What's The Best Amiga / Commodore 64 Joystick?

I try out a few old-skool Joysticks in a totally unscientific test to see which stick performs best.
Included are legends like the Competition Pro and the Zipstick, and some more obscure classics like The Bug.
My blog: kookytech.net
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My G+: gplus.to/danwood
My Twitter: / danwood_uk

[@sensibleb]

The WICO Red Ball was my weapon of choice. Built like a tank and comfortable enough to spend all day and half the night using, which I often did. In retrospect, I probably should've gotten out of the house more often. :)

[@ProtoDr]

TAC-2! :) I still have those on my C64 and Amiga.

[@lasergrilleddturkey4064]

Never played with a Zipstick. Now 25 years since I owned an A500 I've got one arriving in the mail 🙂 Excited!

[@konstantinosm.7872]

Great vid. I remember me and my brother burning through dozens of joysticks back then on my Amiga 500 and later on my A1200. Until I made a custom joystick from a real arcade that I found by a garbage can! I still have it to this day and its in perfect working condition 20 years later!

[@backmaskmetal]

Great video as always. I was never happy with most joysticks on the Amiga back in the day until I got a Wico Ergostick. I'm surprised there's not more love for them, they were microswitched and extremely comfortable for long sessions.

[@Forgotten-Gaming]

Great video and a trip down memory lane. My favorites back in the day were the Konix Speedking (aka Epyx 500XJ) and Quickshot Turbo. The Speedking was pretty small and responsive for games that needed precision like platformers, whereas the Quickshot was great for when you needed something more comfortable i.e racing games. I do remember wearing out two Speedkings though, the button wasn't very durable and the stick itself was very slim and prone to breakage.

[@ArcturusDeluxe]

The autofire issue with Deluxe Galaga is because of the game, not the joystick. I just tested it on an emulator and it does the same thing. Looks like the game's coded to only allow four of the player's shots on screen at once, presumably for performance reasons.

[@Tech-geeky]

When you have Action Reply MKIII auto-fire, it doesn't really matter what joystick you have anymore :) A life-saver for me when my trigger finger wasn't fast enough.

[@backmaskmetal]

One more thought I had was that Deluxe Galaga had a limitation where you can only have 4 onscreen player-spawned projectiles at once. There's no flaw with the autofire on your controller - the same behavior will be exhibited in that game with any autofire capable controller, or if you're really fast at pressing the button.

[@ImTheYowie]

Interesting how no one ever mentions Suzo's "The Arcade" stick. I've seen so many people here in the Netherlands selling their Amiga's and they always had one or two of those sticks. Also noticed that I have the exact same Competition Pro Pad as Dan but it's called Honeybee.. hmm.. might need some research.

[@janmansde3dede]

Half a year later, but still I'm here to comfirm that you're right I got two variants of Suzo's Arcade when I picked up an A500 and lots of other goodies for free in the Netherlands, My favorite joystick so far after four years. The Suzo stick is manufactured in Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and perhaps is due to good local marketing is only popular in the NL. I still see them laying around in specialist game shops in the retro tribute showcase tat and I've even found a old dutch Amiga magazine with a painted cover of some bloke using it as a space ship. download.amigascene.nl/magazines/amiga_magazine/Amiga_Magazine-17.pdf About the competition pro, Some CP controllers were sold with the honey bee name in some places for some reason, I have multiple competition pro pad's for multiple formats under the Honey Bee name. Something fun: had a quick eBay search and found one the Arcade sold by someone in England going over *almost 70 Euro's!*, described as "virtually unbreakable" :) Sooo happy that I got mine free

[@hezik1]

Ah. I made the same remark. The arcade is way better than all the joysticks in the vid. It has microswitches and was practically unbreakable.

[@Tech-geeky]

I always thought Amiga users treated like they do today "You the right joystick for the game" For example, you'd prefer a flight sim joystick/wheel combo, or whatever they were called, for flight-sim games like FA-18 Interceptor... Another for racing etc..

[@melvoid01]

Zip Stick all the way, mines original and still works thanks to watching your videos extensively this week I dug my A500 out fired it up plugged in the Zip Stick and away back in time.That clickie noise from the stick takes me right back to the 90s, I had the Batman pack and then got the mem expansion to play Dungeon Master, but always loved a bit of Turrican, Zool etc. Never owned another type of stick just had Zips as I recall, they are almost bulletproof.Great to find your channel brings back lots of memories keep up the good work.

[@voodoomotion5855]

Great video, thanks for sharing so much info. I was always a fan of the Cruiser joystick and found it brilliant for fast paced platformers like Bombjack. Does the competition pro usb have a lot of drag when connected to Android devices? I'm running various emus on a nvidia shield and desperately need a joystick. Not sure if its worth buying an adapter instead then connecting my original joysticks to it? Appreciate your advice. Happy gaming!

[@hovermotion]

Great vid...I am in the process of getting out all my retro consoles from storage..... the bug was a great joystick but I lent it out and it never came back...have you got all your amiga games on a hard drive or flopy discs ..... Jim..

[@mrP3d]

hi Dan :) not sure if anyone has mentioned this already, i did have a quick look in the comments and couldn't find anything, so... to adjust the Cruiser settings you have to slightly pull up the stick, and then turn the collar/dial whilst holding the base :) it's one of my favourite sticks to use with the Amiga, my other favourite is the Crystal II: Turbo, not sure if you've seen or used one? keep up the fantastic work :)

[@EXITMUSIC2011]

Zip Stick was my fave. Still got one! At the moment refreshing/doing up all my Amiga's as they've been lying around collecting dust for quite some time. Keep up the Miggy vids :)

[@mamartin2966]

Thanks for the video. Do you (or anyone else) know where can I buy some broken spring inside a joystick? (the one responsible to move up/down/right/left, so 4 springs in total - micro switches) I have QuickJoy JetFighter, but the spring seems to be quite universal among joysticks.

[@neoinfinity]

ZipStik for me, came into it's own when playing SWOS. I'm not a fan of the way you hold the joystick though, I find it much easier and more accurate to use placed on a desk using my left thumb to hit the right fire button. I used it for all types of games this way and never had any problems with tiredness or aching muscles.

[@Conradsonvideo]

My favorite joystick for Atari ST is the Konix Navigator. Easy to hold, "clicky" directions. The only downside is the fire button, kinda loose and it can break easilly. Thanks for your videos and cheers from France !

[@googaagoogaa12345678]

what was with the umpteen buttons on joysticks when all of them did the same thing?

[@mancman-bu4kz]

I have a retro bit 6 button mega drive pad would this work or break my amiga?

[@RRW359]

I'm concidering getting a C64 or C128 soon. I have a few Master System controllers and I was wondering if those would work. I hear that Genesis controllers will sometimes cause problems if used with the C64, and I wanted to know if I need to worry about that with Master System controllers.

[@adamnikodem90]

hey ,can u use any adapter for retro joystick on modern pc ?Im dreaming to play sensible world of soccer on my liv room tv

[@jesuszamora6949]

Why not just get a Monster joystick? Hell, ypu can probably make your own stick with a Zero-delay board and some parts.

[@005AGIMA]

Finally got time to sit down with a steak sandwich and watch this video Dan. The nostalgia is strong with this one ;) I had the cheetah 125, quickshot II, quickshot II turbo, and the zipstick among others. I disagree re suction cups though. I was a sucker for having my joystick well and truly sucked on a table :D makes it more rigid which in turn makes it better to play with : D

[@mickhancock]

Great review of the joysticks dan, No mention of my favourite though, did you never have a konix navigator back in the day? I went through several of them, still my fave to this day !

[@mnky75]

I had a bug and a competition pro, loved both of them.

[@shakes.dontknowwhatyergettin]

Eerily similar to my memories. Our Zipstick was king for most games ( to the degree of arguments over who got to use it for two-player games ), but others had their uses. I remember finding that bug thing handy for certain games that required "leaning" the stick for prolonged periods, i remember kinda rolling it under the palm. And indeed, I found our much hated spongy flight stick ideal for certain platformers - somehow felt "sure footed". Love the idea of a competition pro with a few extra buttons - I believe I will hunt one down.

[@MrFixer1983]

Easy the Arcade from Suzo from The Netherlands

[@bloodmapedit]

Most definitely!

[@m2mm4m]

For what I remember the problem with the 'autofire' is that it was based on a cheap 555 timer chip. Do you ever get to use 'paddles' with paddles type games? (Before you time?)

[@orrinus]

I always loved my Epyx 500XJ. Very comfortable to hold. You wouldn't get that pain in your hand playing Lotus III. Epyx.500XJ Joystick Commercial from 1986

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

I'm a big fan of the Epyx 500XJ. Although over in the UK, the original manufacturer is Konix.

[@bloodmapedit]

There's something weird going on with the Competition Pro Extra USB with CCS64, there are a couple of games that do not react!

[@brostenen]

I fully understand that musclecramp, when using ZIP sticks... What would you recommend a guy with 21 centimeter long hands including fingers length? (fingers take up a little over half of that lenght) I just need a big joystick that have smooth travel in the stick and are build like a tank. And I need something that I can actually grab around so it will not slide. Competition pro and zipsticks make my hands cramp and the square platform around the stick, cuts into my hands and make it cramp.

[@johnnyutah892]

Quickjoy megastar, all day long, you’ll need a hard surface to base it from, but it’s a BIG joystick that is indestructible.

[@SodaGumX]

who is making new ones for it that are like nes pads or arcade sticks?

[@DOSBoxMom]

There was a little-bitty joystick called the Icontroller, I think (made by Suncom?), which I used and loved with our C64c back in the day. It attached to the side of the C64 via a sticky-tape pad, and I thought it looked quite sleek. (I remember liking it even better than the Amiga 500's mouse -- but then I played mostly on the C64 anyway.) I believe Lazy Game Reviews' channel did a review of it once (although the reviewed version may have been for IBM-compatibles).

[@madfinntech]

My favourite joystick for Amiga and for C64 actually is Tac-2 and especially that model with metal stick and both fire buttons actually work, in some models only left one actually worked and as being left handed they were horrible to play, but those that had right side working button were great. Still have one of those and of course red stick Competition Pro, which I don't like that much, but still good stick. My brother liked Competition Pro better than Tac-2 though and for some games I just used Mega Drive controller. I actually prefer pads over sticks, but as you said, lots of those games were designed to be played with sticks.

[@johnnyutah892]

The zip stick was the best all rounder for me. Broke half a dozen 125s, top just snapped clean off after too much punishment. If you had a desk or table the quickjoy megastar was awesome, totally bomb proof, but it was a massive joystick so needed the hard surface to make it work.

[@TheOriginalNCDV]

Never had or saw any of those sticks. Had a couple of Quickshot 1's, then a Quickshot 2. They weren't microswitched and the internal plastic ring that depressed the leaf switches broke frequently. Then I got a "Switch Joy" (it had other names depending on region) which was practically indestructible.

[@OnafetsEnovap]

My personal favourites (besides some homemade ones with actual arcade machine parts, which I plan to mass produce before I shuffle off this mortal coil) include the Suncom TAC-2, Powerplay Cruiser, Cheetah Bug, maybe the Zipstik, Suzo Arcade and Competition Pro, and the Alberici Albatros, made and sold mainly in Italy.

[@Shot97]

I had a nice Amiga joystick that was designed to grip and fire with your left hand while controlling the stick with your right hand. The only name on it is "WICO" but that company made a ton of joysticks so it's hard to find that specific one. But when I looked at pictures I find a couple where it was named WICO Ergostick. Occasionally in the game Lost Dutchman Mine you'd have a shootout on screen with a cross-hair you had to move around while the target instantly went from one part of the screen to another. This was the only joystick or game-pad I ever used that made that section easy. But it doesn't work anymore and taking it apart and cleaning it didn't help unlike some.

[@Dan-TechAndMusic]

My favorite is the Quickshot Turbo II. Flightstick-like joystick with microswitches everywhere. Quite clicky, but really nice. Also has auto fire and CPC464 mode, if you'd need to use that.

[@amigatroels3645]

You are right, the black knob Competition was the first one of that model (5000) and is quite rare now. My USB version plays perfect with WinUAE and even other PC-DOS games, so must be lucky :) The new 9pin's also plays perfect. Over the past years I've come across a lot of different joysticks, and I keep at least one of each to have something to choose from when playing. I normally use my fav Competition Pro Extra, but also The Arcade, Zip-Stick, Slik Stik and others have their use :)

[@googaagoogaa12345678]

Is that your Amiga 1200 in this video and also I have AROS on my tablet laptop and Amiga os 4.1 on my 1200

[@danwood_uk]

Yeah A1200 with 3.9

[@googaagoogaa12345678]

thats what i meant 3.9 on my a1200 i dont know why the heck i said 4.1 and now i also have amiga forever/c64 forever on my tablet and laptop

[@googaagoogaa12345678]

kookytech.net (techguruuk) hell yeah!!

[@KC9UDX]

Did you not have the Gemstik in UK? They were the cheapest, most common here. Actually not bad joysticks considering how cheaply they're made. But they wore out quickly.

[@rebeccaschade3987]

I had a Zipstick back in the early 90's on my Amiga 500. I remember some of my friends (and "enemies"?) claiming that it was "the poor person's Competition Pro", but I honestly couldn't really tell them apart that much in actual gameplay. I seem to remember the buttons being firmer on the Zipstick, which some people didn't like. I think I'd probably say that either of those would be classified as the "gold standard" for Amiga joysticks.

[@ilmostro749]

I had that zip stick and several Quickshot sticks. Also had an old Atari Trackball which I modded to use on Marble Madness. Had a PC analog joystick which (with a bit of work) could be used on a few fight sims.

[@thepenultimateninja5797]

5:27 I had a Cheetah 125 when I was about 9 or 10, and it gave me a huge blister on the palm of my left hand from holding the base during a particularly stressful session of Bruce Lee on my Spectrum.

[@predcon1]

I don't remember Zool having that animated segue. Is that a CD version? AGA, maybe? On another note, I've got the gold 25th Anniversary edition of the Competition Pro, and the auto-fire switch makes life a whole lot easier when playing Warblade (Edgar Vidal's remake of Deluxe Galaga). The 'break' you're seeing in Deluxe Galaga is actually part of the game. There's a "bullet limit" that you need to collect powerups to increase, presumably because the guy knew all about auto-fire switches.

[@danwood_uk]

Yeah it's Zool AGA. Ah that explains the auto-fire issue then, thinking about it - that makes the most sense.

[@predcon1]

kookytech.net (techguruuk) I suppose I never did properly answer the question you asked everyone. The A500 my dad had gotten me for my seventh birthday (expensive for a b-day gift, yes, but he called it an "investment in my future" or something dad-ly like that) hadn't come bundled with a joystick, even though it came with a few games. He snagged an old Atari joystick from a work friend, and this was the stick I used up until a schoolmate and myself found out that his Genesis/Mega Drive controller worked on my Amiga.

[@Joliie]

The Zipstick pro is my favourite as well, won a lot of kick off2 final whistle with that one :)

[@amigaoldskool]

Great video dan zipstick all the way still using mine today .. Used the cheater joystick with the spectrum was great but not for combat school

[@brainimp]

the gap in the auto-fire is because of the game not the controller, its so you dont cause it to lag by overloading whats displayed on the screen

[@StephenBlower]

There's 2 main versions of the Competition Pro. Leaf Switches, which is the black shaft one. And micro switches which is the Red Shaft one, but they still have leaf switches for the fire buttons, so they are still mushy as you say. The Cruiser, although it has a micro switch for fire, that's still mushy as they're not directly in contact with the fire buttons. That's why the Zip Stick is better overall, as it has micro switches throughout, but I've never had one of them. But you probably knew all that, it just wasn't clear in the video.

[@natgrant1364]

Never had an Amiga (couldn't afford one) but for the C64 I used an Epyx 500XJ joystick which used micro switches. I had quite a lot of others but this is the only one I have left. Unfortunately, the Epyx now seems quite awkward. I'm thinking of building my own gamepad 'cause I think that'd work better for me these days.

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

The NES version of the Epyx 500XJ is sought after by Atari 7800 owners to mod since it has 2 fire buttons. And the Apple II version also had 2 fire buttons and Atari 5200 owners in the know try to score them for modding.

[@104d_3rr0r_vince]

I used to have many joys. The best ever was pacman/tomahawk. "The Greek stick" as it was called on foreing kick off sites :-D It was solid, unbreakable and with very fast reactions cause the lever was like the arcades. I will make a mini review on of these days.

[@derek7384]

my first joysticks with the vic 20 and c64 were quickshots. I ended up with a konex speedking and then the konix navigator..really liked the navigator .it had autofire too

[@oneofthoseeggs]

I was a Konix Navigator man, played it until it literally dissolved in my hands. :) Excellent video by the way.

[@samwyse2006]

I did pretty much all my C64 gaming with TAC-2s. The buttons were always a bit of a pain, but the joysticks were durable and especially great for Decathlon types of games. I had to buy new joysticks for Amiga, got two Quickshot Pythons, which were okayish. One thing that annoys me about the cheaper joysticks is the varied quality. One of my Pythons is too loose in one direction. I've got the same problem with the two Commodore joysticks I've bought recently.

[@nickholl]

id forgotten about the Cruzer! I had a transparent one :-) . The Quickshot range was my go to generally - Quickshot 2 turbo being the most memorable for me I think. I was actually more a fan of using the suction cups as holding in the hand I just felt to hard to control as moving the stick would just force the holding hand all over the place. (I did use a LOT of force :-) ) . Another strong memory is of all the soldering of contacts I used to have to do to fix various sticks :-)

[@chrishopkins77]

My first computer was the Plus/4. I kept bending the socket pins so moved onto a Quickshot 2

[@roasthunter]

Did you remember how to change the tension on the cruiser, lift the shaft then twist!

[@danyoutube7491]

I loved the Cruiser. Never used a bug, and I am not sure if we had a Zipstick. I remember seeing the Bug in magazines and reviewers raving about it, but like Dan I couldn't imagine how to hold it for optimal play.

[@napalmhardcore]

Had a black Cruizer which I hated. I was into fighting games at the time and it never felt right (to be fair though, most fighting games weren't suited to a single button controller). Had numerous joysticks that resembled the competition pro but they weren't very durable (seemed to go through a stick every three months). Just curious, are there any good USB Amiga style sticks? I have heard too many negative reports about the Speedlink Competition Pro. Whilst searching I did come across one called the Arcade Evolution from Amigakit, but I can't find any user reviews.

[@napalmhardcore]

Stefano Pavone I've thought about it, but I learning to do what is required as well as actually doing it is more hassle than I'm willing to go through for the payoff. I'm currently teaching myself guitar repair, so I'm not completely D.I.Y shy. I think the time and effort invested in learning the skills required to build a custom controller may not be as useful to me in the long run, whereas learning guitar maintenance will save me a lot of cash over the years.

[@pferreira1983]

No the Cruiser was perfection (wink).

[@crumplezone1]

great vid Dan, and I only use Zipsticks too !

[@EMarkMoore]

Good bit of nostalgic run, that. Definitely Zip Stick at this end. I don't remember the CD32's Pro controller being that bad, but I think I only used it on the CD32, and not on my A1200. Hmmm...

[@fraggsta]

It wasn't my favourite back when the old Amigas were a current platform, but nowadays I really like the QuickShot Professional. This is a slab style arcade stick with the stick on the left, two separate buttons and a satisfyingly clicky microswitched stick. When I got one, friends contantly offered to buy mine from me, it's great.

[@sluggotg]

I bought every joystick I could find back in the 80's for the Amigas/C64s. Bigger joysticks were generally easier to use, but slower. Smaller meant faster, but harder to target. I had a micro joystick that was designed to be attached to the top of the c64 and used kinda like a mouse. I held it in my hand and trounced the guys that worshipped the huge joysticks. (I was trying to make a point to them on the speed difference... The smaller the throw of the joystick, the faster you could use it. For me.. the ultimate was Wico Ergostick and Epyx 500XJ, (they had other names). They were the same design, but the Ergostick had a better rubber outer skin. If you were going to play something that could use "Auto fire", I always used the stand alone, Variable rate, "auto fire modules", (the Blaster etc). The fixed rate auto fire modules did not work as well as the variable rate. On the Variable rate, you adjust the dial till you get the max fire rate without bugging the game. (If you go to fast, it will not register the shots and will start behaving erratically. Like you said it is a personal thing and the biggest downfall of the Epyx XJ500.... My friends in the Navy, (That is were I was in most of the 80's), would break the mounts on a regular basis. I went through many of them. But one of them... Labeled "Sluggo Only", ie the one I used exclusively.. still works perfectly. I took care of my input devices.. even as I trounced all comers in games Like Archon and Archon Adept!. Sluggo

[@Sk4zZi0uS]

I wonder if I still have a BUG... I had 2 with an Amiga A500. One was green and red and the other pure black. Loved the things. I don't dare go looking for the box of my C64 stuff... battery has probably died and destroyed it all :( I'm kind of living in a little world of denial... if I don't check it... its fine and working just like I remember it when I was a little lad.

[@Turkanen]

I did (and still do) have two Competition Pro 5000 joysticks that have full microswitch joysticks and the buttons are "flimsy" ie. they aren't microswitch but I liked them a lot more like that :).

[@amigatroels3645]

Oh I forgot... Here it was joysticks like Saitek Megagrip and Quickshot that where really cheap, like 5£, and we broke lots of them, especially playing Street Fighter 2! I only had one CompPro for prof gaming :D

[@Mavermick1]

My favourite was the Cruiser (in black!) and Competition Pro.

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

I've always found the Competition Pro joystick to be weird; the "weirdo" joystick. I mean, if the fire buttons are supposed to be independent, then it's an ergonomic nightmare. If it's supposed to be just a single fire button, then it would be great for left or right handed players on single-fire button systems. I have a buddy who scored the Atari 5200 version of it in a thrift store and it was pre-modded to be turned sideways so the buttons are on top of one another and operate as Fire 1 and Fire 2. In that capacity, it's a pretty awesome controller.

[@summer20105707]

I have a good suggestion for your consideration. The coleco gemini had amazing joystics. With good grip, sensitivity and handling. Also Colecovision had excellent controllers. Both are usable on C64 and Amiga.

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

The Gemini? With the joysticks and the paddles built into the same controller? That would be an interesting experiment to see if the Amiga can detect the paddle. Same with the Atari 2800/Sears Video Arcade II controllers.

[@SyzygyD]

My absolutely preferred Amiga/C64 controller was the Wico Bat. Rugged and accurate without that bleepin’ clicking. I also had the Wico trackball which notably I’m thinking Centipede, Shufflepuck Cafe and a couple others.

[@Vlad-bu3mr]

finally watched this....the innuendo is strong with this..missis literally just watched me laughing like a 15yr old with that look on her face...but seriously Zip Stick is the ultimate

[@stephenfalken]

Hehe I have at least one of each of those models of joystick in my collection. The ZipStick is by far the best and always has been! The competition pro suffered in my opinion, for some reason (at least every model I ever saw) the fire buttons did not use micro-switches so they didn't feel at all responsive.

[@UncleAwesomeRetro]

Great video :) It's ashamed it's not much of a reason to use joysticks anymore. I think gamepad is better for racing games if you don't use a wheel. I think I used the competition pro and the zipstick,,strange I'm not really sure.

[@GadgetUK164]

The Cruiser is definitely the best imo. The ZipStick is nice but it's not as easy to hold as the Cruiser. The Competition Pro is nice but I don't like the spongy fire buttons (See my previous repair video), very close 2nd to the Cruiser though. The nice thing about the ZipStick is the autofire.

[@acherion]

I'm surprised that you haven't reviewed any Quickjoy joysticks, weren't they one of the most popular joystick manufacturers out there? My first joystick was a Cheetah clone, very good memories but the stick wore out over time and I replaced it with a basic QuickJoy model instead. PS. I would've thought the autofire "lagging" every 4 shots with the Cheetah that you reviewed with Deluxe Galaga was perhaps Galaga not allowing the gamer to shoot more than 4 bullets on screen at once, and not the Cheetah itself throttling the auto-fire. I could be wrong though.

[@danwood_uk]

I did see some Quickjoy sticks around back then, but they were nowhere near as popular as Competition Pros and Zipsticks, at least amongst my friends. Yeah could be right on the autofire actually!

[@vwestlife]

Heresy! They should be called "Atari-style" joysticks, since that's who invented the standard. Commodore just copied it! :-P

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

Commodore literally stole - err, copied - the Atari 2600's CX40 Joystick and the Paddles and re-badged them with Commodore branding. Atari Inc sued them over it in the early 1980s. They are highly sought after collectables but yet another example of the me-too ness of Commodore. Hell, they stole the Amiga away from Atari Inc too!

[@Harp00nX]

Got to say I never liked joysticks from the first time I played with one. Pads were always my preference and I had (and still have) two cheetah bolistick pads (awesome for F1GP).

[@karlwalker1771]

Thank you for making this video, you made my evenings viewing, well this video and a bit of Jack Daniels n Cola:) I will subscribe because you make excellent videos.

[@Ichinin]

I had a bunch of TAC-2's back in the day, still want one. I had 10 years ago but it got lost when i moved. Currently i got a Quickshot Two that i bought off ebay cheaply just to have one to play F18 Interceptor. TAC-2 was the joystick everyone wanted where i live (Sweden) and today they are hideously overpriced if you want one, even a broken one sells for the same price as a new one sold for in the 80s. Another joystick i had was the Wico, it was average and not very precise like the TAC-2. The Quickshot II (trackball) was rather weird looking and reminded me of the Star Wars toys, and you put your whole hand on it instead of gripping it, but it gave very good control. My parents bought me a cheap joystick i cannot remember the name of, or find an image of on eBay or google image search, it was black, it had a rectangular red button and two similar buttons on the sides and it was rather narrow so you could hold it in your hand. I remember using it lots before i went TAC-2, like most of the kids. I've tried the Slickstick and The Boss joysticks, but i didn't like them. The only stick i got today for my PC is the Saitec ST290 (built in throttle on the stick), but if i were to start playing flightsims again more seriously, i'd get some sort of HOTAS setup with a separate thrust controller.

[@Enforcer1984]

Competition Pro here on my amiga 1200, we also used mega drive controllers on our amiga 1200 to play swos 96-97 ;)

[@Destroyed007]

Got a different CRT monitor, I realised. What happened to your other one?

[@danwood_uk]

I have yes, got this one for free and it's a Diamondtron (based on Trinitron) flat-screen CRT, quality is nicer than the Iiyama 19" I had before so using this one now.

[@plechaim]

+Dan Wood (kookytech.net) Are you selling it?

[@danwood_uk]

The Iiyama CRT? Afraid that's in the big CRT heaven in the sky now.

[@plechaim]

Ah damn!

[@allan.n.7227]

OMG... had one of those replacement joysticks!! they were cr*p .. lol.. . my best school mate had the competition pro... remember the squeaking ...what a trip down memory lane.

[@johandenhertog6878]

The best joystick is the Suzo Arcade Joystick with One Micro Switch button. Is made in Holland and is the best for the C64 and the AMIGA and many more computers such as the Atari.

[@bufftankington7349]

The Wico stick or the Tac-2, can't really decide between the two

[@bufftankington7349]

Stefano Pavone Yeah I might have to agree with you

[@DappieKS80]

Some sticks where expensive and over built and other cheaply made. It comes down to what just feels right for you! My favourite was the Slik stik but I killed it playing Summer games back in the 80's. I use something similar to your Cheetah but I've removed the pistol grip handle and upper buttons. Cheap stick but it works for me, I have many comp. pros and Wicos but they just feel wrong to me! And I hate all the click click clickety click! Good vid and good day!

[@scottyoung3354]

Quickshot II and Quickshot Pro ruled along with the Zipstick in my area.

[@tonka1983]

yes! i had the bug! i loved it

[@cjp240573]

Loved my cruiser joystick. Mine was black.

[@royaltyfreemusiccollective8662]

Konix Speedking for me - Every other joystick feels unweildy in comparison. My standard version broke eventually but I still have a working model of the analogue version they made which I imagine is a bit of a rarit

[@SuperDestitute]

I preferred the Python2, COmpetition Pro 5000 (originals not the crap remakes) and the speedking joysticks. i even managed to procure 2x of all the above as spares not long ago on ebay, the comp pro tho i had to pay more than i expected but it was worth it, also 1 of the python joysticks i got wasnt microswitched but the earlier ones that broke quite easily.

[@FinnRenard]

I prefer Wico or the Ergostick (or Speedking) 17:58 The cheetah is shite. It's easy to see how much force you are applying to it with your hands when playing. 33:30 There probably were some rubber feet on the bottom. As a conclusion, joysticks may not need suction cups, but it is clear (watching you plaing) that you would have been better off putting the joystick on a flat surface. It looks really awkward holding the stick in mid air, especially towards the end when you are playing Lotus III.

[@Naparovitse]

Maverick from Quickshot, one othe best! And Turbo II also from Quicksot are my favorites! :)

[@elmariachi5133]

I have gathered a collection of about 60 classic 9pin Joysticks, just for comparing them all. Amongst these are all which are shown in the video, all the others that are well known from the past, by magazine reviews, and all that at least some people recommended in online forums, and even the most relevant variants and clones of all of them. Then I restored and tuned them all as good as possible with a lot of effort. My result is clear: The Zipstik owns them all. (And: Yes, it's name written without a 'c'. Obviously there are some that where close (or even better) when they where new, but the Zipstik withstands time much better than all the others, even after decades of abuse. Only an (2nd gen.) original CompetitionPro (with fast and light metal leaves instead of the hard and slow microswitches in the fire buttons, and with the classic rubber ring instead of that annoyingly clicky, too stiff spring, compared to the terrible later models) could be better than a Zipstik nowadays, but the rubber ring of course is hardened and/or eroded too much todays on those. I was thinking about doing a custom order at some industrial rubber vendor, but I didn't find people to join in, for doing this in an interesting capacity.

[@LeifGrahamsson]

7:13 the original Competition Pro always had one issue which made it awful in my memory: if you played ANY game where holding the fire button down was desirable (Star Wars Arcade for example) after only about two days, the buttons would fail to register that constant pressure. They failed incredibly quickly... unless you wanted to hammer the buttons constantly. The Zipstick was far superior in this regard.

[@lratafia]

no TAC2? ...

[@artnaim]

Get Cheetah Mach 1. They are rock solid. Will last another 20 years.

[@bitdevice]

Personally I prefer gamepads. I'm using a Gravis Gamepad as it have a switch for mapping up and down to the face buttons. This makes platforming games where you jump by pressing up much more enjoyable.

[@99nerka]

I personaly swear by quickshot 2 turbo (microswitched version)... and i did used it while it was stucked to table (and you lick your finger then moisten suction cups with it, not lick it like a maniac :P)

[@killpidone]

That pause for the cheetah is actually the game only allowing 5 live bullets at a time. It will shoot faster when bullets actually hit enemies.

[@mikelee8520]

I like the Quickshot II myself.