This is the most customizable PS5 and PC arcade stick I’ve tested — and I can’t get enough

The Hori Fighting Stick Alpha ($199) is the company’s flagship arcade stick and one of the easiest peripherals to customize. Though not cheap, it’s one of the least expensive premium fight sticks you can buy.

Thanks to its clamshell-like design, the Fighting Stick Alpha lets you access its internal components for simple customization and maintenance. This feature is a huge selling point considering how more expensive sticks force you to undo screws. You can also replace the top panel artwork with something of your own, which is another handy customization feature.

Hori’s Hayabusa joystick and buttons are arguably as good as the Sanwa parts you’d find in similar peripherals. They’re both fast and precise, allowing you to perform complex motions without much (or any) resistance. However, if you’re not a fan of these components, you’re free to swap them out.

Cable management is simultaneously a strength and a weakness. Though there are hooks inside the case to wrap the USB cable around, the cable grazes the smaller cables connected to the buttons, which always makes me nervous. I also wish the cable were detachable.

Faults aside, the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha more than earns its stellar reputation thanks to its smart design and fantastic performance. It’s certainly one of the best fight sticks out there and one that comes with my highest recommendation.

Hori Fighting Stick Alpha review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Hori Fighting Stick Alpha is a highly customizable arcade stick featuring the company’s custom Hayabusa parts.
• Who is it for? The Fighting Stick Alpha is a tournament-grade peripheral for fighting game enthusiasts and professionals alike.
• How much does it cost? The Hori Fighting Stick Alpha costs $199 on Amazon, though it is frequently discounted.
• What do we like? We like the controller’s lightweight design, easy-to-open case, responsive Hayabusa parts, and smooth performance.
• What don’t we like? We don’t like the cumbersome cable management, and that you can’t detach the cable.

Hori Fighting Stick Alpha review: Specs

Hori Fighting Stick Alpha review: The ups

The Hori Fighting Stick Alpha is one of the finest arcade sticks available, thanks to its smart design, responsive parts and smooth gaming performance.

Sturdy, lightweight design

The Hori Fighting Stick Alpha is a relatively large peripheral at 18.9 x 6.5 x 14.37 inches. However, thanks to its all-plastic construction, the controller only weighs 3.31 pounds. Due to that, and its conveniently placed handholds, the Fighting Stick Alpha is easy to carry around at a tournament or at home. Despite its all-plastic body, this is a sturdy controller that’s virtually impossible to bend or flex. This ruggedness helps it feel like a true premium product.

On the top center, you’ll find buttons for PS Home, Share, Function/Profile, L3 and R3. There’s also a Touchpad button and two toggles for the tournament lock and hardware switch (respectively). On the top right corner, there’s a Start/Option button. All of these buttons are far enough away from the joystick and arcade buttons that you won’t accidentally hit them.

The rubber padding on the bottom left and right corners does an excellent job of keeping the controller in place on your lap or table. Though rubber doesn’t cover the entire bottom as on other arcade sticks, the padding here is spacious enough to accommodate most people’s laps.

Lastly, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack on the controller’s left-hand side. This is smart placement since it makes it harder for you to unexpectedly get your left hand caught in your headset’s cable. That said, I’d still recommend you use one of the best gaming headsets with the Fighting Stick Alpha instead.

Responsive Hori Hayabusa parts

Instead of the same Sanwa joystick and buttons found in other arcade sticks, the Fighting Stick Alpha utilizes Hori’s own Hayabusa parts. This immediately helps this controller feel different from its competitors, which could be beneficial or detrimental, depending on your preference.

The Hayabusa joystick feels much looser than a Sanwa JFL lever. If you’re accustomed to the latter, it might take some time to adjust since Hori’s joystick isn’t as firm. Once you’re used to it, the lever can feel great. Of course, if you prefer this type of looser joystick, you might not have to adjust at all, or might find it preferable to a Sanwa JLF stick.

The controller’s Noir layout, with a button layout that better conforms to the size of one’s fingers and buttons placed further from the joystick, differs from the standard Vewlix layout of most arcade sticks. Though some folks prefer the standard Vewlix layout, I find Noir quite natural to use.

I’m a big fan of the matte buttons since the slightly rough texture feels nice against my fingertips and provides a little bit of added grip. They also produce a satisfying snap when pressed. Besides the matte finish, I find these buttons almost identical to Sanwa buttons in terms of responsiveness and firmness. I think they’re fantastic.

Smooth performance

Thanks to its sturdy build and responsive parts, I had a blast playing some of my favorite fighting games and beat ‘em ups on the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha.

Modern 2.5D titles like Street Fighter 6 and Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves that demand a lot of complex motions are a natural fit for this controller. I had no problems dishing out super moves like Ryu’s level 1 Super Arts or Tizoc’s Big Fall Griffon Ignition Gear. The controller also performs well with older fighting games like Street Fighter Alpha 3, which requires tighter inputs. 3D fighting games like Tekken 8 and Virtua Fighter 5 REVO are also fantastic with this controller.

The Fighting Stick Alpha is also great for side-scrolling beat ‘em ups like TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge and Streets of Rage 4. You’ll also have a grand time playing shoot ‘em ups like the classic Ikaruga thanks to the controller’s smooth performance.

Like the Victrix Pro FS and Qanba Obsidian 2, the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha is compatible with PS4, PS5 and the best gaming PCs. I mostly used the controller on PS5, but it worked just as well on my gaming rig. This controller isn’t compatible with Xbox Series X out of the box, so you’ll need a wired stick converter.

The plastic top cover feels good to rest your hands on, even if they become sweaty after some heated ranked matches. This, along with the sloped front, facilitates the controller’s overall excellent performance.

Easy customization

Customization and personalization are important aspects that make using fight sticks so enjoyable. I’m happy to say the Fighting Stick Alpha handles both of these extremely well.

A hatch on the back easily unlocks the controller, which you can then open like a briefcase. It takes some force to open due to the firm hinge, but you won’t strain yourself in the process. You’re able to open the hinge by as much as 270 degrees, though opening it 90 degrees is also fine. Either position gives you easy access to the internal components since both allow you to lay the controller flat on a table.

Despite one issue I’ll cover soon, the controller’s interior is relatively clean and spacious, making it easier for you to work. I really appreciate the labels that show which cable colors correspond to which buttons. There’s even a barcode you can scan that takes you to a site where you can view a button removal tutorial. All of this is super handy, even if you’re an expert arcade stick modder.

You’re free to swap the controller’s top plate artwork with one of your own. This process is more involved than opening the controller since you have to remove the eight buttons, the Start button and the joystick’s balltop. Still, it’s not an insurmountable task.

Like the Hori Wireless Fighting Commander Octa Pro, you can remap the controller’s buttons and create up to four profiles via the Hori Device Manager PC app. I didn’t use this app since the controller’s layout was ideal for me out of the box, but I appreciate that Hori allows folks to remap buttons. And in case you’re wondering, you can’t remap buttons on-device.

Hori Fighting Stick Alpha review: The downs

The Hori Fighting Stick Alpha is certainly a top-end peripheral, but it has one glaring flaw that prevents it from being perfect.

Clunky cable management

While I appreciate that you can store the Fighting Stick Alpha’s cable inside the controller, doing so isn’t exactly an elegant experience. It’s clunky at best and mini heart attack inducing at the worst.

Wrapping the cable around the two hooks inside the controller isn’t difficult, but you’ll need to do so slowly for two reasons. The first is that if you haphazardly wrap the cable, it could be hard to close the case.

Secondly, and most importantly, is that you’re always grazing the buttons’ cables, no matter how carefully or slowly you wrap the USB cable. The button cables are pretty thin, so I’m always worried I might accidentally yank on them when storing the USB cable. This hasn’t happened yet, but it’s still a concern.

If you’re at a tournament and need to quickly move to another station, you’re better off not storing the controller’s cable, which negates having cable storage in the first place. To be sure, this is the Fighting Stick Alpha’s major design flaw.

No detachable cable

The cable and cable opening are located on the back of the controller, which naturally places it close to the buttons’ cables. However, the cable management problem could’ve been lessened or avoided with a detachable cable.

And where would you store the cable once it's detached? There’s a lot of room inside the controller, so the cable hooks could’ve been placed across and to the side of the buttons. Since this would keep the button cables safe, you’d be able to store the USB cable without much worry.

Hori Fighting Stick Alpha review: Verdict

I’ve heard many great things about the Hori Fighting Stick Alpha over the years, and I’m happy to see that the hype has been justified. Sure, I would have liked better cable management, but even that flaw doesn’t take away from the phenomenal gaming experience you get. This is indeed one of the best arcade sticks I’ve ever tested, and one I plan to continue using for the foreseeable future.

The Fighting Stick Alpha is an easy choice for anyone looking for a highly customizable premium arcade stick that won’t completely break the bank. If peripherals like the Victrix Pro FS and Qanba Obsidian are too expensive or heavy for your liking, you won’t go wrong with Hori’s excellent Fighting Stick Alpha.