Gaming
Gaming
Which controllers do Street Fighter 5 pros love to use?
What's the best controller for Street Fighter? With the pro players using such a huge variety, it's an impossible question to answer...
Still playing SFV? You're in the right place. For SF6 players, check out our updated controller guide here.
With Street Fighter V being the first mainline Street Fighter game to release on console first, as opposed to in Japanese arcades, there has been something of a change in what the standard means of controlling a fighting game is in 2019.
Sure, the home console release of Street Fighter IV got a lot of people playing fighting games competitively for the first time and some of those players used the pad that came with the system, but the very best players were still using fight sticks, as was the norm.
It’s not just a shift towards standard console controllers, however. A few other ways have appeared – some causing controversy as to whether they should be allowed in competitive play. Here’s the five major categories of control method you see at your average Capcom Pro Tour event, some pros and cons, and which players utilise them.
01
Arcade Sticks
Bonchan uses an arcade stick at Red Bull Kumite
© Teddy Morellec/Red Bull Content Pool
Used by: Tokido, Fuudo, Fujimura, Bonchan
The classic. Taken straight off the front of an arcade cabinet, the iconic stick and six button layout has been the staple of the Street Fighter scene since, well, Street Fighter II onwards, with all of the games being designed with this particular setup in mind.
A stick grants you the best possible access to all of the buttons at any one time. No need to deal with awkward shoulder buttons or analog inputs – just real, top quality digital input ready to go at the literal push of a button!
There are some other clear advantages. Most sticks feature eight face buttons, while Street Fighter V only requires six, meaning that two buttons can be bound to other inputs. Hitting all three buttons at once on a Dual Shock 4 would require some weird crab-like grip, so the other two buttons are used for all three punches and kicks as standard. On a stick, hitting all three is dead easy, so the other two buttons can be mapped to, say, throw or V-Trigger activation, depending on player preference.
A fight stick also looks rad – a custom stick with bespoke artwork is unlike anything else in competitive gaming.
02
Dual Shock 4
MenaRD takes on Big Bird with his trusty Dual Shock 4
© Li Xiu Hoang/Red Bull Content Pool
Used by: Punk, NuckleDu, Phenom, MenaRD, John Takeuchi
What do the players listed above have in common? Other than being absolutely world class at Street Fighter V, they’re all relatively young – all mid-to-late 20s. You might say Street Fighter IV would have been their first major Street Fighter game and most people are just going to play the game with whatever they’ve got in front of them, and forget about buying an expensive stick just to play what could be one video game.
And with Street Fighter V's console exclusivity on the PlayStation 4, that puts the machine's Dual Shock 4 in prime position to be the controller of choice. It's already there with your console, and you're most likely used to it too – why try something else?
The advantages of the pad initially lie in the d-pad. Put simply, being able to quickly move into a blocking position with your thumb is a significantly quicker motion than pulling back on an arcade stick.
There are, however, a few little tricks that can be done with the fact that the Dual Shock 4 has analog sticks as well as the d-pad, and both can be used for movement. Some players will hold a direction on the analog stick whilst moving with the d-pad, meaning that they’re always ready to go into a charge, or be able to buffer in the input for, say, a spinning piledriver.
This has gained some controversy in recent times, as being able to essentially press multiple directions at once is something that can only be utilised by certain control methods and isn’t standard across the board. Still, as a default option – and one used by many top pros – it's not a bad shout to get comfortable with.
03
Hitbox
Daigo and his sometimes-controversial hitbox at EVO 2022
© Terence Rushin/Red Bull Content Pool
Used by: Daigo Umehara, AutoMattock
Ah, the Hitbox. What was once a hot topic in fighting games came after a video of Daigo Umehara using a ‘Gafrobox’ appeared online, where Daigo was able to do all sorts of wild stuff, like Guile’s Super, by simply holding back and tapping towards twice and punch. There was a lot of misinformation kicking around following the release of this video and subsequently, Capcom banned the Hitbox from the next tournament.
Hitboxes, or leverless controllers, are now allowed again, but there’s still some real controversy around them. They need to be fitted with an input cleaning device called an SOCD (Simultaneous Opposite Cardinal Directions), which essentially means if you hit two directions at once, the Hitbox only sends one to the game. There’s discussion about some Hitboxes having additional buttons and whether that grants a player any real advantage, but because of their homebrew and very customisable nature, there are always going to be some people who consider them to be cheating.
What Hitboxes do is undeniable – it gives a player the best of both worlds. Fast buttons and directions, digital and precise. Many players say that if you’re starting to play Street Fighter tomorrow, start with a Hitbox. This is, of course, all good unless they end up getting banned from competitive play!
04
Six-Button Pad
Problem X uses a six-button pad
© Hadrien Picard / Red Bull Content Pool
Used by: Problem X, Snake Eyez, your intrepid writer of this article
Although not widely used any more, the Evo 2018 champion, Problem X, uses a six-button pad so there has to be something to this style of pad. There were three main types available around SFV's launch – a Mad Catz SFV-branded affair that was largely panned upon release for having an awful ‘disc’ d-pad, a classic Mad Catz pad from the Xbox 360 that can still be used with a converter, and the Hori Fighting Commander Pro, the weapon of choice for Problem X.
Sitting somewhere between the two worlds and offering up a d-pad as well as the six lined up buttons, some players use this pad to avoid having to deal with shoulder buttons, while some have a different grip on the controller so the buttons can be pressed like an arcade stick, offering up some real versatility. Personally, I use one because I played a lot of fighting games on the Sega Saturn!
A big part of why they’re so sparsely used is availability. The last Mad Catz line basically sank like a stone, and even when they made a second iteration with a passable d-pad, no one really cared. Amusingly, this meant that when you ordered one from Amazon, there was no way of knowing whether you were going to get the refined version or not – you just had to wait and see.
The classic Mad Catz pads are affordable, but obviously need to be found second hand and the amount of wear and tear is going to vary quite a bit. The Hori Fighting Commander Pro, however, is a nightmare to get hold of, with prices soaring well over 100€ ($115 USD) whenever they turn up on eBay.
Since Street Fighter V's release, however, a retro revival of sorts has sprung up, and fighting game aficionados have plenty of choice at their fingertips, as multiple manufacturers have popped up to offer a six-button pad. From the likes of 8BitDo offering its Sega Saturn-inspired M30 pad, to Retro-Bits making a licensed Sega Saturn pad, and even Hori launching an updated Fighting Commander, there's plenty of choice, especially with an adapter. There are also some unconventional entries, such as the Victrix BFG Pro, which lets you swap out an analogue stick and four face buttons for a module with six, giving you modularity and freedom.
05
Other pads and peripherals
Luffy famously used a PS1 controller for SFV
© Teddy Morellec/Red Bull Content Pool
Used by: Smug, BrolyLegs, Luffy
Smug was known for having a top-notch Dudley in Street Fighter IV, nailing ridiculously difficult one frame links whilst using an Xbox 360 pad. A pad that, personally, I found to be simply not fit for the purpose of playing fighting games! It’s no surprise that, with that level of skill and muscle memory built up around that particular controller, he still used it to play Street Fighter V, using a converter for many years, and has since been spotted rocking a Dual Shock 4.
BrolyLegs is a top level Street Fighter player who suffers from arthrogryposis, which prevents normal muscle growth. Instead of using one of the controllers designed for players with physical disabilities, Broly uses an Xbox 360 pad, which he manipulates using his cheek and tongue.
Finally, the most famous use of a previous generation control pad has to be top French player and Evo 2014 winner, Luffy, who used an original PS1 controller, wired up through a remarkable web of different converters. The PS1 controller is a digital pad masterclass – no analogue triggers, no pressure-sensitive buttons – and is clearly what he feels most comfortable using, as he kept it through to Street Fighter V, despite the PS4 having similar pads as standard.
And this is exactly it. Whatever your reasons for using your chosen control method, you should use what you’re most comfortable with and what you feel gives you the best results, be that in terms of execution or straight up wins.
One thing that these control methods do provide is a sense of character that other esports just don’t have. When you’ve got some Overwatch League team playing with some random branded mouse and keyboard, it’s not the same as people showing up with retro pads, bizarre Hitbox constructions or a fight stick covered in beautiful, bespoke artwork.
For SF6 players, check out our updated controller guide here.
