When a popular one-on-one beat ‘em’ up arrives, it usually comes with the pricey (yet awesome) arcade fight stick that became the closest in replicating that authentic arcade experience. With Mortal Kombat 9, accessory developers PDP created an awesome arcade stick, yet unfortunately we won’t see one for Mortal Kombat X and even if they had, they’re out of most gamer’s price range. Though thankfully if you still own that very MK9 arcade stick, then you should be pleased to know that it is compatible with MKX. But what about those that do not own that arcade stick or those with a more restricted budget? How can we replicate that arcade experience?
The short answer to that is that you won’t, but with the new MKX Fight Pad, we can get pretty dam close on a less straining budget for those that don’t have an extra £100+ plus to fork out on a new arcade stick. Depending on your region and retail, this Fight Pad should cost you around £40/$50 and is available for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4. And if you own MKX on the last-gen systems, the Xbox One pad also works with the Xbox 360, likewise with the PS4 pad working on PS3. So if you upgrade your MKX from last-gen to new-gen, you can take your MKX Fight Pad with you too. Bonus.
It is also worth mentioning that while the Xbox and PlayStation versions of this Fight Pad are available in the North American regions, only the Xbox version is available in Europe. I am told that this has something to do with a lack of a Sony licensing agreement in the EU, which is very disappointing to say the least. So unless this changes in the near future, some prospective buyers will have to import from a chosen retailer or via eBay, which unfortunately could result in you paying a little over the odds.
Right, now let’s get on to the more technical aspects of this officially licensed Fight Pad and how it performs incoherent with Mortal Kombat X. At quick glance the first aspect that you may notice is that the buttons are in the same layout as its big brother arcade stick. This instantly will welcome gamers who prefer the more traditional methods of playing their favourite one-one-one beat ‘em’ ups, especially for those that spent most of their youth in the local arcades from years gone by. For those not quite used to these traditional methods, it will take a little getting used to with its button layout in comparison to the official console controllers. But once you grow accustom to it, in my opinion it is for the better.
The way in which the buttons are layout, means that the short distance between your finger travelling from button to button, is that little bit faster. You can think “how much time can you actually save?” The answer to that is faster than I can count, perhaps a 100th of a second give or take. This may not sound like a lot by any stretch of the imagination, but in a game such as Mortal Kombat X that relies on reflex responses and timely combos, that ever so slight advantage of speed could be the difference between winning and losing. This can be particularly handy with the LB (grapple) and RB (interact with the environment) lying next to your A, B, Y and X. With the LT (switch stance) and RT (block) in its natural place on the shoulders of the Fight pad. It also has a rubber texture on the back of the controller making for extra grip, which is particularly handy for those extended gameplay sessions.
That’s not to say that the official controllers don’t work as well, because they do (perhaps better for some). It all comes down to personal preference at the end of the day. What I would say though that perhaps works against the favour of the MKX Fight Pad, is that because the main buttons are on a slightly different angle to its official controller counterpart, it is easier to press the wrong button when playing out one of the games QTE sections. But after an hour or so of using the Fight Pad, you’ll soon grow accustom to its layout. That being said, this isn’t really a negative as it’s a specific arcade style design, but I feel it’s worth mentioning none the less. There are a couple of gripes that I do have with the Fight Pad however, which I also feel is worth a mention.
First of all, the Fight Pad feels very light and doesn’t have that same quality of weight that you might find with the official console controllers. I’ve owned PDP’s Afterglow controller and even they have more weight to them. I also own their officially licensed Gamecube controllers for the Nintendo Wii U and I’d go as far as saying that I prefer them to the official Gamecube controllers from yesteryear. So despite its stylish, glossy design with the Mortal Kombat logo placed on the Fight Pad, it doesn’t have that sturdy, weighty quality feel that I’ve found with previous PDP controllers. Another problem that I have is that there is no headset port on the Fight Pad, fair enough these ports may not have been present with most 3rd party controllers, but I would love one day for them to have that function included.
Overall, I have to be honest, during my first couple of uses with the Fight Pad, I was a tad unsure. I went to and from using it, between the official controllers and so forth. This actually helped develop my opinion on the controllers benefits used with the game and eventually I found myself wanting to use the Fight Pad over the official controller when playing MKX. Despite is light structure, it gives you have split second advantage, which could be the difference when playing online especially. Even during the Test Your Strength mini-games, it had a distinct advantage over the official controller. For example, I found myself unable to complete these mini-games using the Xbox One controller, but it posed little problem when using the Fight Pad. I just hope that the licensing saga gets sorted over here in the EU eventually, because it’s a shame you can’t currently buy the Fight Pad from our main retailers, unless you import.
Is it with the £40/$50 price tag? Possibly, as it will all come down to how often you use it, not only with Mortal Kombat X, but also with other one-on-one beat ‘em’ ups such as Street Fighter and Killer Instinct. I can’t make the decision on value for you, as that’s for you to decide, but I do think it will give you a slight advantage and I believe that it will eventually be your go-to beat ‘em’ up controller, assuming you don’t already own an arcade stick of course. Either way, if you can get hold of this Mortal Kombat X Fight Pad, it’s certainly worth your consideration of investment, especially with the release of Ultra Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V just around the corner on PS4.