The 10 Best MAME Arcade kits (2023 reviews)
We consider a mame arcade kit to be a worthy investment in the long run.
We are here to help you choose the right one for your needs from all the best available products in market today.
Our review process:
Our Top Picks:
Best Overall: Buy: Hikig second Player READ REVIEWBest With trackball: Buy: EG STARTS USB Encoder READ REVIEWBest For phone: Buy: Fosiya MAME Arcade Kit READ REVIEWBest Joystick Kit: Buy: Easyget MAME Arcade Kit READ REVIEWBest With Some of The newer ones: Buy: Hikig MAME Arcade Kit READ REVIEWBest LED Kit: Buy: EG STARTS MAME Arcade Kit READ REVIEWBest For DIY Arcade cabinet: Buy: The geek Pub MAME Arcade Kit READ REVIEWBest older Type: Buy: Fosiya Professional Joystick READ REVIEWBest For MAC: Buy: MYMIQEY MAME Arcade Kit READ REVIEWBest For Arcade PC Game DIY Project: Buy: Folany MAME Arcade Kit READ REVIEWBest Overall: Hikig second Player
Buy on Amazon The hikig second player is capable of outshining several other kit featured in this list in overall features. These are made to represent coin buttons and players buttons. Everything feels like what you'd get in an arcade machine, the joysticks are well-made and handle nicely, and the lights on the buttons look great. They're loose and sensitive like sanwa buttons and sticks. The connector harness must be in the same position relative to each other when mounted. They are extremely easy to set up. The Joysticks are nice and the buttons function well,when they are wired correctly. They are made with highest quality materials. It fits into small places and can work on winodws and players buttons.Why We Like This:
- Great buttons for a standard 3/4 wood panel
- 8 way to 4way joysticks are nice, good value
- Super easy setup on raspberry pi
Best With trackball: EG STARTS USB Encoder
Buy on Amazon If you often find yourself scrambling for convenient and suitable kit, eg starts usb encoder is your end point. There are four sets of everything the same with each having its own USB cable. They provide a usb output per player. It has 2 switch interfaces and 2 LED light connectors. Each encoder has its own USB cable to make sure that multiplayer can play the games in the same condition. It works great, comes with everything you need and easy to install. They are recognized as generic USB controller pads. If you want to use them with Steam games, you can use the big picture controller map feature and emulate different style controllers. It is solid construction and the inputs work great.Why We Like This:
- Easy connection to the usb encoder
- New and hot release
Best For phone: Fosiya MAME Arcade Kit
Buy on Amazon Compared with other kit in this category, the fosiya mame arcade kit has a convenient design. Each encoder has its own usb cable to make sure that multiplayer can play the games in the same condition. It comes with mounting screws, be prepaired to have screws that are the appropiate length for your board thinckness. The cables don’t have to be wired as they come with connections already attached. It comes with a USB cord which runs from the encoder into the raspberry pi. The LED buttons light up making the classic arcade look feel genuine. It will handle about 1/2inch panel thickness. It comes with lighting effects, can be used for wood console, metal panels, with the use of various types of animation game. If you're unfamiliar or new to the arcade hobby this set up works well.Why We Like This:
- Lag, solid sticks, and cool lights
- Response of buttons and joysticks are great
- Very loose and responsive for fighting games
- Super easy to install and use for your home arcade or pinball
Best Joystick Kit: Easyget MAME Arcade Kit
Buy on Amazon We would, of course, be remiss if we didn't mention easyget mame arcade kit for daily purpose. There is no need to learn how to connect wires from encoder board to led buttons. They include a movement adaptor plate to make diagonal movement easier. This is a full 2-Player DIY parts kit. It makes a click noise. It makes a click noise and also includes the joysticks to have the same orientation. These work well if you're making your own diy kit.Why We Like This:
- The most popular colors for the arcade game diy projects
- New pcb layout design on both zero delay usb encoder & led arcade buttons
- 3 x 5v output encoder design
Best With Some of The newer ones: Hikig MAME Arcade Kit
Buy on Amazon We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate kit. The hikig mame arcade kit is exactly that - it's a simple kit that hits all the right notes. 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. The buttons and joysticks have great respone time. It's a great deal for 4 joysticks and 40 buttons. It includes no mounting hardware and also it is easy to use on a retropie setup. There are 4 total joysticks and 4 USB encoders, so you can split them as you like. The encoders would need to be hooked to something to light them up. It's one plug for both LEDs and the button. The encoders support all the windows systems.Why We Like This:
- Buttons work great and look amazing lit up
- Well packaged, short but useful manual, works immediately for windows mame, no drivers needed
- Good investment for long term
Best LED Kit: EG STARTS MAME Arcade Kit
Buy on Amazon 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 mame arcade kit is exactly that - it's a simple kit that hits all the right notes. It makes your own diy game dreams. It's a led arcade game for diy parts for a 2 player diy project. It comes with lighting effects, can be used for wood console, metal panels, with the use of various types of animation game. It is made of high quality material manufacturing. It has 2 switch interfaces and 2 led light connectors. The buttons are 5V LED Illuminated push buttons with build-in Microswitches inside. It is easy to configure buttons and works great.Why We Like This:
- Perfect parts for 4 player arcade mame diy project
- Zero delay usb encoders and perfect work for all windows systems
- Super easy to put together and install
- Applicable to the wooden shell and iron shell machine
Best For DIY Arcade cabinet: The geek Pub MAME Arcade Kit
Buy on Amazon If you often find yourself scrambling for appropriate and satisfactory kit, the geek pub mame arcade kit should be your first option for buying. You can use it in your full-size, bartop, cocktail table or tabletop diy arcade machine for the best arcade experience. The Zero-Delay USB arcade controller has super low latency for the best gameplay and emulation. Buttons are LED backlit arcade buttons made from high quality heat resistant plastic with removable top clear covers allowing placement of labels or graphics to be lit from behind. These kits work great with raspberry pi computers running retropie or windows/linux running mame. It will also work with pandora's box, picade or arcade1up repairs. It can be used in your full-size, bartop, cocktail table or tabletop diy arcade machine for the best arcade experience.Why We Like This:
- New and hot release
- One of the new comers and featured product
Best older Type: Fosiya Professional Joystick
Buy on Amazon We know from years of feedback from readers, customers and amazon sellers, what most people want in a convenient and appropriate kit. The fosiya professional joystick 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 MAME Arcade Kit
Buy on Amazon Mymiqey is known for creating pragmatic and minimalist kit for people on the go, and its line of mymiqey mame arcade 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:
- Applicable to the wooden shell and iron shell machine
- The return of flexible, more wear-resistant
- Microswitch reliability tested to 10, 000, 000 cycles
- 2 x zero delay usb encoder
Best For Arcade PC Game DIY Project: Folany MAME Arcade Kit
Buy on Amazon The folany mame arcade kit's high-end materials makes sure that it ages well with use.Why We Like This:
- Enjoy your arcade games with your pc
- Use the accessories to build your own arcade game machine
- Zero delay arcade usb encoder with usb cable wires
- A compact encoder with size of 8.5cm x 3.5cm