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Best 4-Way and Best 8-Way Joystick

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rjpe:
Hi,

I'm planning a control panel (MAME only, Vertical Monitor) with the following configuration:
- 2 8-way BAT-TOP joysticks and 4 buttons each;
- 1 4-way BALL-TOPjoystick and 2 buttons;
- Pinball Buttons (just for Pinball Action);

I know, I know... Ultimarc (and maybe others) has a set of Joystick options that simplify that, but I really want a separated 4-way joystick. Call me crazy and out-dated... but I want this!  ;D

I need to decide what are the best options in terms of quality/price.
GGG Leaf-Switch based is interesting.... I need something good (doesn't have to be the best, just good and durable).
IL (European) or Happ (USA)? Crown, Sanwa, Seimitsu, GGG Leaf-Pro?

Shoot your opinions please!

Thanks in advance.

severdhed:
I really like the Sanwa jlw for both 4 and 8 way. They come in both ball and bat tops, in many colors. I have 4 of them in 8 way mode in my pedestal cabinet, and a single one in 4 way mode in my vertical classics cabinet. They perform very well :/ both modes. Plus due to the square restrictor, the 8 way mode works very well for Q-Bert.

I also like the happ competition sticks got 8 way.

shponglefan:
"Best" joystick is a bit nebulous; the reason is different joysticks play differently depending on individual games or game genres.

For example, if you primarily play fighting games (i.e. Street Fighter II et al.), I recommend a Sanwa JLF as an 8 way stick*.  OTOH, if you primarily play shooters or side-scrollers, I'd recommend a Seimitsu LS-32.  And so on...

* (Although if you are only doing 4 buttons each, I imagine you are not playing fighters?).

For 4-way sticks, you may want to have a look at a writeup I did on 4 different brands: 4-way joystick shootout.  I generally found the Leaf-Pro was the most well-rounded stick, although depending on individual games, there were sticks that would exceed it in some cases.

rjpe:
Txs Guys.

shponglefan the games will be shooters-type (1942, 1943, commando, ikari warriors, and so on.) for 2-players (8-way).
The 4-way will be for the golden-era vertical games.

Best

paigeoliver:
Ok here is my subjective opionion as someone who owns and has owned a LOT of games and used almost every stick from 1974 to modern day.

The best 8-way joystick is the Suzo-Happ Perfect 360. I put the "happ joystick heavy spring" into mine and changed out the handles for 4" balltops. These sticks just make everything else look sad, even the ever famous classic 8-way wico leaf joystick isn't as good as these.

For 4-way sticks I have 3 suggestions.

You can't beat the original Midway Pac-Man joystick. You will need to replace the rubber grommet in any one you buy.

The Replacement MS Pac-Man/Galaga Joystick 4-way stick is also a great 4-way and I actually score a little bit better on Pac-Man with it than I do with the original stick, but the original feels better in your hand.

If you want a Bat-top 4-way have weird mounting requirements or just want to be able to twist the thing to an angle and play Qbert then you want the Happ Universal Microswitch joystick. No one ever talks about this stick because it is only so so in 8-way mode but the 4-way mode is brilliant.

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