Let’s be clear about a few things up front: $150 is a lot of money to spend on a single controller, and even moreso when it’s only suited for playing certain genres of games (primarily 2D fighters and old-style arcade releases). Once you get into this price range, it has only two real target audiences: Very wealthy gamers who have cash to blow on luxury items, and people to whom Street Fighter tournaments are very important. Given the Mad Catz Super Street Fighter IV Fightstick Tournament Edition S was clearly designed by experts from the latter group, it’s fair to direct most of this review’s content toward their concerns and cover as many topics in-depth as possible. While casual players may still find some value in the Fightstick S, this will be a fairly technical article because the product’s target audience is expert 2D fighting game players. It will be assumed that you understand ideas like attack cancels and "teching" throws, and that you are an intermediate to advanced player who attends tournaments.

It’s worth clarifying what this product can and cannot do for you. If you truly understand 2D fighting games, if you have the skill and knowledge to excel but are held back because the default controller is not at all suited to this genre, then the Fightstick S can help. $150 will buy you a top-notch arcade stick with a control layout that can help you consistently and reliably execute techniques that you might miss on your system’s default controller. But if you’re not already skilled or you’re not willing to put in the study and training to become talented at 2D fighting games then make no mistake; this isn’t a magical victory machine, no arcade stick is. You will only get as much out of this stick as you put into it with your own skill and understanding of the genre, and that’s true of any controller for 2D fighting games no matter how well it’s built. If you’re serious about tournament-level play then this product can help you succeed, but it won’t do all the work for you. With these things made clear, the review will commence.

The Fightstick S is definitely beefy and well made; it’s a massive box full of Sanwa arcade parts, the same ones used in actual Street Fighter IV arcade cabinets. It’s also huge, easily the size of the Xbox 360 itself. This heft is a good thing, making the stick hard to bump around during game play. The controller is wired, using a roughly 13 foot long USB cable stored in a rear panel. Thus we can say the stick’s housing is large, well made, and has plenty of wire length.

The layout is mostly a standard Japanese arcade style, with eight main buttons (A, B, X, Y, RB, RT, LT, and LB, with A/B/X/Y color coded just like on a normal controller; this is a minor change from the original TE stick) and a short ball-top Japanese stick. It’s a 4-way stick within a square gate, resulting in a very short range of motion where you can clearly feel the corners. If you’re used to American style sticks, there will be some adjustment in going from those controls to the Japanese style used in this product; the buttons are shorter and press with much less force required, while the stick itself has a smaller range of motion that allows very fast inputs. It takes some adjustment, but you’ll get used to it and this style offers many benefits in the speed with which you execute your moves.

Also significant is a mix of features meant for tournament play or little toys for use in casual situations. On the tournament aspect of things, the Start and Back buttons are on the rear panel; you must specifically reach over the main buttons and onto the back (but not bottom) of this stick in order to press either of these. That’s a good thing, since it means accidental pauses (usually a game, match, or round forfeit in tournaments) are less likely to happen.

There is also a control panel in the upper left corner with several features. The most important of these is a lock switch, which when engaged prevents the Xbox Guide button from working; another anti-pause feature. It also stops the Start button from working (unlike the original TE Stick, whose Start button still worked even with the lock engaged), which ensures you can’t pause the game short of pulling the stick’s plug out of the USB port. Another switch lets the joystick act as the D-Pad, left analog stick, or right analog stick, though its ability to truly act like an analog stick is obviously limited; this switch is mostly for games that demand the use of analog input in certain menus but otherwise allow you to play with D-Pad style inputs and controls. More fun is the ability to map turbo-fire settings to each button (except for Back and Start), which may not be legal in most tournaments but certainly can be enjoyable in other situations.

A headset port is included on the front panel (the one closest to you aside from the top panel where the buttons are), along with an adapter for old-style Xbox 360 headsets to connect to. It’s on the left side of this panel, so it’s usually out of the way.

Compared to the original Tournament Edition Fightstick, the Fightstick S has some significant changes to its size and shape. The most noteworthy of these is the near-removal of the side panels. Previously big enough to serve as arm rests if you were so inclined, they’re now so small as to almost not be present; they just serve to enclose the stick’s internal parts. Slight reductions in size from other areas have also taken place, leaving the stick a smaller square in overall shape. It’s still about as big as an Xbox 360 itself, but if you’re planning to take it with you to an out of town tournament it should be a little easier to pack now. There is one small problem however; the rounded edge that used to surround the top panel (where the stick, buttons, and artwork lie) has been removed, leaving a somewhat abraisive surface exposed. Depending on how you grip the stick this may not even be a problem, but it definitely is if you’re the sort of player who leaves your forearms resting on the stick’s top panel while you play. Consider a quick do-it-yourself fix by finding a thin surface to wrap/glue around the top panel’s edges if this describes you.

Overall, the Fightstick S is basically the same as a normal TE Fightstick with the exception that it is smaller, the A/B/X/Y buttons are now colored, and the top panel is a little more exposed.

Next: Control Tests