Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix: It should be mentioned up front that the old-school Street Fighter games demand a little more precision in their inputs than most other fighting games. HD Remix did improve this somewhat, but it’s still harder than average to do some moves. So when I experienced some problems with this pad while playing this, I have to point out it’s not entirely Madcatz’ fault. Many of Chun-Li’s charge motions (especially for her Super attack) proved hard to do reliably, and I likewise had trouble with Ryu’s and Ken’s special uppercuts as well as similar moves. On the other hand, I was able to do Zangief’s and T. Hawk’s 360 throws easily, and Cammy’s various half-circle and 270-motion attacks (yes, I could do the simplified HD Remix commands; I felt like trying the hard ones just to be sure they work) were also fine. My problems also got less severe the more I played.

Verdict: Not perfect, but acceptable and the problems decrease if you’re willing to put in the time to get used to the differences between HD Remix and many other fighting games.

Castle Crashers, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, etc.: Of course, not every single player out there cares about how I could do 360-throws with Reversal timing. What about more relaxed games that still fit the ’old school’ style? I’m pleased to report the Fightpad did very well here too. I had no problem in Castle Crashers with both typical gameplay (item use, defending myself, etc.) and long flashy combos. Symphony of the Night also played quite well, and I’m honestly inspired to finish the XBLA version now that I have a controller both suitable and portable (my previous sessions in SotN with arcade sticks worked, but didn’t truly feel ’right’ to me). Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989 version) went just fine as well, leaving me with no complaints at all. Granted, the stock Microsoft controller is acceptable for TMNT and Castle Crashers, but I felt the Fightpad was an improvement nonetheless.

Verdict: Great! I have no real complaints worth mentioning for using the Fightpad with less competitive but still fast-paced ’old school’ games like these.

Next: A look at extra features, and how well it works both on Windows PCs and Linux due to its USB cord.