Mad Catz Street Fighter IV FightPad Review: Built for Fighters
7.5/10 — Mad Catz Street Fighter IV FightPad
Works with: Xbox 360, PS3
Pros
- Six-button arcade-style face layout
- Precise, fighting-game-friendly D-pad
- Turbo functions
- Cheap second-hand
Cons
- No thumbsticks, so it's no good for most other games
- Wired only
- Build quality is only average
When Street Fighter IV revived fighting games in 2009, Mad Catz released a range of accessories to go with it. The FightPad was the most affordable, offering arcade-style controls in a compact pad.
Design and features
It ditches thumbsticks entirely and places six face buttons in two rows of three, just like an arcade cabinet, with a precise D-pad on the left. That layout makes it ideal for Street Fighter and other fighting games, where the standard Xbox 360 D-pad struggles. It also has turbo functions. Separate versions were made for Xbox 360 and PS3.
Verdict
The Mad Catz FightPad is a niche controller that does one thing very well. If you play fighting games on Xbox 360 or PS3 and don’t want an arcade stick, it’s a cheap, effective upgrade.
