A bit too lightweight to be a contender.
There’s a lot of fighting game players out there who want to make the jump to an arcade stick, but just can’t stomach a $200 price tag. Enter Mad Catz with the Fightstick Alpha, their first attempt at an entry-level arcade stick. It’s modest form factor and price tag are both nice for laid back weekend world warriors, but for more serious users, the Fightstick Alpha falls short in a number of key ways.
Right off the bat you can see the dramatic size difference between the Alpha and Mad Catz’s flagship TE line. Along with its angled edges and matte black finish, its size gives the Alpha a pleasantly distinct look.
We want to hear it.
That size cuts both ways though. It also makes the Alpha exceedingly light, which sounds like a plus for people lugging it around at tournaments, but it’s that same person who’s going to suffer the most for it. It’s small footprint and lightweight materials mean there’s no really comfortable, stable way to seat the Alpha on your lap, which is predominantly how players at a tournament, and even many at home, choose to play. I ended up either trying to balance it on one leg, or awkwardly pressing legs together to make a continuous surface to lay it on.
Either way, the foam padding underneath it isn’t nearly adhesive enough to make up for the stability lost by the lack of heft. The Alpha always felt like it was going to move around on me, even when I placed it on a flat surface, which mind you, wouldn’t be available in the first place at most competitive events.
The materials also leave something to be desired. Mad Catz swapped out their usual Sanwa Denshi stick and buttons for…something else. The results aren’t great. The buttons have a lot of travel on them, far more than other Mad Catz sticks, which definitely slowed my inputs down until I adjusted. The choice to forego the eight button Vewlix layout for something more akin to a 3×2 American style setup makes sense given the limited real estate, but it certainly didn’t make my adjustment any easier. The buttons are ever-so-slightly angled, but not to the extent of other sticks.
The stick also has a bit more travel, in addition to being stiffer and louder than what I’ve come to expect from Mad Catz. That might be preferable to some but it means that if you’re looking for a TE-like feeling on the cheap, the Alpha will seem immediately alien to you.
If you’re looking for a TE-like feeling on the cheap, the Alpha will seem immediately alien to you.
That isn’t to say it doesn’t perform at all though. While not nearly as solid or smooth-feeling as a TE, this is still a serviceable stick. Any stick player will find it a big step up from a stock gamepad, and it isn’t without a bell or whistle or two either. Small L1 and L2 buttons are provided along the top in case you need them for menu navigation, and it’s also got a lock toggle, and the ability to play on either PS3 or PS4, all of which is certainly handy, if fairly standard for modern sticks.
For newer players needing their first stick to practice and compete on, the Fightstick Alpha passes muster, but it’s far from being a less expensive alternative to the competition grade TE.
