« Mad Catz Super Street Fighter 4 FightPad Review »

Mad Catz has released another round of FightPads for the release of Super Street Fighter 4.  If you are a pad warrior, especially if your system of choice is the Xbox 360, you should really give these FightPads a look.  I spent some time with the Xbox 360 FightPad, and here are my impressions.

Liked:

D-Pad: If you are a Xbox 360 pad warrior, you know that getting a D-pad right is critical, not only to your execution but also to wear and tear on your thumbs.

The FightPad's D-Pad at first feels strange.  Mad Catz calls it a "floating" D-Pad and that's an excellent description. When I first took it out of the packaging I wondered how accurate the D-Pad would be.  My doubts were erased over my time spent with the controller.  Dashes, quarter-circle, half-circle, and full circle are all extremely easy to pull off.  The pad's inputs are accurate.  In fact, some moves were easier for me to pull off with this FightPad than they were with my TE Stick.  I used this FightPad to get me through a Super Street Fighter 4 Combo Trial I was having trouble with. 

Also important to note is that all the edges of the directional "cross" at the center of the D-Pad are rounded. This, along with the floating feel of the D-Pad, makes it very easy on the thumbs, which if you are a 360 user is music to your ears.

Buttons: The six front-face buttons on the FightPad are enlarged, being almost twice the size of standard 360 pad buttons.  They are also spaced perfectly.  The button size and spacing makes it a breeze to hit your Super Street Fighter 4 throw and focus attack button combinations without accidentally hitting adjacent buttons.  The buttons feel good and inputs are accurate. 

The two shoulder buttons are for LB and LT, which are the buttons by default mapped to all three punches and all three kicks, feel good.  The improved 6 front-face buttons doesn't eliminate the need for these macro-buttons.  The shoulder buttons are placed in positions where they are comfortable to reach, feel good when you click, and are accurate.  They are also large enough on my 360 FightPad where I always know where they are.

If you need you some Turbo, this FightPad has that functionality as well. I don't ever use this feature myself, but its there if you want it.

I also really liked that the turbo activation buttons, the Start and Back buttons, and the Xbox 360 Guide Button on the front of the controller are almost flush with the controller's surface.  The chances of you accidentally hitting one of these in a match is very small because of it.  Once again, this is really smart design.  On the same note, the switch that changes the D-Pad to function as a right or left analog stick is on the back of the controller and out of the way at the bottom, minimizing the chances of you accidentally changing a setting in a heated match.

Feel:  The Mad Catz Fight Pad fits comfortably in my hand and the D-Pad and all the necessary buttons are comfortable to reach.  You don't conciously think about this if you use a pad if it's right, but you sure as heck notice it when it's wrong. I also like that they put rubber-coated grip areas on the sides of the controller and on the back.

 

 Neutral:

Chord:  The Xbox 360 version of the FightPad has an almost 10 foot chord and uses a USB connection.  This has its advantages and its limitations, in my opinion.  Its advantages are that the USB makes it super easy to pull the pad out and change it to something else, like a TE stick, without having to mess with sync settings.  This is great when you are in a casual setting with friends or in a tournament setting and there's that one pad warrior and the rest are using sticks.  Switching is very easy.  I like that the chord is long as well. I hate it when wired controllers cheap out on the chord length.  On the negative side, if your couch is more than 9 feet away from your TV like mine is, you can't sit on your couch and play.  This is not a Mad Catz design flaw. It's that Microsoft will not allow third party companies to use its 360 wireless tech.  This is why the Playstation 3 version is wireless and the 360 version has a chord.

Bad:

I can't think of a single bad thing about this controller. I've tried.  It has everything that it needs and nothing that it doesn't.

Conclusion:

I have been extremely impressed by the FightPad.  The D-Pad was the biggest worry of mine prior to getting it in my hands, but I came away surprised by its feel, ease of use and accuracy. Overall, this is just a smartly designed controller from top to bottom.  It retails for $39.99 and is well worth the money.