IT'S A STICK-UP

Whatever happened to the days of all joysticks being a small base with a stick in the middle and a fire button that never worked? Today they look more like something from the control panel of an F-16 and get bigger and sillier all the while. Nick Roberts and Mark Caswell delve into the CRASH joystick bin to discover whether the joystick really is a gamesplayer's best friend...

Sonmax
£13.95
Standard Autofire £14.95

MARK: I'm afraid I'm a bit biased towards this stick, I've owned one of these for four years or so and it's still going strong! The sleek black shape and trendy yellow fire buttons and collar look good, and the stick itself feels 'worn in' even when first used. Button pushes and stick movement are rewarded by solid clicks, and both pixel perfect and wild waggling movements are easily achieved. Check the Super Pro out for yourself, I reckon this and the Cruiser are the two best sticks around.