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Quick Jump:
Conclusion
The Biggest Surprise
I wasn’t at all shocked to find that games like Sinistar played much, much better with the 49-way joystick in raw mode. What surprised me most was when, just out of curiosity, I fired up Spy Hunter, pressing up on the joystick for acceleration and side to side for steering, and found it playable enough to keep me occupied for literally several hours.
I did at least as well as I ever have in the arcade, the test for me being whether I could ram the navy blue sedan “Switchblade” cars off the road by accurately slamming the very front of their hood safely away from their tire-slicing blades.
I haven’t owned a real analog arcade joystick before. Nor have I touched anything resembling a Star Wars yoke since the days when the yoke was popular in arcades. But, I found that these low-resolution analog joysticks played just fine for my purposes.
I fired up quite a few analog games, including S.T.U.N. Runner, Paperboy, Star Wars and Food Fight, and really the only time when I noticed anything terribly awry was when I couldn’t enter the “N” (you must aim at the letters in a circle around you) while entering my name for the high score on Food Fight.
I’m sure some purists out there will decry my opinion on this subject. It probably depends upon how well you remember the original controls. The general consensus seems to be that the 49-way will outperform an 8-way for the analog games, but should under no circumstances be considered a replacement for higher resolution analog arcade controls.
Does the 49-way Joystick with GP-Wiz 49 and Rotary Interface Equal the Ultimate Solution?
As a solution to functionally replace original or accurately reproduced controls, the 49-way joystick delivers an amazing package at a price that really can’t be beat.
As with every multifunction product, the joystick has its drawbacks. It doesn’t feel like the original physically restricted joysticks. It doesn’t feel like original leaf switch joysticks. Many arcade enthusiasts on the BYOAC forums swear that an original Leaf Joystick is the only joystick that feels “right” for most classic games.
However, if you’re not really concerned about your controls feeling like the original controls, this product is all it’s cracked up to be. It functioned well for me in all the games I tested. There weren’t any joystick games that couldn’t be played well with this setup.
However, I am still planning to have modular control panels and at least one extra set with another type of joystick. Why would I still need to build modular control panels if I have this amazing set of multifunction joysticks?
At the beginning of this review, I admitted that I’m a fan of fighters. In the early nineties, probably most of my money went straight into Street Fighter II. All the fighting games that I remember from that period used microswitch-based joysticks. I will build a second panel specifically for that set of games, even though the 49-way joysticks in 8-way mode function perfectly for me with those games.
This may be what it all boils down to for prospective purchasers of this setup: How well do you remember and/or want to recapture the feeling of the original joysticks on your favorite games?
As stated before, the 49-ways do not feel like the original controls for the games that I remember playing. For me, that means that I will be using the 8-way joysticks for fighters and the 49-way joystick with DRS technology for every other type of joystick game and even several analog games.
Comparing the 49-way to Other Joysticks
Being relatively new to this hobby, my joystick selection is limited. I have many nostalgic impressions from the original games as I played them in the 80’s and 90’s. Really, I think I was too young to grasp how much a particular joystick might have differed from one on the next machine.
I was particularly worried that I wouldn’t be able to compare the 49-way joystick with DRS to the Happ Perfect 360˚ or the Wico 8-way leaf joystick, which is no longer manufactured, but still considered by many arcade enthusiasts to be one of the best joysticks ever produced.
I didn’t think I could write the review without comparing these joysticks, probably the closest neighbors to the 49-way setup.
To satisfy this dilemma, I received feedback from Mark Rash, a professional photographer based in Texas and “Classic gamer from the 80’s” who goes by the handle “markrvp” on the BYOAC forum. Mark is reputed to own just about every joystick and interface ever made.
“If I could only have one stick I would go with the 49-way for the Digital Restriction,” Mark says.
As for the feel of the 49-way joystick, Mark shared my impression that it takes some getting used to. For one thing, the joystick has a very long throw, about 20˚ of throw. Mark recommends drilling a hole for the joystick shaft that will restrict the movement slightly as the joystick shaft bumps against it.
He mentioned that the 49-way joystick doesn’t feel right compared to a dedicated 4-way stick for Pac-Man. Also, he said that he felt that the 49-way joystick doesn’t feel as nice as the Perfect 360˚ or the Wico 8-way.
Mark concludes: “In summary, the 49-way stick with DRS is a compromise of quality gameplay feel for the convenience of one stick. I still prefer dedicated sticks on multiple panels, but I am using the 49-way stick almost exclusively because I like not having to change panels. However, with practice and continued use I feel that the other sticks will begin to feel foreign and the 49-way will ‘feel right’ to me.”
The GP-Wiz49 has performed very well for both of us. It works exactly as advertised. The quirks all seem to be in the 49-way joystick itself.
Final Word
As with all products on the arcade hardware market, this setup has its plusses and minuses. For me, the drawbacks of a having many different types of joysticks outweigh the drawbacks of playing games with non-original controls
This setup offers incredible flexibility for the price. I also commend Randy Turner for listening to customer requests and further developing this product for the thriving community in which he plays a very active part.
Retroblast guest reviewer recommended.
49-way Joystick Technical Info
