Corsair Smacks Down Hit Box & Razer With Its Sweet New Novablade Hall Effect Leverless Fight Controller

Corsair just announced its entrance into the leverless fightstick scene first popularized by Hit Box, the new Corsair Novablade Pro. Or to be more specific, the Corsair Novablade Pro Wireless Hall Effect Leverless Fight Controller—but we'll stick with Novablade Pro for now. The Novablade Pro is a direct competitor to the likes of Hit Box's eponymous Hit Box controller and Razer's Kitsune, as well as an assortment of other ergonomic leverless options available on the market. There's even a "Mixbox" that uses WASD keys instead of movement buttons, which is particularly favored by PC players.

Since Hit Box introduced leverless fightsticks to American Fighting Game Communities (FGC) in 2010, it formed an additional niche of "box" players alongside traditional "stick (arcade stick)" and "pad (gamepad, especially D-Pad)" players in tournaments. Of course, while Hit Box and players commonly call these devices leverless fightsticks or leverless arcade sticks, they are instead more akin to highly-specialized controllers, which is likely why Corsair calls it a "fight controller" and Razer calls it an "arcade controller".

So, what sets apart Corsair's Novablade Pro from its competition? The layout is one factor. Traditionally, box-type leverless controllers don't have a top movement key unless using a full WASD layout. Novablade Pro deviates from this by accounting for both options with its layout—players who prefer movement buttons in a row can still use the controller as such, and others adjusting from WASD can instead utilize the top movement key on the left for an easy adjustment. Considering the increasing number of games with simplified inputs but more overall buttons on the market lately, that button may also come in handy for binding other functions as well, not just as a comfort play for WASD veterans.


At first blush, we're looking at a fairly standard 8-button arcade stick design here, with three extra white function buttons to round out the package for whatever miscellaneous in-game functions are needed. The main 8 buttons correspond to the four face buttons on a standard gamepad, as well as dual bumpers and triggers, making it ideal for six-button fighters like the Street Fighter series and more than enough for four-button fighters like Tekken or Mortal Kombat.

But games with tag functionalities, additional meter mechanics, or removed motion inputs are all likely to need as many buttons as possible, so those extra function buttons could prove integral. Every button on the controller uses Corsair's MGX Hyperdrive Hall Effect Magnetic Switches with an adjustable actuation distance from an instant 0.1mm all the way to a full-press 4 mm actuation, This Rapid Trigger actuation has been praised by noted Street Fighter expert and top FGC competitor Justin Wong, who states it "would give the edge for any pro player. Any time you can have faster response time, that's what gives you the win."


Under the hood, the Novablade Pro also provides various control profiles, a Tournament Mode setting to disable certain functions like the Touchpad, Home-Key, or unintended macros that could get you DQ'd, and a fully removable magnetic top plate that allows for easy custom skins. It also supports both Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz Wireless, but most competitors in a tournament setting will likely prefer to opt for a direct USB-C wired connection for the fastest response time and to remove the possibility of wireless interference. Novablade Pro is out-of-box compatible with PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles as well as PC, and is priced competitively with other high-end leverless controllers at a starting price of $249.99. For comparison, the Razer Kitsune starts at $299.99, and the Hit Box starts at $249.99.

Image Credit: Corsair