Note: If you are having trouble understanding some of the concepts in this guide, it may be worth looking at these articles to understand some of the jargon that the Fighting Game Community (FGC) uses when talking about games:
- FGC Terminology and Slang | Fighting Games 101
- This is a glossary of most terms the FGC uses (if you want to search for a specific term, press the command key+F at the same time and type in said term in the box on the top right)- SRK Fighting Game Glossary
- Here is a different glossary in case something is missing on the first one (at the bottom of the page there is a box that has a list of other mechanics present in fighting games, including things like how frames work and numpad notation if you need it) — Dustloop: Glossary
Part 1: Fighting Game Subgenres: 2D, 3D, Platformer
To truly understand why so many different types of controllers exist for one genre of video games (that being fighting games) you first have to understand what types of fighting games exist. The main genres of fighting games are:
- 2D-style fighters (also known as traditional fighting games)*
- 3D-style fighters (well known by its limited, but available 3D movement)
- Platformer-style fighters (well known by its 2D, movement-based style)*
* — There are some fighting games that have 3D models in a 2D plane, which are considered 2.5D ( two point five D) fighting games. They share the same style of gameplay as their genre, just are visually different. Examples of this for 2D fighters are Guilty Gear and Street Fighter (specifically, the Guilty Gear Xrd series and Street Fighter games after Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, such as Street Fighter 4). An example of this for platformers is the Super Smash Bros. series. A non-example for this is Rivals of Aether, which uses a pixelated artstyle and as such is a 2D platformer.
Examples of 2D-style fighter series include, but are not limited to: Street Fighter, Guilty Gear, Blazblue, King of Fighters, Persona 4 Arena, etc. Examples of 3D-style fighter series include, but are not limited to: Tekken, Soul Calibur, etc. Examples of Platformer-style fighter series include, but are not limited to: Super Smash Bros., Rivals of Aether, Brawlhalla, etc.
I must note that these are basic genres that fighting games may be classified in. You may hear other ones such as ‘tag based’, ‘airdashers’, ‘anime-fighters’, ‘arena-fighters’ etc., but they are more nuanced genres and don’t affect the design of fighting game controllers as much as the main ones. There are several factors that determine whether or not a game is classified as 2D, 3D, or platformer, but here are some of the main ones:
- 2D Fighters: Fought on a 2D plane, typically with either a sprite-based or 3D artstyle, either no emphasis on movement or higher emphasis of movement across a single plane (no platforms).
- 3D Fighters: 3D artstyle, 3 dimensional movement in relation to the opposing player. You may hear about ‘arena fighters’, which is a genre of fighting games that also features 3D movement, but said movement is not in relation to the opposing player, which affects what movement options are available.
- Platform Fighters: 2D plane, sprite based or 3D artstyle, emphasis on movement in relation to platforms. These games movement is a massive factor, as well as the places the matches take place in (known as stages)
Here is a video about the types of Fighting Game Genres (click on it):
Part 2: Types of Controllers for each Subgenre
This is the meat and potatoes of this guide. I figured that knowing how fighting games look and function would help understand the design choices behind each type of controller, and now I can lay out the different types of controllers in this section and what genres of games they are used for.
- Fightsticks (2D, 3D, Platformer) (may be known as arcade controllers or arcade sticks)
Fightsticks are one of the most common types of controllers for fighting games. They are categorized by having some sort of interface on the top of a box. Their conception started as an extension of arcade cabinets, which typically had a stick and 4 or more buttons (depending on the game). Arcade cabinets are way too big to be used nowadays, so they were shortened to fightsticks in order to keep the same experience without all of the excess baggage.
-Traditional Fightsticks (2D, 3D, very niche Platformer) (also known as just ‘sticks’) are your basic box with a stick for movement and buttons
-Hitbox (2D, 3D, very niche Platformer) (may be known as a box controller) is the relatively new-ish type of box controller that substitutes the stick for 4 buttons for each direction (up, down, left, right). The layout of the movement keys may vary, but all hitboxes use buttons for movement.
Mixbox (2) & Hitbox (1)(made by the company Hitbox)
-Smashbox (Platformer, very niche 2D) (may also be known as a box controller) is also new, and is very similar to hitbox-style controllers in the sense that they are entirely button-based (no sticks). The differences come from the layout of buttons. In 2D fighters, having movement buttons near each other and attack buttons near each other is considered the most optimal way to play (hence the layout of traditional fightsticks and hitboxes). In platformer fighters however…
Default button layout of the Frame 1 smashbox-style controller
…there are a lot more buttons needed to account for the more movement options and buttons in general present in platform fighters, so the layout is radically changed to fit a balance between optimal play and comfort, which is something most controllers built for certain fighting game types attempt to do.
Frame 1 BOXX Smashbox (made by Hitbox)
Before I leave the fightstick section, I just want to make a note of a ‘mixed bag’ type of arcade stick. This is called a CrossUp. It was made by the same company behind the Hitbox and the Smashbox, Hitbox. A CrossUp is what I’d call a mixed bag because it has both the elements of a traditional fightstick and a hitbox — A stick and movement buttons (black buttons with white outlines). It was created and is used for 2D/3D fighting games, though there are very niche uses for platform fighters, similar to the Hitbox.
- Pads (2D, 3D, Platformer)
Pads are the most basic type of fighting game controller, because they come with the console the fighting game was released on. For example:
This is a standard PS4 pad. It comes with the Playstation 4 console, and can be used to play any game period designed for the PS4 console, as well as most PC games. This is one of the controllers I own, but not the one I typically use. For fighting games, players typically like to use the d-pad (top left) for movement as opposed to the analog stick (bottom left) because it allows for more precise and comfortable control, though for some they prefer the analog stick.
Pads are typically less expensive than fightsticks, but not as many people prefer playing on them than as with fightsticks. The main thing to note here is that for (most) fighting games, the controller that the player uses is mainly down to personal preference. A fighting game that only had one controller that was usable for a long time is Super Smash Bros. Melee, and that controller is this:
This is the standard Gamecube controller that came with the Nintendo Gamecube console back in 2001. Super Smash Bros. Melee launched in November of that same year, and it’s only available option at the time was this controller. As Melee is a platformer fighter, it did not have the same movement restrictions as a typical fighting game, so it was fine to move with the left analog stick (and also the only way to move period!). Of course, with the development of smashboxes, like the Frame 1 and BOXX, this controller is no longer the only way to play the game, and pro players who have been playing the game for decades now are considering switching to them.
As you can see, pads are not necessarily made for fighting games, or any games for that matter. In fact, because they are meant for any game played on the console they come out with, games on said console are actually made for these pads, not the other way around. That being said, most pads share similar buttons, it’s merely the layouts that may vary between pads and consoles.
- Keyboard (2D, 3D, Platformer)
Keyboards are the last major type of controller typically used in fighting games. They are a relatively inexpensive way to play (limited mostly by the hardware of the computer used to play with it) and are very good for casual players. That being said, keyboards, being even more standard than pads, are hard to regulate in fighting game tournaments. They are easily moddable, and for this reason (among others, like the fact that most fighting game tournaments use the original console of the game in question) keyboards are usually banned from offline events, and even a lot of online ones. Keyboard players therefore are typically people who can’t afford or don’t see the value in purchasing a hitbox or similar controller. Also, keyboard compatibility with fighting games is generally hit and miss, with some fighting games not accounting for SOCD (Simultaneous Opposing Cardinal Directions), which you can read more about here.
Example of a typical keyboard layout similar to the Hitbox
Example of a layout one might use to play platform fighters, similar to the BOXX layout
One last thing I wanted to mention before leaving Part 2 is that while these are the main controllers fighting game players use to play their games, these aren’t the only controllers they use either. One can really use anything as long as it is supported by the game they play, and some people even build their own DIY versions of arcade sticks. The important thing is that the controller they use upholds the integrity of the game they play (no cheating by putting buttons on your controller that aren’t normally available by the game), which has brought into question the legality of button-only box controllers like the Hitbox and BOXX.
Extra: Here are some videos about Arcade Sticks, Hitboxes, Pads, Keyboards, and the legality of each controller:
I would suggest watching them in order btw
- Analysis: The Controllers Used to Win Evo
- Sidenote: The Case for Arcade Sticks
- Initial T, the Steering Wheel Warrior
- The Stick I Use
- SCRUBGUIDES: Arcade Sticks 101: “Should I buy a Fightstick?”
- The reason why Daigo’s HitBox was banned from Combo Breaker
If you want to read more about it check out these articles:
