The recent release of Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics will have had many Switch owners pondering the robustness of their control setup; as much as we like the console's Joy-Con and Pro Controller offerings, they're not exactly ideal for the intense nature of one-on-one fighting games.
That's where Hori's Fighting Commander for Nintendo Switch comes in. The latest in a long line of similar pads created by the Japanese company, this controller has been designed with competitive brawlers in mind.
It removes analogue control completely, focusing solely on digital input via its cross-shaped D-pad. It also places six buttons on the face of the controller, conforming to a layout established by Capcom with the original Street Fighter back in the late '80s.
But is it any good? Let's find out...
Hori Fighting Commander for Nintendo Switch Review: Design
The Hori Fighting Commander has an appealing ergonomic design, with curves in all of the right places and good button placement. In addition to the aforementioned six-button layout, you've got four shoulder buttons mapped to 'L', 'ZL', left-stick button, and right-stick button.
The latter two might seem unnecessary, as you rarely click on the analogue sticks in games for vital commands, but by mapping these inputs to physical buttons, the pad allows you to configure them in unique ways – such as performing a special move or button combination, for example.
This is actually more useful than you might think, as it gives you more input options than usual. There's a switch on the top edge of the controller which allows you to swap the mappings of these shoulder buttons.
Another switch can be found on the front of the controller which toggles the D-pad input. 'DP' maps it to the default digital pad (well, duh), while 'LS' and 'RS' map it to the left and right analogue stick, respectively. This is handy for those games which don't use the D-pad for movement, but the drawback is that you lose the subtlety of analogue input.
The Hori Fighting Commander can only be used wired, but it comes with a generous 3-metre cable which means you don't have to sit too close to your TV in order to use it.
Hori Fighting Commander for Nintendo Switch Review: Performance
As any fighting game fan will tell you, a controller lives or dies by the quality of its D-pad. With the Fighting Commander, you've got an excellent cross-shaped pad, which is great for pulling off special moves like Dragon Punches and fireballs but isn't quite the best-in-show as far as the market goes.
I'd have preferred to see a 'rolling' D-pad, like the one used on the legendary Sega Saturn controller. While this is very much down to personal taste, this type of pad is the absolute best for fighting games in my opinion, and while cross-shaped pads are still perfectly fine, they don't offer the same scope for smooth inputs when rolling the pad around under your thumb.
Before this sounds like I'm dunking on this pad, let me stress that I was still able to pull off complex moves successfully with the Hori Fighting Commander – for the most part. There were a few times when it felt like the pad lacked sufficient travel, but on the whole, I did feel that this controller helped elevate my game considerably, especially when compared to using a Joy-Con or Pro Controller. (It's also worth noting that a rolling D-pad doesn't automatically guarantee quality, as PowerA's Fight Pad proves).
The six-button layout is fantastic, with large buttons and good placement. When playing Capcom's fighting games, having quick access to all three punch and kick strengths is essential – especially when playing at high levels – and in that respect, this pad absolutely nails it.
It's worth noting that the Hori Fighting Commander is also great for non-fighting games, especially those which are built around digital input, like 2D platformers, shmups, or side-scrolling beat 'em ups. You might have to tinker with the button layout in the settings to get things configured how you want them, but this isn't a massive issue.
Hori Fighting Commander for Nintendo Switch Review: Conclusion
While its D-pad could arguably have been better, the Hori Fighting Commander is one of the best options for Switch owners who desire a good joypad for their combat exploits.
The lack of wireless control is a shame, but many fighting game fans will prefer the low-latency wired connection, even if it does mean sitting a little closer to the TV than usual.
If you're looking for a pad to raise your game with one-on-one fighters, then this is a solid option.
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