May flash F500, just picked one up and it’s super solid

you might find a nacon daija ps4/pc used around that price but you gotta really look they go fir a bit higher

MayFlash f500 is your best bet I'm pretty sure its 80$.

Think about building one, it is the best bang for your buck and all you need to know is simple wiring and use of tools like drills and saws........

Mayflash F300 is a solid option for about $60 last time I checked. If you're interested in leverless, almost all of the Haute42 fight pads are under $100.

The Obsidian & Victrix are fantastic. I converted the Victrix to a Crown 309 MJ st-35 with a jlf adaptor and fancy bat top + cute sanwa buttons.

The stock sticks in both are amazing though.

Edit: the vixtrix stock stick is very lightweight and comfortable. Playing on air. The obsidian is much stiffer but in no way a bad way. Loved both. Oh and both come with pure sanwa parts.

I gotta ask, 8 buttons for tekken? Boi what you mapping in tekken that needs 8 lol

Hori sticks with revised hayabusa parts are pretty solid. If you're handy, you could get a qanba drone and swap out all the parts for sanwa/semitsu/haybusa parts.

You can also find the old madcatz TES+ sticks on amazon in that budget. Shadoloo one is currently 125

Qanba Obsidian and Hori fighting edge are good sticks imo.

Hey last year I didn't know SHITTTTT. My obsidian eventually started having an issue because I was rough on the stick. Popped it open to fix up and fell in love with modding!

This question is answered daily on r/fightsticks, lots of good advice over there. Basically though the thing that will determine the most is how much you are .willing to spend

Budget?

There's a new Qanba stick that uses the OG Obsidian case, but it's only for PC.

https://qanba.vip/products/qanba-q3-obsidian-arcade-multifunction-edition-for-pc

I found it cheaper on Aliexpress if that helps you

Either of those Mayflash recommendations would be good. Would you be playing on PC or console?

I agree with everyone here, but Mayflash F500. F700 if you can swing it, but if not, F500 for sure. Can't go wrong with it.

Mayflash f500 or f700.

mayflash f500 is perfect honestly. great stock stick and really easy to modify later down the line if you want

Arcades. I also had the NES joystick.

Because arcades were the only way to play against other players back then. Even then, Tekken was the only game I felt comfortable playing with the arcade stick.

I rocked up to an SFII arcade cabinet, and there it was.

Grew up in arcades. It's natural for me.

I played a lot of KOF 13 back in the day. It was a destroyer of dpads and I was replacing them every 3-6 months. Finally got fed up and bought a stick for the build quality. It was a difficult transition and took me almost a year to get fully comfortable and back to where I was, but it was totally worth it. Saved a lot of money in the long run and the moddability of sticks is a huge bonus.

FYI leverless players are going to try to convince you that leverless is by far the best even though it has the worst tournament results of any controller. To answer your question for a good arcade controller I would say either a Victrix, Hori Fighting Stick (but swap the hayabusa stick for a Sanwa ideally), or a quanta are the most popular and well made sticks.

I personally find the Hori the best bang for your buck but like I said swap out the stick eventually for a sanwa stick (what they used in arcades and most sticks come with) it’s like a $30 part that’s takes 5 minutes to replace. But some people find the included hayabusa to be fine.

There is no magic controller type for competitive play though most players prefer leverless controllers these days (basically like an arcade stick but replaces the stick with more buttons). Haute42 is a popular maker of leverless controllers for cheap if you want to play around with them. 8Bit Do has a popular arcade stick for fairly cheap if you want to mess around with that (most people don't think its optimal outside of grapplers maybe, its mostly just muscle memory for older players). They are also releasing a wireless leverless in a few weeks if you want that option.

I've owned a lot of controllers, and my Haute is my favorite one so far. It also helps that it's super cheap.

Whichever is accessible to you right now. If you have a PS5 for example, use the dualsense. Reagrdless of the controller, the critical factor will be the time you spend to develop muscle memory using that specific controller.

I'm an oldhead and idk what's the shit these days but I've been using my madcatz fightstick tourney edition ever since MVC3 and it's still holding up so that's gotta count for something. Love the weight, response, and overall look. That's my recommend. It says for 360 (lol) but I use it on PC and it's 👌🏼

Madcatz Arcade FightStick Tournament Edition for Xbox360

Best: Vitrix Pro ($300), Qanba Obsidian ($200), Razer Panthera/ Razer Panthera Evo ($200), Hori Fighting Edge ($200)

Just slightly below best: Hori RAP4 ($150), Madcatz TE2 ($200)

Great for some people but usually need parts changed: Qanba drone ($70)

Not the best: Hori Fightstick mini: ($40), Pretty much any stick with a normal retail price if under 100 bucks besides the drone

f300 if you want a small one and f500 if you want a big one, then you change the parts with sanwa of the color of your choice and eventually the artwork too, for f500

they're unbeatable, compatible with every single console and still usable even with the stock parts while waiting for the sanwa parts

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the Mayflash F500 Elite ($120 @ Amazon). All Sanwa buttons and stick. The biggest plus for me was being able to use it on every system and PC.

Qanba By Obsidian is a great product

I recommend the Mayflash F300 or F500. The base models (not elite) range from $60 - $90 USD and the stock parts are perfectly serviceable for learning. Get the F300 if you're trying to save the most money, get the F500 if you need a bigger stick and want to customize your stick before upgrading to something else.

Furthermore, these sticks are super friendly to customizing with Sanwa parts. All you would need is a lever, 5 pin easy connector cable, and buttons. They're great for learning how to swap out parts and gives you a bit of experience in playing around with the internals.

Now, if you don't mind spending the extra cash I'd wholeheartedly recommend a higher quality stick but thats really only if you want to devote to playing on stick. My personal recommendation is the Razer Atrox/Panthera. The Panthera Evo isn't bad but the original is a little more quality of life for swapping parts. Only tradeoff is the artwork isn't easily changed. These sticks are a great buy if you find them around the $100 - $150 range.

I bought a bunch of sticks when I got into the hobby a couple months ago. An F500 elite, Razer Panthera Evo, Qanba Obsidian Hitbox custom, Razer Panthera DBFZ edition, and I have a Hori Rap SCVI edition. Of all those sticks the Razer Panthera is the easiest to mod so it would be the best stick to buy if you want easy access to everything. The other sticks are not too difficult to mod but one button opening on a clasp means you can easily check the stick as you change parts and verify it is working.

The Razer Panthera is on sale and it's an extremely good fightstick. I purchased it and everything feels tight and responsive.

The Razer Panthera Evo is on sale for $129.99 which kind of meets your budget! https://www.gamestop.com/video-games/playstation-4/accessories/controllers/products/playstation-4-panthera-evo-arcade-stick/10172295.html

How about the hori rap n hayabusa?

I got a fight stick first, but switched to leverless after. Leverless is typically better and more responsive giving more precise inputs, however I feel like stick has a cool arcade feel to it that makes it really fun.

Hori Alpha is also good value for the money, but I find people either love or hate the Hori parts (compared to Sanwa parts).

The may flash f500 is pretty good for the price, same goes for the Mayflash F300 (bit smaller and cheaper)

The ones i personally use are the Qanba Obsidian and Dragon

If you’re just curious and trying it out I would suggest a more budget friendly one like the Qanba Drone 2 or the Mayflash F500 Elite.

If you're on PC, I would recommend picking up a used Xbox 360 Mad Catz stick instead of dropping a bunch of money on something new.

They have Sanwa parts and will be plug-and-play with all fighting games on PC. Hit up your local game shops and places like craigslist/FB marketplace. A fair price would be like $50-$75.

Under a 100 I'd say the Mayflash f500. Ideally I'd get the pro version (but that's over a 100) with Sanwa parts, since the default stick feels like shit.

In any case, you want to look at sticks that have either Sanwa parts or Hayabusa parts.

Spent up to $150 and get a decent stick.

If you enter with too low a budget, it will turn you off fightsticks because of how flimsy the entry level sticks really are.

I'm on PC, but the cheap option isn't lower quality is it? I don't want to break the bank, but I also want something I'll be able to use for a bit and feel comfortable with.

Yup, the way to go. I still use my original 360 stick after all these years and it's still plug and play with everything.

Consider giving your keyboard a try. It's pretty decent with a hitbox layout, IMO.

I'd go out and buy a snackbox micro if the prices weren't outrageous for what is basically a 12-button keyboard.

Qanba Carbon is also a good choice. $10 cheaper and a whole lot less ugly.