Arcade sticks are good for fighting games such as Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and Guilty Gear Strive. Fighting games usually require intricate directional movements and rapid buttons presses. You can accomplish such actions more easily with an arcade stick that has a tall joystick with big buttons laid out conveniently.
Since controllers have shoulder buttons, it can be awkward to do a combo with a combination of face buttons and shoulder buttons. Arcade sticks, however, usually have all face buttons, and the other buttons are often secondary buttons for pausing the game and so on.
Admittedly, games like Mortal Kombat may be better suited for controllers and not arcade sticks, but generally speaking, arcade sticks work fantastically for fighting games. Of course, they can work for other types of games as well, but make sure they do not require two analog sticks.
Most Street Fighter and Guilty Gear players use an arcade stick with a Japanese ball-top joystick, and many Tekken players, especially South Koreans, prefer to play with a Korean bat-top joystick.
There are actually arcade sticks with Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and Guilty Gear Strive themes. Here are some examples:
Mad Catz Street Fighter V TE2+
Sanwa parts make the Mad Catz Street Fighter V TE2+ quite the powerhouse. The non-slip foam padding secures the arcade stick on a player’s lap. There is a compartment to store the USB cable. All that is needed to open the arcade stick is one button press. The chassis hinges are open in order to make modding easy. There is plenty of wrist space for you to be comfortable. The weight of the arcade stick makes it optimal for both lap and table placement.
Hori RAP N Hayabusa
The joystick of the Hori Real Arcade Pro N Hayabusa is quite responsive, there is plenty of wrist space, and the arcade stick fits comfortably on one’s lap. Although the layout of the buttons is Noir, there is no learning curve involved. In fact, you may even like it more than the Vewlix layout. The buttons themselves are pleasing to touch. The touchpad being in the back of the unit avoids any accidental presses. The build and hardware are solid.
Hori Fighting Stick α
The Hayabusa joystick and buttons of the Hori Fighting Stick α live up to their great reputation. There are long rubber pads on the sides. The arcade stick is noticeably lighter than the average arcade stick. Nonetheless, it feels well built and durable because of the metallic top plate and quality plastic, the latter of which probably comprises 98% of the build. Opening the arcade stick using the latch in the back is a smooth process.