The two most popular PS4 fight pads currently available are the Mad Catz Street Fighter V FightPad Pro and Hori Fighting Commander 4 Controller. So if you can only buy one, which of these controllers are worth your investment? Before you decide, let’s compare the features the two pad have to offer with our guide below.
Pricing
The Mad Catz Street Fighter V FightPad Pro, which is the newer product, is quite a bit more expensive when compared to the Hori Fighting Commander 4 Controller. You can check out the prices for both with the following links on Amazon: Street Fighter V FightPad Pro and Fighting Commander 4 Controller.
Similarities between the Mad Catz Street Fighter V FightPad Pro and Hori Fighting Commander 4 Controller
Before we differentiate the two, let’s talk about the similar features of the two gamepads. Both controllers feature a asymmetrical shape as the handle of the left hand side is longer than the right one. This is done so that you can use your index, middle and ring fingers on the six buttons (along with the normal Circle, Cross, Square and Triangle face buttons, the R1 and R2 shoulder buttons have been moved to the same area as well), allowing you to pull off combos faster as opposed to just using you right thumb in addition to right index and middle fingers for the R1 and R2 should buttons.
The other feature the two products share in common has to do with compatibility. Both the FightPad Pro and Fighting Commander 4 come with a switch to change support from PS4 and PS3. Last Additionally, you can also reverse the left and right side of the shoulder buttons for both controllers; doing so will grant you access to all eight action buttons with your right hand.
Last but not least, both pads feature the Share and Options buttons of the DualShock 4. With that said, the two system buttons are more discrete in Mad Catz Street Fighter V FightPad Pro as it is placed area from the main area while the same buttons are placed where you traditionally expect them to be on the Hori Fighting Commander 4 Controller.
Directional Pad Comparison
The biggest difference between the two is the directional pad. Mad Catz opted to ditch the regular four-way directional pad for a eight-way circular one. In theory, the D-Pad is designed to help make it easy to pull off moves that require diagonal inputs. In practice, however, the eight-way circular design makes it hard to tell which direction you are pressing since it has a flat surface without any gaps. This is especially true if you are used to the traditional four four-way directional pad.
Fortunately, the Hori Fighting Commander 4 does offer a traditional four-way D-Pad design. There are also some customizable options as well as you can rotate the directional pad to a certain degree while also being able to change the diagonal input sensitivity. Not to mention that you can also use a switch to change the functionality of the D-Pad to emulate either a left analog or right analog stick. For a fighting game, the FC4 is clearly the better choice of the two.
L2 and R2 Triggers
The L2 and R2 triggers are also quite different. The Mad Catz Street Fighter V FightPad Pro uses traditional ones (similar to the ones from the Xbox 360 controller), which isn’t exactly optimal if you are looking for a quick feedback by pressing the triggers when playing a fighting game.
On the other hand, the L2 and R2 buttons of the Hori Fighting Commander 4 Controller are short strokes, so it should provide faster feedback, which makes it a better choice for use with titles in the fighting genre.
Turbo Functionality
Another advantage the Fighting Commander 4 over its direct competition is turbo. So if you are interested in pressing buttons faster for one reason or another, then you should get the Hori product instead of the fight pad from Mad Catz.
Mad Catz Street Fighter V FightPad Pro Advantages
With that said, the Street Fighter V FightPad Pro does have some advantages over the Hori Fighting Commander 4. The Mad Catz controller comes with a touch pad and light bar. The former is used in a variety of ways depending on the game. For example, you use the touch pad to display/hide battle information as well as reset the character’s position in the training mode of Street Fighter V. The light bar can be used to identify the controller (from player 1 to player 4), indicate the amount of damage taken and more.
The FightPad Pro also comes with a left analog stick, which you can also change to emulate the right analog stick via a switch. If you are planning to use a fighting pad for games in other genres, the analog stick of the Mad Catz controller may be a better choice when compared to the FC4.
Another potential advantage is that the FightPad Pro comes with four different color variations as opposed to one. You can check out the available colors with the following links: Chun Li Blue, Ken Red, M. Bison Black and Ryu White. You can take a look at the variations with our media gallery below this paragraph.
Recap
The Hori Fighting Commander 4 Controller is the definite choice if you are looking for a dedicated pad to play fighting games as the eight-way circular directional pad of the Mad Catz Street Fighter V FightPad Pro simply does not work well in 2D fighters such as Guilty Gear Xrd, Mortal Kombat X, Street Fighter V and Ultra Street Fighter IV. Not to mention that the L2 and R2 buttons of the FC4 is better suited for the fighting games as well. If you are interested, you can preorder the Hori Fighting Commander 4 with this link.
Mad Catz Street Fighter V FightPad Pro does have some advantages, such as multiple color options and an analog stick that adds better compatibility with titles from other genres. You can check out the FightPad Pro, if you are still interested, with this page.