What brand are the joystick and buttons from original Mortal Kombat 2 machines?

[AceTKK]

Hi folks, this is my first post so I will take a sec and introduce myself.  My name is Michael and I am brand new to the emulation craze.  My goal is to recreate, as faithfully as possible, a Mortal Kombat 2 arcade machine complete with cabinet as a tribute to my mis-spent youth :-)   I was wondering which joystick and / or buttons were used on the original machines?  There are so many joystick choices out there, I want whatever is the most authentic.  Thanks for the help,

-Ace-

[romid]

I just spent a good 15 minutes searching the web for a good picture of an original MKII control panel...maybe if someone can find one and post the URL, we can try to figure out the exact types of controls used.

[AceTKK]

I haven't been able to find a good pic either :-(  There must be one floating around somewhere.

-Ace-

[Kane]

Try this list of these places-
Here

Just goto Distributer lists

[Howard_Casto]

I just spent a good 15 minutes searching the web for a good picture of an original MKII control panel...maybe if someone can find one and post the URL, we can try to figure out the exact types of controls used.

Spend a few more..... I found enough pics to make a near-exact replica of the mk2 machine, so i know they are out there.  

Btw the mk2 button layout is very dedicated to that game..... It would not work well on a mame cabinet at all.  

[AlanS17]

Well my brother owns an original MK machine and the button configuration is identical. I'd venture to guess the joysticks and buttons are the same brand, too.

I know for sure that the buttons are standard (probably Happ) with a horizontal microswitch. In the Happ online catalog they are "Pushbutton with Horizontal Microswitch". (go figure)

As for the joystick, it's red. So that already limits the number of models that it can be. (I would venture to guess it's also a Happ joystick.) That means it's either an Ultimate or a Competition joystick. Since I've heard the ultimates have a hard time dealing with diagonals, then they probably weren't used for a fighting game. (And even if they were, would you want one that had bad verticals.) So right or wrong, I would say that the Happ "Competition Joystick" is probably the way to go.

For s side view of the control panel you can find one at www.klov.com and just search for MK2. The first machine is the original Midway cabinet. The second one is... well I guess it's a kit (so ignore it).

[atog]

I was a huge MKII fan back in the day.  It came out around 1993 and I was working as a bartender at a bowling alley that year, and they got it in their arcade area.  There were tons of people who would come in to play so I could play on one quarter forever while everybody else would line up to play me.  When I built my MAME cab I knew I definitely want to accomodate the MKII and MKIII button layouts (MKIII added a uniquely placed "run" button)

What I did was made a standard 6 button Street Fighter type layout, and then also placed the 'run' button to the bottom left, like this:

   123
   456
 7

I have also seen people who are big fans of the 4 button Neo Geo games put their controls like this:

   1234
   567
 8

This layout fairly accurately supports Street Fighter, MK, and Neo Geo fighting games.  With that layout a fair amount of button remapping will have to be done.  

[AceTKK]

Yes, it's annoying that the MK series used a unique button layout.  I figure I have two options: just bite the bullet and use six buttons, Capcom style, with both of the middle buttons as 'block', or use a seperate control panel for MK.  After a lot of reading and research I'm probably going to utilize a rotating CP setup like the one at 1UpArcade.   The first side will have standard Capcom layout, the second with Mortal Kombat style (including the 'Run' button), and the third side will be have all the 'classic' controls.  I plan to use graphic overlays that match the control setup for each side (Mortal Kombat graphics for side 2, Capcom graphics for side 1, etc.)  

I just don't know what kind of joysticks to buy??? At this point I'm leaning towards Happ's Perfect 360's unless I can find out what brand the originals are.  Thanks for all the links fellas, I'll see what I can find out.

-Ace-

[atog]

Well for what it's worth, I have Happ Super's on my cab, probably 75% of us here do, and they are definitely not what the original MKII had on it.

[AceTKK]

Happ's Super 8?  I didn't realize those were so popular, they're sort of mid-range in price so I figured they weren't as good.  I may need to check those out.

Basically what I'm looking for is a good, responsive stick for fighting games.  It needs to be able to perform the fireball (half-circle forward) and uppercut (forward, down, down-forward) motions quickly and smoothly.  I don't care about Pac-Man, I'm going to use a seperate 4-way stick for classic games.  Basically, I want to the closest thing possible to the joysticks that I remember from when I was 16 playing Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat.
What do you guys (gals? err, on second thought prob. not) suggest?

-Ace-

[atog]

All I have tried in my cab are the supers.  They work fine for MK and the rest, but they are much more "clicky" and have a shorter throw than what I remember from a real MK II machine.  It could be that if you mounted them sticking out higher in your cab than I did, it would reduce some of what I am talking about, but they arent a real tall stick to begin with.

[Grasshopper]

There was a Mortal Kombat machine at the Game On exhibition. I think it was Mortal Kombat 2, although I cannot be 100% certain.

I think it was fitted with Happ Ultimates although of course they may not have been the original joysticks.

[Zeitgeist]

I have an MK2 control panel that I attached to a hacked keyboard a couple of years back as my 1st arcade control project.
I haven't used it in a long time but I can tell you that it has Happ Compitition sticks.
Since I bought the panel from an operator used (of course) there is no real way of telling if these are infact the original sticks, however, the panel did not appear to have been modified in any way at the time.
I was able to buy the thing for a mere $25 - not just the pannel top mind you but the entire control panel assembly with the base box, wiring harness etc...
All I had to do was hack a 25 pin ribbon cable to a cheap keyboard (no Ipac at that time) & rewire the buttons.
I remember that the pristene condition of the panel assembly was what caught my eye - I never did like the 5 button layout.
That akward button layout coupled with the massive size of the panel was what drove me to build smaller desktop sized panels.
This thing was so big that I was able to keep the full sized keyboard intack & store it inside the control pannel.
I don't have a website - but pictures of several of my projects, including that one, were once featured on Noel's MameGTX best control panels page.
If you need any pics or an original harness just let me know.
 

[AceTKK]

That's very helpful.  Thanks Zeitgeist!  I think I will go with the competition sticks.  Oscar Controls gave them the highest rating out of the three Happ models also.  

-Ace-

[Zeitgeist]

Happy to be of service.