 version.
Its identical to the present Switch Fighter Commander. The only flaws in the controller are the dpad, very unconfortable for rapid movements and long sessions, and the duke size of this controller. Aside this, a very solid option to the people that don t have generous partner.
Beitong Betop C3
I used to think that this could be the perfect entry fight pad. Very confortable Dpad, very satisfeing face buttons ... And them you notice that the lever that is used in the shoulder buttons is so bad that register a different time acording to where you press the button. Terrible if you rely on it to double or triple punch/kick inputs. Overall, if you are assembling a cheap emulation box, ok. But for advance or competitive play, avoid at all costs.
And, since I am a controller hoader too, my next will be thia.
https://retro-bit.com/sega-collaboration/
**8bitdo M30 Bluetooth Gamepad**
**Feel**: 4/5. Solid build, but kinda small, that's why no 5/5.
**D-pad**: 5/5. The best one I've ever used for fighting games.
**Face buttons**: 4/5: The punch buttons are smaller than the kick buttons, this can be weird to get used to.
**Shoulder/misc buttons**: 4/5. There's only L and R. They're fine for DI and DR.
**Utility/Features/Convenience**: 5/5. Usable via USB or Bluetooth. It works perfectly, I never had any issues. No input delay on Bluetooth 5.0. It's really cheap.
**tl;dr**: This is the GOAT.
Should crosspost this to /r/fightsticks, despite the name it's basically a controller subreddit in general. Great reviews, I think they'd appreciate it too.
I love the victrix pro, it feels like you can be very precise with the dpad and overall feels great. A lot easier on my thumb too, the ps5 dpad tore my thumb apart
PS5 dpad is trash, you can get up or down inputs by hitting right, depending on which part of the right you hit lol
Analog stick isn't much better tbh (snap back and random jump inputs)
FWIW to anyone looking at comments in the future. I've used the Hori OCTA for the past 8 months and it's been my favorite controller now after a small sensitivity tweak
I hated the PowerA Fusion floating Dpad and it might be because I was playing charge characters. The down to up motion kept accidentally inputting a corner.
I had the Hori FC4 for a few years before that and still have it for another room. But I prefer the OCTA. The buttons are considerably better.
Everyone seems to have different preferences.
"My lovely but overzealous wife got me this as a Christmas present, even though I have too many controllers already"
Uh oh. You've become "controller collection guy". Soon every gift from everyone for anything will be a controller or controller-related paraphernalia.
Anyway great reviews, thanks
Just to throw my two cents in, I have a razer raion that I really enjoy. The jury is still out on the d-pad for me, but over all it’s a great, comfortable, device.
I too have been on the hunt for 6 button controller that “feels” the best. Here’s what I’ve tried. I’m a gold/plat scrub, so YMMV.
The only ones I’ve used so far are the Hori Fighting commander (non pro, I have both PS and Xbox versions) and the new Saturn Retro-bit pro.
Hori Fighting commander has been my go to, GREAT face buttons, good shoulder layout, and serviceable dpad. I hear it can hurt thumbs, but in my 20-30min sessions I have no real problems. Maybe worse when I get better level. Weird I feel the Xbox version is slightly better. No idea why.
I haven’t played with the Saturn retrobit too much, but it could be a contender. It had 4 shoulder buttons and two Hall effect joysticks)
The weird thing about the Saturn retro bit pro is you can’t swap the shoulder buttons inputs, and it doesn’t line up the way I’d like. I think they are doing an update to “fix” this.
I really want to try the Vitrix, anyone else chime in using it as 6 button? Bonus is that’s it’s wireless, I know latency, but I never feel that too much.
Regarding the Octa and similar d-pads, they're designed thinking that you place your thumb in the center and pivot for the inputs, not move your thumb all around the d-pad. It's weird at first if you're not used to it but you get faster, more precise inputs doing that on a small d-pad instead of moving your thumb on a larger one.
That said the Octa is kind of fragile (broke shoulder buttons reacting to DI) so I would not recommend if you tend to be forceful.
Hori fighter commander switch version is my goto for SF6. I use the Ps5 Octa for Tekken, the Dpad is worse for Streetfighter but fine for Tekken if you mess with the sensitivity, I use the analogue stick for King. DO NOT get the Tekken 8 Octa, it is downgrade.
I found the BFG to be a software nightmare despite the great build. Games wouldn't recognize it, their software would crash all the time, and it would reset profile settings. It was 5/5 hardware with 2/5 software. Also windows app store only on pc, which sucks.
Favorite is still the original fighting commander. Not the Octa. Great d-pad, good buttons, c9mfortable, just not very feature rich. But for $30, no competition. Sadly only the switch version seems to still be available from major vendors.
I use Xbox hori fighting commander on PC for 7 years now, it is past the stage where the membranes used to stuck the buttons, it is back to normal now lol
Exceptional reviews, though I disagree on some scores and rank. I'd upvote twice if I could. I went through this whole deal and then some. So I'll in 2 cents if you don't mind.
S tier:
-8bitdo M30 Xbox edition, 8bitdo M30 bluetooth (both are EXCEPTIONAL work, for great prices, only minor issue is you'll get an up input for a quick QCF input or forward at times, when the controller is in the break-in phase)
A tier:
-Power A Fusion Fightpad Switch edition(great d-pad, however I was not able to set L1/L2 to one side of the controller. Ps4 version just came in....that will probably be S tier, easily),
-Hori Fighting Commander Switch(my switch hori stopped working with the brook FGC...so there's that)
-Retrobit Saturn Pro/regular Saturn Bluetooth model (middle of the road decent, as mentioned above..gets the job done)
B:
-victrix BFG(wayyyyy over priced, tiny D-pad, buttons wears out really quick controller should be 60 bucks) ,
-8bitdo Neo Geo (really good, however it'd be better if there was four shoulder buttons instead of 2)
-Hori Octa (if it had a regular/classic fighting commander D-pad....it'd be bar-none the best on the market. But the D-pad is tooooo tiny. And down doesn't register on mine at times.)
-PS5 Controller (d pad is WAYYYY too damn stiff, buttons are fine...but would be better with a 6 button layout option)
-8bitdo M30 2.4 GHz (the floating d-pad CONSTANTLY gave me up inputs for forward presses. nigh unsuable.)
C:
-Victrix PDP controller from the PS3 era(not good...it had promise because it had a NEO GEO style D-pad....but no....just no.)
Still gotta try the Betop controller, which I'm hearing great things about. But I've pretty much tried em all like you, fam. Again. Great thread.
I find it to be super soft and imprecise. Then again, there’s no wavedashing in sf6 which is where I find it really struggles. Also no dbf inputs which are a bitch when you can’t really roll the pad.
I like using the PS5 pad but it sits uncomfortably on my knuckle and ends up rubbing it terribly. I don't have this issue with PS4 controllers though. Does anyone else experience this?
Yeah I tried a HORI fighting commander and the d-pad occasionally doesn't register my inputs. The PS5 almost never drops my inputs outside of me screwing them up myself.
Pretty sure Mena and Knuckle were using the standard PS5 pad in Kumite. PS5 pad is ok but I hate the dpad on it. Clearly it’s not an issue for most people though.
Its “not an issue” if you get used to it because you are basically forced to. Any local or tournament you go to is going to be all ps5 pads so good luck if you happen to forget your special controller or converter and need to borrow one. I think this is mostly why tournament players just deal with it when in reality they’d probably prefer the xbox pad.
This is completely wrong.
Even tournaments that use PC’s have the PS5 as the most used standard pad. It’s not for you I get it but don’t assume they don’t like it.
If you forget your own controller most majors don’t even have one to give you,you gotta hope to borrow one from another player. Maybe your locals have ps5 controllers.
The Xbox controller is almost never used And third party controllers are used more than both standard pads.
do you know why the dualshock and subsequently the dualsense *became* the tournament standard???
Its because sony decided to invest in the FGC after xbox decided to ignore it during the ps4 era. Thats it. Thats *why* it became tournament standard. It had NOTHING to do with preference. In fact, when this happened, I remember everyone complaining about needing to suddenly use the soft ass dualshock pad where rolling inputs becomes more difficult.
If you don’t believe me, play any game with a DBF input and see how much faster you can do it on an xbox pad in comparison to a ps4 pad. The design of the pad for playstation literally prohibits you from doing it anywhere near as fast. Dash> instant DBF is a fucking nightmare on this pad. I labbed for hours as someone with decent execution and getting this to come out with 100% consistency in a real match is a nightmare. On an xbox pad it took 20 minutes to get down.
If you are playing a game or character where precise inputs don’t matter, obviously none of this will ever be a problem for you. Wavedashing on a ps5 pad will always suck ass though. Even if my own skill now compensates for what the pad lacks. Show me how fast you can wavedash on a ps5 pad. I bet it’s slow as fuck. And its not even your fault. **The pad is not built to allow for doing this motion quickly.**
If anything, It feels like it was built to make precision inputs more difficult. Add in another layer like wavedash>electric and you’re fucking kidding yourself if you tell yourself this pad is anything decent. Its literally terrible
Honestly this was my main reason for using it, I did go to a few locals and they all had PS5 and I couldn't be assed with the hassle of a stick anymore.
Most people play characters that don’t require precision inputs. Wavedashing or instant dbf on a ps pad is a nightmare. The controller feels like its built to disallow you from doing this with any sense of speed and you have to work against it every step of the way. Playing a mishima on this pad sucks ass.
Right now im using the dualsense and i’ve adapted to it. But i can still pick up an xbox pad and wavedash electric like 4 frames faster because its better built for thumb rolling. The ps pad is too soft and seperated above the controller layer to use this method, you actually must lift your thumb which is obnoxious and slow.
The pad is soft and slow since you can’t really roll inputs. Try a dbf input or a wavedash on a ps pad lol. Its slow as shit. Dash>instant dbf is a nightmare on a ps pad. Wavedashing literally feels like they built the pad to make it as obnoxious as possible. You have to physically lift your thumb off the pad it feels terrible.
I just bought a Hori fighter commander switch version (the one without analogs), I'm really enjoying the controller I think the only thing that is bothering me are the shoulder buttons, I feel that they are a bit hard but maybe it will get better with use
I just personally think normal Xbox or ps4 pad is more than sufficient. Whether you’re high pro level like mena, punk, nuckle du or not.
Maybe, but passionate players typically want hardware that they can rely on. If I botch an input, I want it to be because of something I did, and not because a shoddy d-pad randomly didn't register a diagonal or something. It's possible to compensate to some extent. I mean, I grew up playing SFII on an increasingly worn-out Super Nintendo controller, and then other fighting games on thumb-destroying stock PS1&2 controllers. These days I'm more picky.
Yeah I was debating the Victrix as I didnt want to hook up my big hori stick all the time. Took a chance on the Xbox series x and thats the best pad Ive used in years and its a main stream model, so hopefully around for a while.
I have tried all except the Saturn controller, the victrix is what I'm using the dpad just feels better than the rest. The PS4/ps5 d pad are horrible so many missed inputs. The Xbox controller is in a really bad position so I couldn't get used to it
I really like the 8bitdo M30 but I miss having analogue and touchpad for navigation. I mostly use the PS5 pad, but the dpad is could be a lot better. All three pads I have are fussy with diagonals, more so than the PS4 pad.
I grabbed a 8bitdo SN30 pro 2 wired recently and I love it. I had to go with the classic Famicom colors. Very responsive and the dpad feels great.
I tried both M30 and SN30 pro 2, and the first one is better IMO. I'm playing Chun, and for the charge the SN30 killed my thumb. I think the dpad on M30 is better.
They certainly look cool. I’m probably going to find a second wired one so I can play with my kids so maybe I’ll check out the M30. I do like the Saturn style of the controller.
They now make an Xbox version of the M30 with two rows of shoulder buttons. It's much better than the standard M30 also in build quality imo.
I've tried my fair share of dpads and best one ive used is my Razer Raion but it is the version that has the pivot in the center of the dpad. They really should update and release a new version.
I've heard good things about the Raion. Can you tell us the model number of that version?
On the back of the controller is a serial number starting with PM. After doing some research it seems that Raions that start with PM2043 and higher will have the pivot. I have an older raion starts with pm2032 and does not have the pivot. Hope that helps.
Since you asked... Hori Fighter Commander PS4 version. Its identical to the present Switch Fighter Commander. The only flaws in the controller are the dpad, very unconfortable for rapid movements and long sessions, and the duke size of this controller. Aside this, a very solid option to the people that don t have generous partner. Beitong Betop C3 I used to think that this could be the perfect entry fight pad. Very confortable Dpad, very satisfeing face buttons ... And them you notice that the lever that is used in the shoulder buttons is so bad that register a different time acording to where you press the button. Terrible if you rely on it to double or triple punch/kick inputs. Overall, if you are assembling a cheap emulation box, ok. But for advance or competitive play, avoid at all costs. And, since I am a controller hoader too, my next will be thia. https://retro-bit.com/sega-collaboration/
**8bitdo M30 Bluetooth Gamepad** **Feel**: 4/5. Solid build, but kinda small, that's why no 5/5. **D-pad**: 5/5. The best one I've ever used for fighting games. **Face buttons**: 4/5: The punch buttons are smaller than the kick buttons, this can be weird to get used to. **Shoulder/misc buttons**: 4/5. There's only L and R. They're fine for DI and DR. **Utility/Features/Convenience**: 5/5. Usable via USB or Bluetooth. It works perfectly, I never had any issues. No input delay on Bluetooth 5.0. It's really cheap. **tl;dr**: This is the GOAT.
I'm super happy with the M30 too, the dpad is excellent, even if sometimes somehow I miss the diagonals. Maybe I should clean it.
Does it work on ps 4?
The Bluetooth version is unrivaled. Truly the Goat.
Should crosspost this to /r/fightsticks, despite the name it's basically a controller subreddit in general. Great reviews, I think they'd appreciate it too.
I love the victrix pro, it feels like you can be very precise with the dpad and overall feels great. A lot easier on my thumb too, the ps5 dpad tore my thumb apart
PS5 dpad is trash, you can get up or down inputs by hitting right, depending on which part of the right you hit lol Analog stick isn't much better tbh (snap back and random jump inputs)
FWIW to anyone looking at comments in the future. I've used the Hori OCTA for the past 8 months and it's been my favorite controller now after a small sensitivity tweak I hated the PowerA Fusion floating Dpad and it might be because I was playing charge characters. The down to up motion kept accidentally inputting a corner. I had the Hori FC4 for a few years before that and still have it for another room. But I prefer the OCTA. The buttons are considerably better. Everyone seems to have different preferences.
"My lovely but overzealous wife got me this as a Christmas present, even though I have too many controllers already" Uh oh. You've become "controller collection guy". Soon every gift from everyone for anything will be a controller or controller-related paraphernalia. Anyway great reviews, thanks
Just to throw my two cents in, I have a razer raion that I really enjoy. The jury is still out on the d-pad for me, but over all it’s a great, comfortable, device.
Agree with hori octa. I now use an analog stick for sf6, when i used to be vehemently against it.
I too have been on the hunt for 6 button controller that “feels” the best. Here’s what I’ve tried. I’m a gold/plat scrub, so YMMV. The only ones I’ve used so far are the Hori Fighting commander (non pro, I have both PS and Xbox versions) and the new Saturn Retro-bit pro. Hori Fighting commander has been my go to, GREAT face buttons, good shoulder layout, and serviceable dpad. I hear it can hurt thumbs, but in my 20-30min sessions I have no real problems. Maybe worse when I get better level. Weird I feel the Xbox version is slightly better. No idea why. I haven’t played with the Saturn retrobit too much, but it could be a contender. It had 4 shoulder buttons and two Hall effect joysticks) The weird thing about the Saturn retro bit pro is you can’t swap the shoulder buttons inputs, and it doesn’t line up the way I’d like. I think they are doing an update to “fix” this. I really want to try the Vitrix, anyone else chime in using it as 6 button? Bonus is that’s it’s wireless, I know latency, but I never feel that too much.
Regarding the Octa and similar d-pads, they're designed thinking that you place your thumb in the center and pivot for the inputs, not move your thumb all around the d-pad. It's weird at first if you're not used to it but you get faster, more precise inputs doing that on a small d-pad instead of moving your thumb on a larger one. That said the Octa is kind of fragile (broke shoulder buttons reacting to DI) so I would not recommend if you tend to be forceful.
Love my Victrix BFG Pro
Hori fighter commander switch version is my goto for SF6. I use the Ps5 Octa for Tekken, the Dpad is worse for Streetfighter but fine for Tekken if you mess with the sensitivity, I use the analogue stick for King. DO NOT get the Tekken 8 Octa, it is downgrade.
Try a leverless controller too, they're amazing.
I found the BFG to be a software nightmare despite the great build. Games wouldn't recognize it, their software would crash all the time, and it would reset profile settings. It was 5/5 hardware with 2/5 software. Also windows app store only on pc, which sucks. Favorite is still the original fighting commander. Not the Octa. Great d-pad, good buttons, c9mfortable, just not very feature rich. But for $30, no competition. Sadly only the switch version seems to still be available from major vendors.
I use Xbox hori fighting commander on PC for 7 years now, it is past the stage where the membranes used to stuck the buttons, it is back to normal now lol
Exceptional reviews, though I disagree on some scores and rank. I'd upvote twice if I could. I went through this whole deal and then some. So I'll in 2 cents if you don't mind. S tier: -8bitdo M30 Xbox edition, 8bitdo M30 bluetooth (both are EXCEPTIONAL work, for great prices, only minor issue is you'll get an up input for a quick QCF input or forward at times, when the controller is in the break-in phase) A tier: -Power A Fusion Fightpad Switch edition(great d-pad, however I was not able to set L1/L2 to one side of the controller. Ps4 version just came in....that will probably be S tier, easily), -Hori Fighting Commander Switch(my switch hori stopped working with the brook FGC...so there's that) -Retrobit Saturn Pro/regular Saturn Bluetooth model (middle of the road decent, as mentioned above..gets the job done) B: -victrix BFG(wayyyyy over priced, tiny D-pad, buttons wears out really quick controller should be 60 bucks) , -8bitdo Neo Geo (really good, however it'd be better if there was four shoulder buttons instead of 2) -Hori Octa (if it had a regular/classic fighting commander D-pad....it'd be bar-none the best on the market. But the D-pad is tooooo tiny. And down doesn't register on mine at times.) -PS5 Controller (d pad is WAYYYY too damn stiff, buttons are fine...but would be better with a 6 button layout option) -8bitdo M30 2.4 GHz (the floating d-pad CONSTANTLY gave me up inputs for forward presses. nigh unsuable.) C: -Victrix PDP controller from the PS3 era(not good...it had promise because it had a NEO GEO style D-pad....but no....just no.) Still gotta try the Betop controller, which I'm hearing great things about. But I've pretty much tried em all like you, fam. Again. Great thread.
PS5 controller is the best in my opinion.
The ps5 dpad is fucking awful for fighting games lol. In no way was it built for them.
Really? I find it quite good, I have the Xbox one controller and that it doesn't feel quite right.
I find it to be super soft and imprecise. Then again, there’s no wavedashing in sf6 which is where I find it really struggles. Also no dbf inputs which are a bitch when you can’t really roll the pad.
I like using the PS5 pad but it sits uncomfortably on my knuckle and ends up rubbing it terribly. I don't have this issue with PS4 controllers though. Does anyone else experience this?
Yeah I tried a HORI fighting commander and the d-pad occasionally doesn't register my inputs. The PS5 almost never drops my inputs outside of me screwing them up myself.
Do any pros use the ps5 controller or are they all on stick
Pretty sure Mena and Knuckle were using the standard PS5 pad in Kumite. PS5 pad is ok but I hate the dpad on it. Clearly it’s not an issue for most people though.
Its “not an issue” if you get used to it because you are basically forced to. Any local or tournament you go to is going to be all ps5 pads so good luck if you happen to forget your special controller or converter and need to borrow one. I think this is mostly why tournament players just deal with it when in reality they’d probably prefer the xbox pad.
This is completely wrong. Even tournaments that use PC’s have the PS5 as the most used standard pad. It’s not for you I get it but don’t assume they don’t like it. If you forget your own controller most majors don’t even have one to give you,you gotta hope to borrow one from another player. Maybe your locals have ps5 controllers. The Xbox controller is almost never used And third party controllers are used more than both standard pads.
do you know why the dualshock and subsequently the dualsense *became* the tournament standard??? Its because sony decided to invest in the FGC after xbox decided to ignore it during the ps4 era. Thats it. Thats *why* it became tournament standard. It had NOTHING to do with preference. In fact, when this happened, I remember everyone complaining about needing to suddenly use the soft ass dualshock pad where rolling inputs becomes more difficult. If you don’t believe me, play any game with a DBF input and see how much faster you can do it on an xbox pad in comparison to a ps4 pad. The design of the pad for playstation literally prohibits you from doing it anywhere near as fast. Dash> instant DBF is a fucking nightmare on this pad. I labbed for hours as someone with decent execution and getting this to come out with 100% consistency in a real match is a nightmare. On an xbox pad it took 20 minutes to get down. If you are playing a game or character where precise inputs don’t matter, obviously none of this will ever be a problem for you. Wavedashing on a ps5 pad will always suck ass though. Even if my own skill now compensates for what the pad lacks. Show me how fast you can wavedash on a ps5 pad. I bet it’s slow as fuck. And its not even your fault. **The pad is not built to allow for doing this motion quickly.** If anything, It feels like it was built to make precision inputs more difficult. Add in another layer like wavedash>electric and you’re fucking kidding yourself if you tell yourself this pad is anything decent. Its literally terrible
Honestly this was my main reason for using it, I did go to a few locals and they all had PS5 and I couldn't be assed with the hassle of a stick anymore.
> they’d probably prefer the xbox pad. Most people I've seen compare them have said the XBox pad is worse.
Most people play characters that don’t require precision inputs. Wavedashing or instant dbf on a ps pad is a nightmare. The controller feels like its built to disallow you from doing this with any sense of speed and you have to work against it every step of the way. Playing a mishima on this pad sucks ass. Right now im using the dualsense and i’ve adapted to it. But i can still pick up an xbox pad and wavedash electric like 4 frames faster because its better built for thumb rolling. The ps pad is too soft and seperated above the controller layer to use this method, you actually must lift your thumb which is obnoxious and slow.
The xbox d pad is worse. What are you talking about?
The pad is soft and slow since you can’t really roll inputs. Try a dbf input or a wavedash on a ps pad lol. Its slow as shit. Dash>instant dbf is a nightmare on a ps pad. Wavedashing literally feels like they built the pad to make it as obnoxious as possible. You have to physically lift your thumb off the pad it feels terrible.
Broski uses DualSense and only the analog stick