Review of Micomsoft's XE-1 HE Pro joystick for PC Engine...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Upon receiving a boxed set of Micomsoft's XE-1 HE Pro joystick for the venerable PC Engine gaming platform recently, it's worthy of any PCE gamer's collection indeed.

I like how it has an elaborate mechanism to change the joystick from a 4-way orientation to an 8-way orientation if so desired. The actual joystick is micro-switched from the get-go which is ace in my book (you might recall NEC's Turbo Stick joystick for the TurboGrafx-16 console is non-clicky from the get-go). Atari Games Klax upright cabinet setup came with a pair of 4-way digital joysticks and this Micomsoft PCE joystick replicates this functionality with Tengen's PCE HuCard of Klax (as the proper way to play it just like it's arcade counterpart).

The button layout of I & II is well thought out with the ability to rotate it from 90 degrees to 270 degrees (in 10 degree increments) if so desired. Both buttons are concave with slight bowing towards the middle to facilitate easier button pressing. Auto-fire capability is slider adjustable for each button for complete user customization/tastes with auto-fire turned off, button held down auto-fire functionality & hand-free auto-fire functionality via switchable settings (the NEC Turbo Stick has user adjustable auto-fire sliders for both both buttons I & II but uses a button to able or disable auto-fire on the fly). LED lights indicate the rate of auto-fire selected as a handy visual indicator/status.

Built-in controller ports for players two through five are accessible on the right side the XE-1 HE Pro's joystick base, so no need to buy an external PCE multi-tap accessory anyways. This is the only PCE joystick to have this multi-tap functionality/capability from the get-go.

The only minor quibble with the XE-1 HE Pro is that there's no built-in slow-motion capability/functionality whatsoever (the NEC Turbo Stick has slo-mo built-in and can be toggled on or off on the fly if so desired).

The Hori Fighting Stick PC is another stellar 3rd-party arcade stick for the PCE gaming platform that has a solid weighted base (and won't budge during a heated PCE gaming session) along with built-in slo-mo functionality + the option to select between 2-button or 6-button mode + auto-fire for all six buttons on the fly + factory installed arcade joystick is micro-switched from the get-go & very responsive (I wouldn't be surprised if it's a Seimitsu or Sanwa manufactured arcade stick to begin with -- the installed joystick is ace through & through). I find my PCE STG scores getting higher & higher with this Hori Fighting Stick PC setup. Hori certainly went the extra mile with it's flagship PCE arcade stick controller in terms of overall construction, durability & responsiveness with a professional-grade arcade stick setup.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~