Best universal arcade stick for retro and new consoles?

[PeterWar]

Dear all,

I own an original NES, SNES, PC Engine, Master System, Sega Saturn, PS1, Dreamcast, PS3, N64 and Nintendo Switch and maybe PS5 in the future.

I've been looking into buying an arcade pad that ideally would play all these systems. I would prefer it to have compact dimensions (nut much bigger than the NeoGeo arcade stick) so that I can store it in a drawer.

So far I'm looking into the following:

Brook Retro Board+ Universal Fighting board
MC Cthulhu

Any thoughts on this?

Thank you for your time.

[Taiyaki]

Any PS3/PS4 stick is probably the most compatible. There are tons of adapters that will allow these to work on other systems.

As for the shell and the parts it's all down to personal preference and I doubt anyone could recommend one "ultimate" stick.

The one I like best is the TE2+, I changed the parts to make it all black and use sanwa jlf stick with a kowal actuator to reduce the throw, and sanwa buttons. I also have a seimitsu ls40 and seimitsu buttons stick for neo geo and I like it too. Overall I think the sanwa works very well for all round usage. The reason I liked the TE2 is the fit, weight and size work really well for me. It also fits in a drawer (Ikea Malm).

[Johnpv]

I used to have the MC Cthulhu in a custom stick, but eventually switched it out for the brook retro board and have been happier with it. Just seems like it works better with some systems. You could build a fairly universal stick with that and the Brook Universal Fighting Board. I went the 2 different sticks option. I have that custom built one with the retroboard for older consoles and another stick for modern systems.

[PeterWar]

Thank you,


I would also need a modder in Europe than can do the job, any recommendations?

[Dochartaigh]

I would also need a modder in Europe than can do the job, any recommendations?

Watch some videos on how these are done. The MC Cthulhu board (which I have), and the Brooks (which looks similar) literally install with a little screwdriver to synch down on the wires coming from the buttons and joystick. Might be more to it depending on what you're going for, but I didn't have to solder or anything like that. Hardest part for me was finding the pre-made cables - all mine end in the same connector an Ethernet cord has then plug into the console.

I think I would have needed a 2nd board if I wanted to use it on modern consoles too, but I was most interested in Saturn, Dreamcast, PS1/2, etc. so I didn't look into that too much.