| Price | Polycade |
| Release | Circa September 2015 |
| Compatibility | PC / Mac / RPi |
| Dimensions | 12.6″ x 9″ x 3.1″ |
| Weight | 6.4 lbs |
| Cable | 0.9 m |
Introduction
What up, retro gamer? While Polycade offers traditional arcade sticks and leverless controllers, it also has at least one arcade stick with two joysticks called the Dual Stick Arcade Controller.
On a side note, Polycade products seem quite popular with celebrities. In fact, even Cara Delevingne has been sighted with a Polycade product!
Performance
The Dual Stick has two Sanwa JLF joysticks with octagonal restrictors, and they’re quite flexible, making them an excellent pairing with the lightweight Sanwa OBSF buttons that have an optimal travel distance & satisfying sound.
In twin stick games, the Dual Stick allows you to spin, strafe, and volley using its two joysticks. As a matter of fact, most twin stick games use the left joystick for movement and the right joystick to fire.
Fire in the hole!
The two joysticks can actually be mounted at 45° angles, so you can have fun with extra customization options. That said, some of the most popular games you may be excited to use the Dual Stick with include (but are not limited to):
- Battlezone
- Black Widow
- Crazy Climber
- Karate Champ
- Robotron: 2084
- Smash TV
Which game will you be playing with your Dual Stick?
Hardware
The Dual Stick’s big, heavy powder-coated steel enclosure sits quite tall. In the back, you can find a carrying handle as well as a USB-B port. Speaking of which, the USB-B to A cable is shorter than preferred, honestly…
On a more positive note, and thanks to its co-designed Brook zero-delay board, you may be ecstatic to know that the Dual Stick is compatible—in addition to PC, Mac, and the Raspberry Pi—with Linux and the Polycade AGS.
You see, the Dual Stick is compatible with the Polycade Sente’s swappable panel system. Essentially, the Sente is a modular arcade cabinet that allows you to mix and match different controllers.
For example, you can have the Dual Stick on the player one side, and you can also have Polycade’s Officially Licensed Hit Box Controller on the player two side. Would you rather center-mount a module to make room for some cupholder inserts instead? No problem!
Appearance
The Dual Stick has a box-like appearance that fits the Sente’s vibe. Having said that, its white edition comes with:
- Two red joysticks
- Red play button
- Green play button
- Three white function buttons
Yet, if you buy the Dual Stick’s black edition, its appearance would be as follows:
- Two white joysticks
- Red play button
- Green play button
- Three black function buttons
(You can consider the Dual Stick’s three function buttons as exit, option, and start buttons.)
Conclusion
Decked out with Sanwa parts—and a PCB from the highly reliable Brook—the Dual Stick is a solid option to play twin stick games. Its steel is powder-coated, its handle allows you to carry it, and its compatibility with the Sente arcade cabinet is priceless. Also, check out the rest of Polycade’s controllers, which include from trackballs to flight sticks!
- Sente compatibility
- Sanwa premium parts
- Brook zero-delay board
- Powder-coated steel
- Carrying handle
- White or black
- Shorter cable
- Quite heavy
Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐