In 86 my birthday present was an Atari jr to replace my woody and two Slik Sticks and two other flight control style joysticks. I put a sticker on of the slik Stiks and that joystick is still in use today.. the only issue is the fire button is a bit worn out on it. I have all the others in this video except for for that awesome arcade style one at the end but I couldn't tell you if they are better then Slik Stik since that just my joystick LOL.
Ended up with several of these in recent years, including the bat-top Wico, the Amiga Power Stick, and more. Very cool to see them getting some love on your channel!
@RainLauncher85 A.K.A Taizo Hori Fan 2007 Yep. Even Rob says he prefers the ball top because it looked more like the arcade ("form over function"). They are both great sticks with the same internals. :)
I agree about the short throw being a good thing when it comes to the Slik Stick. It's one of my favorites. The Amiga Powerstick is just incredibly tiny... but can be surprisingly good for some games :) Love the Epyx 500XJ for Ms. Pac-Man and other maze games. On other games the button pressing can wear on your hand, though, after awhile.
Had two Wico Command Control bats growing up and still have them to this day. They are insanely reliable. Only thing that ever happened to one growing up is the spring for the stick fire button wore out; so my dad replaced it with a mechanical pen spring--worked like a charm. We had something else that was like a flight stick with suction cups on the bottom--it stunk comparatively and was super (clicky) loud (don't wake up mom!). Looking around online, it looks like it was the QuickShot II Plus. In the late 90s, I started gobbling up other peoples' Commodore 64s and I got a bunch of joysticks which I haven't really used, included a Slik Stick, two of the pistol grip Wicos you mentioned, two Wico "The Boss" sticks, and a Suncom Tac-3. The Tac-3 feels cheap. If I grew up with the Wico Bosses, I probably would have liked them--fairly similar but not as good. The Slik Stick feels really cheap and the one I have doesn't work and needs some kind of maintenance. I totally get what you mean with the "icky" of the pistol grip Wicos, they have a sort of adult toy rubber like outside which if I actually used it, I bet it would have gone south. One of them has almost like a yellowing like you see with old console / computer plastic cases. But it feels really good in the hand. If it was less clicky and had a big grommet like a proper Wico, I could really learn to love and perhaps prefer it. When I took out my Wico Command Controls, I did have to open them and clean their contacts and they were great. I've never had any issues with the grommet going bad--maybe it's dependent on the temperature & humidity they are stored in. Concerning the base / stick switch, I'm guessing people have a tendency to press the base button unintentionally when holding it--I only ever held it in the other hand--even with my little kid hands. I did pick up a few more Wicos on Ebay where someone had clearly done some maintenance and wired the switch to essentially do nothing and make both buttons work. In the late 80s, I used a friends' Epyx style stick like you showed. My vague memory is that they were pretty comparable to the Wico I just described.
What a beautiful collection Rob! I had a Slik Stik and an EPYX joystick too. I honestly like the old school, regular Atari joystick, but yes it can be brutal on your hand. I also LOVED the look of the old Telestar joystick, but never owned one. The one made by the Amiga crew would be cool to own too. :)
1. The Slik Stik looks so beautiful! 2. Shaft! 3. I would love to see a modern take on the Amiga Power-Stick. 4. The Sigma arcade joystick looks great. I had a slightly similar (not the extra things) for my Atari ST in the early 90s. Great joystick. 5. Yes they still make tv trays. I recently bought two, a red and a purple one. Very cool looking. 6. As the classic Atari joystick works with the Atari ST and Amiga, I presume all of these do too?
Shaaaft! Seriously though, I know they all work on the Commodore 64 so I think it would be a safe bet for the Amiga. My Amiga 500 has been apart in a box at a friend's house for maintenance for the past 5 years or so: Every time we start working on it We have a few beers and go to the bar... Not even sure if I have ever had it out on RU-vid.
The CX-40 uncomfortable?? Absolutely not! Hands down, the best, most accurate, joystick. Also very durable, if used in a reasonable fashion. The Suncom "Slick Stick" was terrible. It noisily creaked like crazy. Due to the internal design, accuracy fades during intense games. Btw: I love me some "Shark Attack" too!
I did a video on all the ones I had a couple years ago. A bit dated though. The UK really had an amazing amount of great controllers, I wish the US had the selection they had.
I dont think I have a favourite one, because I dont have much of them :P basically two QuickJoys from Amiga is all I got. Oh and Sega controllers. By the way did I ever told you the story behind my Atari 2600 clone ?
@@Retr0Rob oh well. Not the happiest one to tell, but what can you do. Its life. I happen to have a 2600 clone from the 90s that doesnt work anymore. Back in 2018 I asked my mate to help me out with repairing it, and he agreeded. Unfortunately during the few days he took it, he passed away, and never finished it. That was when I decided that no matter what, I'd repair this console, even if it means sacrificing other one for parts. Yeah, its not even an original Atari, but it is my memento of him, and the last job he took.
