Saturn Virtua Stick Pro mini review

Been waiting for a long time for these to pop up in ebay, but it never did, so I was pretty psyche up when I got a package today from a fellow n-g member Ryan (japangamesnow.com).



I got it complete w/ the manual, reg card , fighting vipers, virtua fighter 2 and virtua fighter kids mini instructions and the box.

I often go to arcades in Asia, so I had great expectations for the Sega Astro City inspired joystick.

The stick is heavy and sturdy, very responsive and uses quality sanwa parts Way better than the single player ver. jp Virtua Stick.

This is definitely the best arcade stick for the sega saturn.

VStickPro > Hori Fighting Stick >> VStick (jp) > VStick.

I just want to add that your sig made me want to cry...so beautiful

that is an awesome stick if you can live with the low sitting japanese style ball controllers (I cant). ive seen those on yahoo japan for about 50-75 bucks, but shipping is like 100 for EMS so it's not even worth it considering.

I think only a few thousand of those were even made.

EMAGDNIM said:

I just want to add that your sig made me want to cry...so beautiful

Click to expand...

hehe I can't wait for WE 8. Licensed players, 130+ clubs !!

that looks alot like this BLAZE Twin Shock controller i have for playstation.

I think it's the Blaze stick that looks a lot like this one (Blaze copied the look, obviously)

Japanese style sticks pwn!!!

Looks like a really nice stick.
Nice sig btw.

kiun said:

Been waiting for a long time for these to pop up in ebay, but it never did, so I was pretty psyche up when I got a package today from a fellow n-g member Ryan (japangamesnow.com).

I got it complete w/ the manual, reg card , fighting vipers, virtua fighter 2 and virtua fighter kids mini instructions and the box.

I often go to arcades in Asia, so I had great expectations for the Sega Astro City inspired joystick.

The stick is heavy and sturdy, very responsive and uses quality sanwa parts Way better than the single player ver. jp Virtua Stick.

This is definitely the best arcade stick for the sega saturn.

VStickPro > Hori Fighting Stick >> VStick (jp) > VStick.

Click to expand...

If it has Sanwa parts, it can only be good.

Oh yeah, take a look at this twin stick (modified from the virtua pro stick)

here

I've really been thinking about trying to track one of these down. Could you maybe post the approximate dimensions of the whole thing, or at least the width and length?

Is it pretty easy for two people to be on the thing at the same time, or is it somewhat cramped?

gmw said:

I've really been thinking about trying to track one of these down. Could you maybe post the approximate dimensions of the whole thing, or at least the width and length?

Is it pretty easy for two people to be on the thing at the same time, or is it somewhat cramped?

Click to expand...

its approximately 29 X 8.5 X 3.

It is comfortable enough for me and my friend. But you have to consider that this is targeted for the Japanese market. And the average Japanese is pretty small in size when compared to the average American.

Just giving this a bump since I'm looking around for one of these at the moment. Does anyone know what I can expect to pay approximately?

Also, for kiun, or anyone else with one of these, are the dimensions/parts/etc roughly the same size and identical to the control panel on the actual Astro City cabinets? Have you used it with convertors for the DC or PS2?

And the inlay VF Kids instruction sheet is removable, correct?

I'm looking to get one of these and turn it into a PS/PS2 stick.

gmw said:

Just giving this a bump since I'm looking around for one of these at the moment. Does anyone know what I can expect to pay approximately?

Also, for kiun, or anyone else with one of these, are the dimensions/parts/etc roughly the same size and identical to the control panel on the actual Astro City cabinets? Have you used it with convertors for the DC or PS2?

And the inlay VF Kids instruction sheet is removable, correct?

I'm looking to get one of these and turn it into a PS/PS2 stick.

Click to expand...

Assuming you are getting this from Japan, expect to pay about $150 with shipping included. Hopefuly you can find one locally.

A fellow board member did replace his Sega Astro City Cabinet's control panel with this joystick. In fact, he modded his Astro City cab to be able to play his PS2, Saturn etc.

And yes the VF Kids instruction sheet is removable. Sega included 2 other instruction sheets : Fighting Vipers and VF 2.

I hope you find these infos useful

kiun said:

Assuming you are getting this from Japan, expect to pay about $150 with shipping included. Hopefuly you can find one locally.

A fellow board member did replace his Sega Astro City Cabinet's control panel with this joystick. In fact, he modded his Astro City cab to be able to play his PS2, Saturn etc.

And yes the VF Kids instruction sheet is removable. Sega included 2 other instruction sheets : Fighting Vipers and VF 2.

I hope you find these infos useful

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! I'm on the search for one of these at the moment, and though I'd like to find one in the US, I think I may have to get one from Japan. I'm curious to know if you've tried any controller convertors with the Virtua Stick Pro, like one that allows use of Saturn pads/sticks on the DC or PS2. I'd be mostly interested in using it for non-Saturn stuff, so I'm concerned about how well it will work with these things.

Great Stick

I bought one of these from NCS when they first came out and I love it. I have it modded to work with my supergun as well as the neo geo, while maintaining the saturn function. One great thing is that there are 2 rows of four buttons, rather than 3 buttons, so it sets up perfectly for neo geo games.

I really like the controller. It is responsive and heavy enough that you can pull off the more difficult moves without having to worry about it slipping.

I have used the dreamcast converters for fighters and it works great. My test for controllers or joysticks is whether I can do Zangief's spinning piledriver w/o jumping, which is a big deal for me, and this controller passes the test.

There was a member who tried to sell one on ebay a few months back, but the reserve was not met at $112, or something like that. I am not sure if that one still has the Saturn compatibility, but here is the thread.

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88897&highlight=saturn+stick

I paid $250 shipped for it brand new from NCS plus another $30 or so to have it modded and I think that it is well worth it.