Best Arcade Sticks for Retro Games: What to Look For

An arcade stick suits fighting games and other genres built around precise directional inputs and multiple simultaneous button presses better than a standard gamepad. This is a researched buying guide built from published specifications and reviews, not a hands-on test by this site.

Platform compatibility

8BitDo's Retro Arcade Fight Stick line is sold in editions built for different platform combinations, according to its own listings; the Switch and Windows edition is the relevant one for PC play, and it's worth confirming the exact edition matches your target platform before buying.

Lever and buttons

8BitDo markets this stick as supporting swappable arcade-standard buttons and levers, including Sanwa-compatible parts, according to the manufacturer's own product page. That matters for anyone who wants to later upgrade individual parts rather than replace the whole stick.

Desk ergonomics

Arcade sticks are meant to sit on a flat surface rather than in your lap, unlike a standard gamepad. That's a real setup consideration if you're playing at a couch rather than a desk, worth weighing before buying one at all.

Game-type recommendations

• Fighting games: the primary use case for an arcade stick; see our 90s Sega fighting games guide for genre picks.
• Everything else: a standard gamepad, covered in our controller guide, is usually the better general-purpose choice.

If you want to try fighting games without buying hardware first, our playing 90s arcade games today guide covers current legal access options.