I’ve wanted an arcade style controller for some time. I have had this 8bitDo controller in and out of my basket for at leats six months.

Finally after chatting about the topic with a controller enthused friend I pulled the trigger.

My friend wanted a ‘Fight Stick’ which, I am told is the correct name for an arcade controller. He’s currently nurturing a love for traditional one vs one fighting games. I, on the other hand, am far more interested in classic arcade games. My specific interests is getting the best experience I can in Pac-Man Land. Which, is the second best arcade game ever made (don’t say a word!) second only to Defender.

Now, I realise it’s strange to spend about £75 on a controller to play games from the 80s, but, damn it, I am an adult!

The controller is very solid, exactly as noisy as I would expect from an arcade stick and houses 8 buttons, which by default (when set to x input) are mapped across to the xbox controller pretty much as you hope. It also has a little analogue toggle to change between left stick, right stick and D-pad. There is a second to toggle between Switch, xbox and off.

While there are other buttons, which I choose to ignore, because they are boring, it is worth mentioning that it can be connected either by wire, Bluetooth or dongle, the dongle can be hidden away inside the controller too, which is neat.

I am very happy with my controller. I have played Hyper Sentinel, Pac-Man museum, and Streets of Rage 4 on it. It’s been great. I’ve also only charged it once since having it (USBC charger.)

It’s crazy that I have a very large stick which is too big to just live on my desk, but, at least now, when I want to play some Pac-Man, I have the perfect controller.

Also, as an after thought, I have to say, I am also very tempted by the 8bitDo loverless controller. If it goes on sale, I may have to grab it, just because it looks cool ☺️