If you’re interested in these games, you should really think about getting a flight stick, and Thrustmaster’s TCA Sidestick Airbus Edition is about as solid an entry-level option as I could imagine. These Star Wars games relied heavily on keyboard controls back in the day even if you did have a joystick, but the Sidestick’s banks of programmable buttons are useful for things like managing shields and laser power on the fly. In preparation for Star Wars: Squadrons, I also went back and tested the Sidestick with some old games like TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance, and it worked great, despite being ostensibly designed for simulating civil aviation. A stick like this, if not this specific one, should be considered essential for Flight Simulator. The way it provides more resistance and gives you finer control over three axes of movement in the air is really not something you can replicate with a little thumbstick. I can’t claim to be experienced in the mechanics of flying actual planes, but I can say that Microsoft Flight Simulator feels infinitely more convincing with this Thrustmaster Sidestick than an Xbox gamepad. A matching $99.99 Airbus throttle quadrant is set to ship next month.
It does the job, though, and if you want to upgrade down the line, this Sidestick is compatible with Thrustmaster’s TCA ecosystem of pedals and throttles. It feels flimsy, and the markings on the stick’s base don’t do much to help you gauge positioning. The throttle slider is the Sidestick’s biggest weak point. The stick also ships with swappable side buttons that let you set it up as the right or left seat of an airliner based on where you place the wider red button module, or you can go with the narrow or wide options on both sides. There are 12 buttons on the base and four on the stick, as well as an 8-way hat switch (for looking around the cockpit), a twist lock, and a throttle slider that can be configured to serve as an extra “button” at the bottom of its throw. The Sidestick is not lacking in input options or customizability. The base is solid enough, the movement of the stick itself is convincing, and it’s just vastly more satisfying to use than a gamepad. But overall, I was impressed for the price. I wouldn’t describe the Sidestick as a premium product, as it does feel a little plasticky in places. (Its full name is the TCA Sidestick Airbus Edition.) It’s designed as a 1:1 replica of the sidestick used in the Airbus A320 - a famous differentiator from Boeing’s traditional yokes - and it works with Microsoft Flight Simulator right out of the box without any need for setup.
I expect that Thrustmaster’s new $69.99 Airbus-branded Sidestick, which I’ve been testing for a while, will be a popular choice.
How Microsoft Flight Simulator returned to the skies
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