The 9 Best Arcade Control Panel kits (2023 reviews)

Hikig second player is the epitome of what a great kit should be. These sticks are designed specifically to play 2D fighters and will feel unresponsive on games requiring directional switching like Shmups and Pacman, because the "engage distance", "deadzone", and "throw" are all rather large by design. It is built for creating two led game controllers. The Joysticks are nice and the buttons function well,when they are wired correctly. The illuminated buttons look really cool and are really responsive.

There are two sizes of buttons in this package. The connector harness must be in the same position relative to each other when mounted. It is great for arcade 1up mods. It is easy to install and works great with retropie.

Why We Like This:

Great buttons for a standard 3/4 wood panel
8 way to 4way joysticks are nice, good value
Very good tactile feedback and a great starter kit

Best For Pacman: EG STARTS Player Button

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The eg starts player button gives the top-tier kit a run for their money by offering flagship specs at a much more affordable price. This is used for an arcade 1up upgrade, works flawless, no issues, and good quality. It includes lumber and hardware. The Button switches are glued in with a dab of glue, if you have to disconnect the wires once or twice the button switch will pop out.

These are a huge upgrade over the original buttons. It works great, nice and springy, and perfect for your retro pie projects. These controls come with 2 boards, one for player 1 and another for player.

Why We Like This:

A perfect led kit arcade pc games diy choice
You can disassemble to label the buttons
Full-featured setup for two players at a great value

Best For cheap Arcade deck: Tapdra Arcade Control Panel Kit

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The tapdra arcade control panel kit is specially designed for your regular usage and has all useful features. It is perfect for an tv arcade set up. It has eight 30mm and three 24mm button holes. The holes for the screws to put the two pieces of the shell together are purposely smaller to ensure the pieces don't come apart. It fits with buckle buttons and it is diy parts, not assembled. It can be used in arcades, so they are a pain to find and pricy.

The current six hole version has all button holes (including the coin and start buttons at the top), cut at 30mm diameter. There is enough room to fit all the parts. It's very lightweight, but the quality of the plastic box and plexi top is more than good enough for classic games.

Why We Like This:

Plenty of room in the boy for the controller and the rumble pack
Excellent case for a first diy project
Light plastic casing for an arcade stick setup
Built a dreamcast arcade fighting joystick

Best With right amount of resistance And click: Sjjx Arcade Control Panel Kit

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Next on the list, we've got yet another kit that manages to win our hearts. It's the sjjx arcade control panel kit and it's widely considered as kit that has the most suitable features. This kit is just right to get anyone with two or more brain cells going. The buttons are meant to snap onto a thin surface plate but wedge themselves just fine into any thicker material. The joystick is great with the right amount of resistance and click. You can use these in thick (american) control panels because the tabs on the side will compression fit the button. They work well, and the joystick is of good quality.

Why We Like This:

High quality arcade push buttons with build-in microswitch
Good investment for long term

Best For any upgrade Project: EG STARTS Arcade Control Panel Kit

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate kit. The eg starts arcade control panel kit is exactly that - it's a simple kit that hits all the right notes. It makes your own diy game dreams. It is perfect for your home arcade. It has 2 switch interfaces and 2 led light connectors. It comes with lighting effects, can be used for wood console, metal panels, with the use of various types of animation game. The wiring is super easy and better than the older version where you have to wire leds separately. It is a 8 way professional joystick. It is a great value to upgrade your arcade 1ups.

Why We Like This:

Ready to install and solid quality
Easy install, no soldering needed led buttons
Easy to install, light up great and work great for any upgrade project

Best With trackball: Hikig Arcade Control Panel Kit

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The hikig arcade control panel kit is satisfactory and appropriate and fits well with your daily purpose. These are real Sanwa joysticks. If you run retropie, during your first startup sequence it'll give you the opportunity to program all the key strokes and buttons and hotkeys. They upgraded the led buttons and encoders to one slot making it easy to set up. There is a plastic bit underneath you take off and rotate to switch between 4 way and 8 way.

The buttons and joysticks have great respone time. It comes with USB cables to connect to your device. It includes no mounting hardware and also it is easy to use on a retropie setup.

Why We Like This:

Well packaged, short but useful manual, works immediately for windows mame, no drivers needed
Very easy to install, just works
New and hot release

Best Kit: Retroarcade.Us Arcade Control Panel Kit

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate kit. The retroarcade.us arcade control panel kit is exactly that - it's a simple kit that hits all the right notes. This kit is very handy when you don't want to shop around for parts. It gives you a good start on your arcade game.

Why We Like This:

Includes retroarcade.us 16 amp retroarcade.us power supply
Wonderful made from a american bussiness
Good brand reputation

Best older Type: Fosiya Arcade Control Panel Kit

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We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate kit. The fosiya arcade control panel kit is exactly that - it's a simple kit that hits all the right notes. If you know what you are doing these are perfect for upgrading your gaming device. It is a 8 way professional joystick. It comes with lighting effects, can be used for wood console, metal panels, with the use of various types of animation game. It has 2 switch interfaces and 2 led light connectors.

The oval joystick head is very small. It comes with 4 separate boards with short wires, making wire management tough. They are adequately clicky. This is a fantastic kit, everything is there, and the buttons.

Why We Like This:

Plenty of wires, nuts to screw the button into the holes
Good brand reputation

Best For MAC: MYMIQEY Arcade Control Panel Kit

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Mymiqey is known for creating pragmatic and minimalist kit for people on the go, and its line of mymiqey arcade control panel kit definitely falls in line with that reputation. Above all, this kits are the perfect kit for you to build a 2 player usb mame cabinet. It is ideal for arcade machine and jamma machine projects. It features a concave plunger and includes fixing ring and microswitch. It is also a very compact encoder. It is a standard 30mm button that will fit in a 28mm mounting hole. You can use this kit to build your 2 players arcade game machine.

Why We Like This: