I started playing fighting games in early 2000s, and one of my first games was Garou Mark of the Wolves on Neo Geo emulator. Of course I played on PC, so I used keyboard. Later, with Xbox 360, I think, I got a gamepad. And that’s when I discovered that keyboard controls were superior to gamepads, as moves that require quarter circles, which are common in most 2D fightings, are far easier to perform on a keyboard. But I was in minority for a decade. Until leverless pads started to come out. Which are basically a keyboard, but with fewer buttons.
I bought Razer Kitsune on a sale quite a while ago, but didn’t get to try it until now.
It’s definitely an interesting product. Smaller than I expected, size of 60% keyboard.
First time I see a locking mechanism on a USB-C port. Also, full rubber base, and not 4 rubber legs, is nice.
I thought it might work on Switch though an adapter as the Xbox controller or maybe the Hori arcade stick, but no, the mapping is completely off. So I can only use it on PS5 or PC.
The results are mixed so far. There’s definitely a learning curve, as when I play on keyboard, I move between “up” and “down” with my middle finger. On a fightpad, middle finger is always “down”, and “up” is thumb, where the “space” would be on a normal keyboard. Which makes sense, but still, learning curve. Still, I did manage to progress in City of the Wolves to 4th stage, so not all is lost.
In beat’em’ups, and I was actually looking forward to play Streets of Rage on this, the situation is even weirder: you move up the screen with thumb, you jump with your right hand on X, and you move down the screen with middle finger. Definitely not as intuitive as with an arcade stick.
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