Good video, I try to explain the difference all the time when I do mod videos, but it does get tiring sharing the same story. Will reference this for folks that ask moving forward.
Awesome man, it’s an easy choice but I think the story gets confused so hopefully this helps people moving forward. I made the thumbnail for this video like 3 years ago but never made the video. I basically paid Mason twice since he remade the thumbnail again… LOL. Anyway, Just figured with the KI Pro mishap, it might help more than just the DIY builder. Awesome that you’re also educating people on this ✊🏻. I appreciate you watching.
Thanks Ralph for show the differences in these sticks. I always went with Happ in the past. Didn't know IL made the sticks for Happ back in the day. Going with IL all the way now. Even buttons.
Its nice to hear the details of what's different. It would be super interesting to install one of each on a cabinet and test myself and others. I've always been happy with the Happ sticks but haven't tried an IL. A blind test may answer that question.
Next up Seimitsu vs Sanwa then a face off between the winners and losers? Tournament of Champions! 😂 Nice video, I have Sanwas in one of my Pandoras and went for Seimitsu buttons. In another I went all Sanwa with the final being Baolian sticks and buttons. Each set up feels different, with different gates in each as well. Thanks for the video Ralph, I enjoyed watching it and seeing the difference. 👍
I love these types of levers, It's so much easier and quicker to do anything on them, then a crappy Sanwa JLF with the huge deadzone made worse by the tiny shaft and little springback. It's a shame the Fighting game community has been lead to believe these are all bad and the worst thing ever, by all the SANWA FUD that the OEM's Fightstick makers have spread behind the scenes and making sure to never use anything other then SANWA or Sanwa Knock offs in any fightstick they produce and keeping their cases just slightly to short for a Happ\IL actuator to clear for people that mod them, producing a market that is only for the most part SANWA\SEIMITSU compatible. It's Sad. If you want to use a HAPP\IL stick you pretty much have to make a case yourself or have someone with woodworking skills make you one.
I'm an iL Eurostick user throughout. With the concave 28mm buttons. I tried and owned Sanwa sticks, and to be honest, no matter how I configured them, whether stock or fully pimped out with mods, it never felt right like an iL stick to me. I grew up in the 90's so sure I might be a little biased to US style but some of my friends who are the same age love the sanwa setups 🤷 I guess it all boils down to preference.
Hey Ralph! Cool history lesson, I'm in the process of building a 4-player control panel. I got the HAPPs going in and installed them a couple nights ago, I'm wiring them all up over the next couple days. My first time building a control panel, it's an experience. LoL
Awesome man, hopefully you got the competitions and not the Ultimates, the competitions are still good IMO. Good luck with your project; it sounds fun!
I loved the history lesson and an informed buyer is a smart buyer. I really like this style video where it's just you talking about something you're passion it about. No need for fancy editing.
I'm was very fortunate purchasing a used Arcadian KMB arcade stick. It performs amazing with the original Happ parts from IL after more than 30+ years. I did temporary replaced with new IL short buttons, but I decided to return it to its original state with its old buttons. The new IL short buttons are now with my TE stick.
Question on the bat tops themselves. I've noticed the generic bat tops you order from amazon, ebay, etc all seem smaller than the bat tops I remember growing up in the arcades with? The ones now are 52mm (2")...I swear in the 90s, the US stickers were bigger. The stick tops now almost see 3/4 size. Is this just me?
I have an X-Arcade solo that I replaced the green stick and convex buttons from IL at Paradise 12 or 13 years ago. The stick still feels new after all these years. I still need to upgrade with the PCB upgrade kit. I plan on doing that soon.
Was sent the link to your video when I asked questions about Happ Vs IL For sure upgrading to the IL sticks I have as spares over my current Happ comps with Doing up corner moves
I remember when the old sticks like SF 2 we’re smooth and not clicky. Is it because the stick was over used or was it because they are using a different brand?
Lots of inaccuracies here. The original IL Eurostick is known in the US as the Happ super joystick. The Eurostick 2 is what is known as the competition stick and later variations as the Happ ultimate stick. Suzo also supplied Happ with joysticks long before the Suzo-Happ buyout. Suzo made sticks for Coin Controls as well. The original chinese made Suzo-Happ competition sticks originally came with Happ's in-house E-switch brand microswitches. many hated E-switch brand switches on joysticks. Happ recently caved and once again began to add cherry/zf switches to their competition sticks. As of this writing the only major difference between the Suzo-Happ competition and the Eurostick2 is the spring return rate and materials used for the actuator block.
Thanks for the clarification. That’s the story as my research discovered. It must be documented incorrectly in several places. I appreciate the comment 👍🏻 At the end of the day, for me at least iL Eurosticks are the way to go if I’m in need of a general bat top joystick for a fighting game from the 90s. Or just a great general purpose bat top joystick. 👍🏻
I remember coin control. I have one of the decent Atari 5200 joysticks that's made for it. The one thing that would have completed it would have been a left hand right hand swap which lets you swap the two buttons so that you can play the joystick either left-handed or right-handed. Currently the main button is on the left, which means it's a right handed joystick, which is opposite of what most people play today.
I'm more into j-levers and k-levers these days but I'm going to give this some serious consideration for the US stick in my collection that still needs love.
Nice that you covered this. I have a Happs competition from when the SF 15th anniversary came out and I put one in with custom leaf switches, but then I hear about something later on their switch in quality which took me by surprise. I don't think in this day and age Happ cares at all about the single gamer consumer who they should be supporting and their order requirements have always been a case of their heads in the clouds. Much as I loved their brand back then, I'm glad I still have parts made from the original manufacture and not a country who's credibility is based on cheap knockoffs and ip thefts. I could make a statement that hits deep on this but knowing them I doubt they have a soul either. I'll always stick with the real thing and everyone else gets the one finger salute.
would you ever do a similar comparison video for happ v sanwa? I've built my own control panels and used cheap sanwa joysticks but don't like them, but I'm also not sure i'd like super clicky microswitch style sticks either, so i never know what to buy. same goes for buttons. either way, interesting video, thanks! always well done too.
BTW it's not just the actuator that swtiched from Nylon to PVC the sleeve that the actuator rides on swtiched as well, if you just swap the acuator to nylon on a HAPP it will still bind up. Also the IL sticks have a stronger spring. Just always buy the IL sticks they are cheaper from Paradise Arcade anyway. The only thing that sucks is Cherry switches aren't gold plated anymore.
I have moved on from the Western-style IL/HAPP bat top sticks and have embraced Sanwa sticks and buttons. I prefer them overall now. I still have a cabinet with some HAPP controls, but everything else is Sanwa/decent clones.
I was making arcade sticks and cabinets back when this merger happened (under the brand arcade-in-a-box). There is a huge difference in the quality and in fact when the merger first happened I was getting tons of comp sticks that didn't even fit together right, it was a mess. I started ordered from IL directly and dropped Happ all together. This included american style arcade buttons as well. Everything happ just went to crap after the merger. I've been out of the game for a while now, so I am curious if happ has improved. Fun fact, IL came to us about testing the all White Competition stick. To see if it would maintain it's brightness with use. I believe we had the first batch of about 10 or 20 of them. There wasn't a white comp stick up until then. :)
@@11Eighty6 I never ran into an issue with them to be honest. Lights never seemed to alter them. Now I'm not sure I would put them in an arcade with gross hands everywhere :). But they are sharp looking.
@@11Eighty6 Hmm, weird I replied once and it vanished. Anyway, we never ran into any issue with lights turning them yellow or anything like that. I have a few still just sitting around from years ago and they look as white as they did. Now, I'm not sure I would put them on a machine that would played by a lot of people with dirty hands :). They are sharp looking though.
Thanks very much! You have a new follower. Is there some pre build set with 6 or 8 buttons that I'm sure that it is with this stick? Thanks very much! 😎
I know tornado terry’s sells a HAPP based kit. But I’m not sure if anyone has a prebuilt IL kit. You could try paradise arcade. Good question man, hopefully this helps. Also, thank you for subscribing and supporting the Channel, it means a lot! www.ebay.com/itm/261991815381?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=OnMjhPcqTzC&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=bt3gfI9ITPS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
Great explanation as always. Did you happen to make it to the Texas pinball festival this year. I finally did. It was pretty awesome picked up our tickets at 9 AM and walked in the hall and just started playing games. Little did I know it didn’t open till five and we were not supposed to be in there. But they let us stay anyway I felt like we were VIPs.I’m trying to find a good four-way joystick for PAC-MAN that feels like the original arcade stick what would be your recommendation for that? Should I be looking for leaf switch joystick?
Cool vid Ralph. Here is Australia we saw a lot of Sanwa joysticks, but I’ve always liked these levers. I really appreciated the advice and since I have a few cabinets I have both. I’d love to know what the xarcade levers are because I love them, mind you mine are nearly 20 years old and play like new.
@@lancepage1914 absolutely, but I worked in arcades in the early 90’s. Happ “style” levers were on a lot of products & if I recall correctly LAI cabs used them a lot.
Great video ! Can you recommend the best pandora box to play all the arcade mortal combats ? Im building a mortal combat cabinet and I’d like to be able to play them all. Thank u
The pivot and Z-stop on the iL Eurostick are made of the same white nylon that the actuator is. The Suzo-Happ pivot and z-stop are made or low quality black plastic.
Bought a custom made joystick. Joystick was great but they used Happ parts which I switched to iL. I found the Happ joystick was acceptable, but the buttons were really bad.
Hi Retro Half, i whant to install a iL or a Happ joystick and buttons to on my Pandora Box but the problem is that i dont know how to connect the joystick and even the buttons because the microswitch have 3 terminals instead of 2 on the Pandora Box.
A lot of people think that Suzo bought out Happ. That isn't true. Happ Bought Suzo and Suzo is not an asian company...they were from the Netherlands. Happ was largely an American company with little to no business in Europe. Their Joysticks were manufactured by iL out of Spain but assembled and sold in America. Happ wanted to have a stronger customer base in Europe...so they partnered with another company and bought Suzo including it's employees and factories. Their biggest mistake was throwing out Industrias Lorenzo's partnership and making the joysticks themselves and moving production to China. This occurred with Happ in 2005. Not long after that they changed the Competition joystick to have a rubberized actuator. That didn't last long as their sales for that Joystick plummeted over the years. About 5-10 years ago they moved to a plastic Actuator. Today there is very little difference between the two joysticks happ/iL but the iL's are definitely higher quality still.
Thank you so much for explaining this. I always hear people talk about this mess, but it was always Greek to me, so thanks again for being BA Billy Gun! Also, Happy Birthday next month right?
YO! Ralf can you speak on the different 8 WAY JOYSTICKS there are around that instead of a square use a round cylinder... with micro switches that use levers. It is so hard trying to duplicate game feel with no gate / guide. I hated the sanwa sticks untill i switched out the gate? underneeth the stick now i can feel all 8 directions. People should know, or will end up buying a gang of extra parts.
Question (& storytime): I finally finished my IL EuroJoystick fightstick build last summer, and I was startled to discover how incredibly sensitive it was! It seemed like anytime I went for a cardinal direction, if I was off by a few degrees (let's say between 5 and 10), the actuator would trigger another switch and give me a corner direction. It was so sensitive that I would often times get accidental "flick" dps. I eventually opened the fightsick back up and took a dremel to the switch to reduce its sensitivity. Has anyone else had this experience with IL EJs?
I have 2 original IL Universal joysticks from my 1987 Arcade spanish cabinet, with their original blue CRUZET micro switches and both work and look aesthetically perfect today as the first day Right now, I only had to spray 3 in 1 spray on one of them because it squeaked, not anymore. You may like them more or like them less compared to the Japanese and South Korean ones, but there is no possible comparison in QUALITY and STURDINESS/DURABILITY.
I still have a few original Happ sticks and buttons that I bought t in the early 90’s (still in the original Happ shipping carton). Now I have to break them out to see what I bought.
I know many arcade enthusiasts like IL and Happ sticks because that is what we had in the arcades here in the west, but Sanwa is the superior stick for fighting games and shmups. I just can’t go back. The midway games and neogeo(non fighting games) are where I prefer the western sticks.
In my region I never saw or used an IL or Happ on a machine. There were plenty of American arcade machines around in the day but they seem to be replaced with a local Australian brand which was completely different to what the machine was supposed to come with. So now I am thinking WTH did these operators do with these Happs and ILs they replaced with cheap local levers? The locally made levers were satisfactory but garbage in comparison to Sanwa or Seimitsu. Thank goodness I never saw them again after 2000 since every arcade game worth playing was a Sega or Taito candy cab and they always had Sanwa and Seimitsu parts. That's all I use because they are abundant in my region.
@Retro Ralph I don't like Happs deff IL But Mag sticks are by far the Best just wicked expensive lol same as a wico lol I'm just that weird guy that doesn't Mike spending for those lol most people won't spend 4,0 to 50 for a joystick lol 😅
I get that you don't want to say Happ is bad, but Suzo Happ really is bad. I tried to give the Happ Comp a try in street fighter and I could not hit diagonals at all. I got to Diamond with Kage using a Eurojoy and have like 2000 hours in that game. If I cannot hit a quarter circle on your arcade stick, especially as a player comfortable with western/American parts, it is simply a bad piece of equipment. I find myself having a better time even on the crappy Baolian competition cause they at least use short-hinge switches to compensate for the bad actuator.
BTW it's not just the actuator that swtiched from Nylon to PVC the sleeve that the actuator rides on swtiched as well, if you just swap the acuator to nylon on a HAPP it will still bind up. Also the IL sticks have a stronger spring. Just always buy the IL sticks they are cheaper from Paradise Arcade anyway. Here's my 10 y ear old video about this. ruclips.net/video/LV2CgxSUirI/видео.html The only thing that sucks is Cherry switches aren't gold plated anymore.
With some modification they will. It depends on model of the Arcade1up. On older models the base of the joystick would not fit so the plastic mold would need to be shaved down. You can accomplish this easily with a dremel tool. I think the newer models have enough clearance for the joysticks to fit but I haven’t tested that myself as I haven’t purchased a 1up in years. In most cases it’s not a drop in solution but it can be done. I hope this helps. 👍🏻
@@evanstapelkamp4096, curious if you purchased those joysticks and if they fit in your Arcade 1Up? If so, which cabinet did you install them in, and what kinds of modifications did you have to make, if any? If it isn't apparent, I'm curious if I should buy some for my own A1Up cabinets (X-Men, Simpsons, Blitz, Jam). Thanks!
@@Rymaar No, I haven’t done it yet. They were out of stock of the color I wanted. But I’m on a waiting list for them. I modded my original street fighter arcade 1up. I put 15k games in it replaced the sticks, light up buttons everything. So with the extra arcade 1up screen, board and control panel I made a mini arcade. I changed the buttons but still have the original arcade 1up sticks in it. So these would be perfect for it. I’m definitely going to have to modify the bottom of the control panel to make them fit. But I can also just keep the bottom plastic panel off if I need to. As soon as the color I want comes in and I install them, I’ll let you know how it went.
@@evanstapelkamp4096, that's pretty sweet! I had my original SFII modded as well but paid someone to do it. I'd like to be able to do these other ones with better buttons and sticks but don't feel confident in my ability to complete additional mods beyond one-for-one simple swaps.
eu tenho os dois comprei até de vc pelo mercado livre , o IL ganha fácil tanto durabilidade como na execução haduken, shoryuken, tatsu e etc...no IL eu não erro já no happ atual complica..
iL have built awesome products for more than 40 years. In this world of cheap Chinese outsourcing companies, they still make products from their factory near Barcelona. It is awesome to get the same great product in 2024-
And the Winner is............ Old school early 80s leaf-switch Wico ball top joysticks! I hate these later designs. Sure I own a pair of Happ joysticks or two like that. They are not as accurate as the old school Wico's. I much prefer the "light touch" of older leaf-switch joysticks. Microswitch joysticks just don't feel right, and also also noisy. But I also have a pair of leaf-switch Wico's made in the 90s or late 80s. Those aren't any good either. When you have to wrestle with the controls to get them to move, that's no good either. I remember when the arcade industry was first switching to microswitch joysticks. I hated them immediately. Apparently one of the benefits was it was easier for game operators that they had less maintenance to do. But as a player, the experience was not as good. I think the people that love these Happ style joysticks were also fans of the NES and it's terrible D-Pad controller. Not my cup of tea.
That camera auto focus is terrible... The original Suzo Rotterdam sticks were a much better design than these ones, much nicer feel, shorter throw, great sticks. Hard to find a real one now.
Suzo's are the gold standard! When I got my very 1st Gen 1 SFIICE A1UP, the first thing i did was throw Comps in it. Transformed the enjoyment of SF by 10X! Not a single hadouken or shoryuken missed!
Good video, I try to explain the difference all the time when I do mod videos, but it does get tiring sharing the same story. Will reference this for folks that ask moving forward.
Awesome man, it’s an easy choice but I think the story gets confused so hopefully this helps people moving forward. I made the thumbnail for this video like 3 years ago but never made the video. I basically paid Mason twice since he remade the thumbnail again… LOL. Anyway, Just figured with the KI Pro mishap, it might help more than just the DIY builder. Awesome that you’re also educating people on this ✊🏻. I appreciate you watching.
Thanks Ralph for show the differences in these sticks. I always went with Happ in the past. Didn't know IL made the sticks for Happ back in the day. Going with IL all the way now. Even buttons.
For additional reference, heh The A1up Pro series KI cabinet uses Ultimates, and many have complained about the quality and accuracy issues
Its nice to hear the details of what's different. It would be super interesting to install one of each on a cabinet and test myself and others. I've always been happy with the Happ sticks but haven't tried an IL. A blind test may answer that question.
Next up Seimitsu vs Sanwa then a face off between the winners and losers?
Tournament of Champions! 😂
Nice video, I have Sanwas in one of my Pandoras and went for Seimitsu buttons. In another I went all Sanwa with the final being Baolian sticks and buttons. Each set up feels different, with different gates in each as well.
Thanks for the video Ralph, I enjoyed watching it and seeing the difference. 👍
I like seimitsu buttons better than sanwa as well. More tactile clicky feel. I know they may not be the best for competitive play though.
I love these types of levers, It's so much easier and quicker to do anything on them, then a crappy Sanwa JLF with the huge deadzone made worse by the tiny shaft and little springback. It's a shame the Fighting game community has been lead to believe these are all bad and the worst thing ever, by all the SANWA FUD that the OEM's Fightstick makers have spread behind the scenes and making sure to never use anything other then SANWA or Sanwa Knock offs in any fightstick they produce and keeping their cases just slightly to short for a Happ\IL actuator to clear for people that mod them, producing a market that is only for the most part SANWA\SEIMITSU compatible. It's Sad. If you want to use a HAPP\IL stick you pretty much have to make a case yourself or have someone with woodworking skills make you one.
This was exactly what I was looking for! More arcade part videos please!! Just more Retro Ralph in general…daily vlogs!!
Thanks for explaining this. Next question, do you prefer IL Eurostik or Sanwa? Also, concave HAPP buttons or convex Sanwa buttons?
THIS is the video I've been wanting to see but no one seems to want to make
I'm an iL Eurostick user throughout. With the concave 28mm buttons. I tried and owned Sanwa sticks, and to be honest, no matter how I configured them, whether stock or fully pimped out with mods, it never felt right like an iL stick to me. I grew up in the 90's so sure I might be a little biased to US style but some of my friends who are the same age love the sanwa setups 🤷 I guess it all boils down to preference.
Hey Ralph! Cool history lesson, I'm in the process of building a 4-player control panel. I got the HAPPs going in and installed them a couple nights ago, I'm wiring them all up over the next couple days. My first time building a control panel, it's an experience. LoL
Awesome man, hopefully you got the competitions and not the Ultimates, the competitions are still good IMO. Good luck with your project; it sounds fun!
@@RetroRalph Yup competitions... Soon as you picked up the ultimates, and I saw the white switches I was like whew.. Ok I'm good! LoL
I loved the history lesson and an informed buyer is a smart buyer. I really like this style video where it's just you talking about something you're passion it about. No need for fancy editing.
I'm was very fortunate purchasing a used Arcadian KMB arcade stick. It performs amazing with the original Happ parts from IL after more than 30+ years. I did temporary replaced with new IL short buttons, but I decided to return it to its original state with its old buttons. The new IL short buttons are now with my TE stick.
Great details. I always wondered what the differences were. I love your content. Keep up the great work.
Question on the bat tops themselves. I've noticed the generic bat tops you order from amazon, ebay, etc all seem smaller than the bat tops I remember growing up in the arcades with? The ones now are 52mm (2")...I swear in the 90s, the US stickers were bigger. The stick tops now almost see 3/4 size. Is this just me?
I have IL’s and Sanwa on all my cabs. Great info.
Yeah baby!!! Hope all is well brother!!!
@@RetroRalph Yes sir. Hopefully you can do a livestream soon. I know you’re busy. 👍
I have an X-Arcade solo that I replaced the green stick and convex buttons from IL at Paradise 12 or 13 years ago. The stick still feels new after all these years. I still need to upgrade with the PCB upgrade kit. I plan on doing that soon.
That’s awesome man! IL everything is awesome and glad you bought them from Paradise, great company!
Thank you. I need the IL for my arcade 1.
crazy people still buy happ sticks and buttons when you have IL. The IL convex jalisco buttons are super underrated imo and work great on wood cabs
I have the Jalisco buttons on my 4 player Legends Ultimate control panel and love them.
I love them too man. Seems weird to not hear about them a lot right? I can’t even find a review anywhere. Ralph we need you again bud…lessss go lol
Always chose IL over anything else, they have the best throw and feel more direct than the competition. Awesome Vid man.
Was sent the link to your video when I asked questions about Happ Vs IL
For sure upgrading to the IL sticks I have as spares over my current Happ comps with
Doing up corner moves
Do you ever do deep dives on Sanwa sticks? I like a hexagonal gate with mine. What is your opinion on those?
I remember when the old sticks like SF 2 we’re smooth and not clicky. Is it because the stick was over used or was it because they are using a different brand?
Lots of inaccuracies here. The original IL Eurostick is known in the US as the Happ super joystick. The Eurostick 2 is what is known as the competition stick and later variations as the Happ ultimate stick. Suzo also supplied Happ with joysticks long before the Suzo-Happ buyout. Suzo made sticks for Coin Controls as well.
The original chinese made Suzo-Happ competition sticks originally came with Happ's in-house E-switch brand microswitches. many hated E-switch brand switches on joysticks. Happ recently caved and once again began to add cherry/zf switches to their competition sticks. As of this writing the only major difference between the Suzo-Happ competition and the Eurostick2 is the spring return rate and materials used for the actuator block.
Thanks for the clarification. That’s the story as my research discovered. It must be documented incorrectly in several places. I appreciate the comment 👍🏻 At the end of the day, for me at least iL Eurosticks are the way to go if I’m in need of a general bat top joystick for a fighting game from the 90s. Or just a great general purpose bat top joystick. 👍🏻
I remember coin control. I have one of the decent Atari 5200 joysticks that's made for it. The one thing that would have completed it would have been a left hand right hand swap which lets you swap the two buttons so that you can play the joystick either left-handed or right-handed. Currently the main button is on the left, which means it's a right handed joystick, which is opposite of what most people play today.
Thanks for clearing that up. See a lot of chatter in the various groups with miss information !
I bought two iL black color joysticks and colors buttons for my SSF2T Dynamo 25' cabinet awhile back and they do feel good and I like them alot. :)
I'm more into j-levers and k-levers these days but I'm going to give this some serious consideration for the US stick in my collection that still needs love.
Have to go with Sanwa, never liked Happ or IL. Nowadays prefer Ultimark for my buttons and sticks!
Thanks for the explanation!
You bet! Thanks so much for watching!
Mystery solved! Thanks for the great explanation, this has confused me for a decade.
Nice that you covered this. I have a Happs competition from when the SF 15th anniversary came out and I put one in with custom leaf switches, but then I hear about something later on their switch in quality which took me by surprise. I don't think in this day and age Happ cares at all about the single gamer consumer who they should be supporting and their order requirements have always been a case of their heads in the clouds.
Much as I loved their brand back then, I'm glad I still have parts made from the original manufacture and not a country who's credibility is based on cheap knockoffs and ip thefts. I could make a statement that hits deep on this but knowing them I doubt they have a soul either. I'll always stick with the real thing and everyone else gets the one finger salute.
I’ve always used ILs or Competitions on my games. Never even tried Ultimates… maybe that’s a good thing 😅
What’s up dude! I hope all is well brother! Thanks so much for watching man!
Great info. Love the explanation for those that do not know.
Good info. I find it crazy you don't have way more subscribers
Thanks bud, that truly means a lot.
would you ever do a similar comparison video for happ v sanwa? I've built my own control panels and used cheap sanwa joysticks but don't like them, but I'm also not sure i'd like super clicky microswitch style sticks either, so i never know what to buy. same goes for buttons. either way, interesting video, thanks! always well done too.
Lots of fighting game fans love the sanwas for some reason, but I never felt that solid base like an 90's happ has.
just what i needed, building a fight stick for MK11 and eventually SF6...thank you RR!! see you oooooooon the next one!!!
BTW it's not just the actuator that swtiched from Nylon to PVC the sleeve that the actuator rides on swtiched as well, if you just swap the acuator to nylon on a HAPP it will still bind up. Also the IL sticks have a stronger spring. Just always buy the IL sticks they are cheaper from Paradise Arcade anyway. The only thing that sucks is Cherry switches aren't gold plated anymore.
That's great to know! now, how about Sanwa? how would you compare them to IL ?
I have moved on from the Western-style IL/HAPP bat top sticks and have embraced Sanwa sticks and buttons. I prefer them overall now. I still have a cabinet with some HAPP controls, but everything else is Sanwa/decent clones.
Great video Ralph!
Great Video! All my builds have iL.❤Yes, they are extremely durable. The durability it tested in my home with a 9 year old and a 6 years old.😂
I was making arcade sticks and cabinets back when this merger happened (under the brand arcade-in-a-box). There is a huge difference in the quality and in fact when the merger first happened I was getting tons of comp sticks that didn't even fit together right, it was a mess. I started ordered from IL directly and dropped Happ all together. This included american style arcade buttons as well. Everything happ just went to crap after the merger. I've been out of the game for a while now, so I am curious if happ has improved. Fun fact, IL came to us about testing the all White Competition stick. To see if it would maintain it's brightness with use. I believe we had the first batch of about 10 or 20 of them. There wasn't a white comp stick up until then. :)
@ArcadEdio Cool, i have been interested in the white IL's how did they hold up to keeping their colour?
@@11Eighty6 I never ran into an issue with them to be honest. Lights never seemed to alter them. Now I'm not sure I would put them in an arcade with gross hands everywhere :). But they are sharp looking.
@@11Eighty6 Hmm, weird I replied once and it vanished. Anyway, we never ran into any issue with lights turning them yellow or anything like that. I have a few still just sitting around from years ago and they look as white as they did. Now, I'm not sure I would put them on a machine that would played by a lot of people with dirty hands :). They are sharp looking though.
Thanks very much! You have a new follower. Is there some pre build set with 6 or 8 buttons that I'm sure that it is with this stick? Thanks very much! 😎
I know tornado terry’s sells a HAPP based kit. But I’m not sure if anyone has a prebuilt IL kit. You could try paradise arcade. Good question man, hopefully this helps. Also, thank you for subscribing and supporting the Channel, it means a lot! www.ebay.com/itm/261991815381?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=OnMjhPcqTzC&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=bt3gfI9ITPS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
The fight of the sticks !
Great explanation as always. Did you happen to make it to the Texas pinball festival this year. I finally did. It was pretty awesome picked up our tickets at 9 AM and walked in the hall and just started playing games. Little did I know it didn’t open till five and we were not supposed to be in there. But they let us stay anyway I felt like we were VIPs.I’m trying to find a good four-way joystick for PAC-MAN that feels like the original arcade stick what would be your recommendation for that? Should I be looking for leaf switch joystick?
Cool vid Ralph. Here is Australia we saw a lot of Sanwa joysticks, but I’ve always liked these levers. I really appreciated the advice and since I have a few cabinets I have both. I’d love to know what the xarcade levers are because I love them, mind you mine are nearly 20 years old and play like new.
Did you ever use or see a Happ or IL lever in the wild back in the day or even a decade ago in Australia? Because I never did.
@@lancepage1914 absolutely, but I worked in arcades in the early 90’s. Happ “style” levers were on a lot of products & if I recall correctly LAI cabs used them a lot.
@@lancepage1914 no pretty all arcade cabinets that i remember back in the day used MCA joysticks. i believe they were originally made in QLD
Great video ! Can you recommend the best pandora box to play all the arcade mortal combats ? Im building a mortal combat cabinet and I’d like to be able to play them all. Thank u
The pivot and Z-stop on the iL Eurostick are made of the same white nylon that the actuator is. The Suzo-Happ pivot and z-stop are made or low quality black plastic.
Great timing, I'm just about to change the joysticks on my arcade. I have ultimarc gold leaf buttons and joysticks, which I absolutely hate.
Bought a custom made joystick. Joystick was great but they used Happ parts which I switched to iL. I found the Happ joystick was acceptable, but the buttons were really bad.
I’m getting these for my Arcade 1up cabs.
Hi Retro Half, i whant to install a iL or a Happ joystick and buttons to on my Pandora Box but the problem is that i dont know how to connect the joystick and even the buttons because the microswitch have 3 terminals instead of 2 on the Pandora Box.
Interesting stuff. I'm trying to get a stick that switches between 4-way and 8-way like the servosticks.
You might want to check out Ultimarc or Tsticks, I think they both offer options for that.
@@RetroRalph yep like Magstik plus.
i heard cherry microswitch was changed to ZF brand , is it still the same quality and softness ?
is it possible to upgrade the spring in the IL EURO?? just got mine today. i really like them but still would like more tension if possible
Great comparison :) - Thanks!
Do you know any sticks that don't rotate easily?
I tend to use too much force squeezing sticks that rotate.
A lot of people think that Suzo bought out Happ. That isn't true. Happ Bought Suzo and Suzo is not an asian company...they were from the Netherlands. Happ was largely an American company with little to no business in Europe. Their Joysticks were manufactured by iL out of Spain but assembled and sold in America. Happ wanted to have a stronger customer base in Europe...so they partnered with another company and bought Suzo including it's employees and factories. Their biggest mistake was throwing out Industrias Lorenzo's partnership and making the joysticks themselves and moving production to China. This occurred with Happ in 2005. Not long after that they changed the Competition joystick to have a rubberized actuator. That didn't last long as their sales for that Joystick plummeted over the years. About 5-10 years ago they moved to a plastic Actuator. Today there is very little difference between the two joysticks happ/iL but the iL's are definitely higher quality still.
Always learn something from your streams. Curious I know you have the Atari Stick what do they use Vs The Tank Stick? Do they make their own?
Next video suggestion. IL euro vs Sanwa JLF
I love that idea!!! Thanks so much for watching!
Thank you so much for explaining this. I always hear people talk about this mess, but it was always Greek to me, so thanks again for being BA Billy Gun! Also, Happy Birthday next month right?
Thanks for this clear video
YO! Ralf can you speak on the different 8 WAY JOYSTICKS there are around that instead of a square use a round cylinder... with micro switches that use levers. It is so hard trying to duplicate game feel with no gate / guide. I hated the sanwa sticks untill i switched out the gate? underneeth the stick now i can feel all 8 directions. People should know, or will end up buying a gang of extra parts.
Question (& storytime): I finally finished my IL EuroJoystick fightstick build last summer, and I was startled to discover how incredibly sensitive it was! It seemed like anytime I went for a cardinal direction, if I was off by a few degrees (let's say between 5 and 10), the actuator would trigger another switch and give me a corner direction. It was so sensitive that I would often times get accidental "flick" dps. I eventually opened the fightsick back up and took a dremel to the switch to reduce its sensitivity.
Has anyone else had this experience with IL EJs?
I have 2 original IL Universal joysticks from my 1987 Arcade spanish cabinet, with their original blue CRUZET micro switches and both work and look aesthetically perfect today as the first day Right now, I only had to spray 3 in 1 spray on one of them because it squeaked, not anymore.
You may like them more or like them less compared to the Japanese and South Korean ones, but there is no possible comparison in QUALITY and STURDINESS/DURABILITY.
I still have a few original Happ sticks and buttons that I bought t in the early 90’s (still in the original Happ shipping carton). Now I have to break them out to see what I bought.
Ralph, how about Sanwa?
Awesome video 😊
Hey Ralph wondering if you have an opinion on the Happ Super?
Great video. I grew up on american arcades and happ is all i play on now.
I know many arcade enthusiasts like IL and Happ sticks because that is what we had in the arcades here in the west, but Sanwa is the superior stick for fighting games and shmups. I just can’t go back. The midway games and neogeo(non fighting games) are where I prefer the western sticks.
Great video. Thanks!
Should point out the value of IL and a comp. Stick is very similar too so its a no brainer the IL stick should be the standard :)
IL sticks are great, though im not sure if they are the best overall for fighting games at the highest level
Nice job Ralph
In my region I never saw or used an IL or Happ on a machine. There were plenty of American arcade machines around in the day but they seem to be replaced with a local Australian brand which was completely different to what the machine was supposed to come with. So now I am thinking WTH did these operators do with these Happs and ILs they replaced with cheap local levers?
The locally made levers were satisfactory but garbage in comparison to Sanwa or Seimitsu. Thank goodness I never saw them again after 2000 since every arcade game worth playing was a Sega or Taito candy cab and they always had Sanwa and Seimitsu parts. That's all I use because they are abundant in my region.
Did all arcade games in the US have HAPP sticks back in the day, even the japanese games?
I use IL once and a while. Most of the time I use Mag sticks, which ARE WAY BETTER or Wico sticks
You're just extra special, it's ok. I never expect you to agree with anything I say. I still love you though. ;-)
@Retro Ralph I don't like Happs deff IL But Mag sticks are by far the Best just wicked expensive lol same as a wico lol I'm just that weird guy that doesn't Mike spending for those lol most people won't spend 4,0 to 50 for a joystick lol 😅
Oh check your PM lol
I like hearing the click!
I get that you don't want to say Happ is bad, but Suzo Happ really is bad. I tried to give the Happ Comp a try in street fighter and I could not hit diagonals at all. I got to Diamond with Kage using a Eurojoy and have like 2000 hours in that game. If I cannot hit a quarter circle on your arcade stick, especially as a player comfortable with western/American parts, it is simply a bad piece of equipment. I find myself having a better time even on the crappy Baolian competition cause they at least use short-hinge switches to compensate for the bad actuator.
I personally just use a mixture of Baolian and Amazon joysticks and buttons.
I am also not restoring any original cabinets. :P
BTW it's not just the actuator that swtiched from Nylon to PVC the sleeve that the actuator rides on swtiched as well, if you just swap the acuator to nylon on a HAPP it will still bind up. Also the IL sticks have a stronger spring. Just always buy the IL sticks they are cheaper from Paradise Arcade anyway. Here's my 10 y ear old video about this. ruclips.net/video/LV2CgxSUirI/видео.html The only thing that sucks is Cherry switches aren't gold plated anymore.
iL are legendary if you grew up in the 90's arcades in North America.
Will these work in an arcade 1up machine?
With some modification they will. It depends on model of the Arcade1up. On older models the base of the joystick would not fit so the plastic mold would need to be shaved down. You can accomplish this easily with a dremel tool. I think the newer models have enough clearance for the joysticks to fit but I haven’t tested that myself as I haven’t purchased a 1up in years. In most cases it’s not a drop in solution but it can be done. I hope this helps. 👍🏻
Thank you! I’m ordering them today! Love your channel! Thanks for the reply!
@@evanstapelkamp4096, curious if you purchased those joysticks and if they fit in your Arcade 1Up? If so, which cabinet did you install them in, and what kinds of modifications did you have to make, if any? If it isn't apparent, I'm curious if I should buy some for my own A1Up cabinets (X-Men, Simpsons, Blitz, Jam). Thanks!
@@Rymaar No, I haven’t done it yet. They were out of stock of the color I wanted. But I’m on a waiting list for them. I modded my original street fighter arcade 1up. I put 15k games in it replaced the sticks, light up buttons everything. So with the extra arcade 1up screen, board and control panel I made a mini arcade. I changed the buttons but still have the original arcade 1up sticks in it. So these would be perfect for it. I’m definitely going to have to modify the bottom of the control panel to make them fit. But I can also just keep the bottom plastic panel off if I need to. As soon as the color I want comes in and I install them, I’ll let you know how it went.
@@evanstapelkamp4096, that's pretty sweet! I had my original SFII modded as well but paid someone to do it. I'd like to be able to do these other ones with better buttons and sticks but don't feel confident in my ability to complete additional mods beyond one-for-one simple swaps.
Os dois são ótimos
eu tenho os dois comprei até de vc pelo mercado livre , o IL ganha fácil tanto durabilidade como na execução haduken, shoryuken, tatsu e etc...no IL eu não erro já no happ atual complica..
Unkie Rawlph, can you tell us a stowry ‘bout Wico joysticks… pweese!
LOL... sure thing! haha Thanks for watching bud!
The blue IL are sold out everywhere :(
iL Competition and concave buttons FTW
Neither of the 2. Lonely at the top is the Seimitsu LS-32, and close second Sanwa JLF.
Im lost on how people get confused about the story of happ and il
iL have built awesome products for more than 40 years. In this world of cheap Chinese outsourcing companies, they still make products from their factory near Barcelona. It is awesome to get the same great product in 2024-
Cool Sweater!
And the Winner is............ Old school early 80s leaf-switch Wico ball top joysticks!
I hate these later designs. Sure I own a pair of Happ joysticks or two like that. They are not as accurate as the old school Wico's. I much prefer the "light touch" of older leaf-switch joysticks. Microswitch joysticks just don't feel right, and also also noisy. But I also have a pair of leaf-switch Wico's made in the 90s or late 80s. Those aren't any good either. When you have to wrestle with the controls to get them to move, that's no good either.
I remember when the arcade industry was first switching to microswitch joysticks. I hated them immediately. Apparently one of the benefits was it was easier for game operators that they had less maintenance to do. But as a player, the experience was not as good.
I think the people that love these Happ style joysticks were also fans of the NES and it's terrible D-Pad controller. Not my cup of tea.
awesome. Never knew
prefer japanese sticks
No stick I ever tried ever felt the same as the stick in MvC2... only to find out there isn't any alternative to the HAPP P360... smh
why dont u just buy a Wico 360 instead
My bro has Sanwa jlf on his arcade I prefer IL joysticks
Cool did not know this... just wondering what sticks are in a neo geo cab? And your opinion of sanwa sticks?
That camera auto focus is terrible... The original Suzo Rotterdam sticks were a much better design than these ones, much nicer feel, shorter throw, great sticks. Hard to find a real one now.
Suzo's are the gold standard! When I got my very 1st Gen 1 SFIICE A1UP, the first thing i did was throw Comps in it. Transformed the enjoyment of SF by 10X! Not a single hadouken or shoryuken missed!
Sanwa JLF
yeah bro but what's it like compared to a sanwa 💀
Neither is the finest, only wms 48 way is tops in player control and quality and reliability
Those Garbage Ultimates go back all the way back to the early 90s well before Suzo. They have always sucked.