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Here it is sitting next to a Saturn Mission stick.
And here is the pretty "Panther Mode" light.
This was made by madcatz and is the only flightstick naturally designed for the dreamcast. It is possible to make a workaround using other systems' sticks with adapters such as the total control series and playstation 1/2 or the saturn missionstick.
In short, the trackball only functions when the stick is in "Panther Mode" (a switch on the bottom of the stick switches from normal to this), and this "Mode" has to be programed for in each game, thus it will only work for those games listed below (possibly more, but without advertisement they wouldn't be known).
The box claims support of "Panther Mode" with these games;
Unreal Tournament
Quake 3
Outtrigger
Kiss: Psycho Circus
Railroad Tycoon
Soldier of Fortune*
Half-life**
(* soldier of fortune does not work. I found an article where madcatz apologized for the claim, stating that the beta of the game they programmed "Panther Mode" to was altered drastically before the game launched. In theory, if anyone has the beta of Soldier of Fortune that has the internet connection information then that beta would work with this stick.
** Again half-life is said to work by some individuals, and not by others, depending I guess on which version/mod you have downloaded.)
I have also tested the "Standard Mode" with these games to much success;
Starlancer (by far the best reason to own this stick!)
Aerowings 1 & 2
Iron Aces
Airforce Delta
Armada
Looney tunes space race
(Basically all flight sims).
Games it does not work on appropriately;
Soul Calibur
(The trackball doesn't work with) Centipede (which is a damn shame!)
The flight stick part is flawless, very smooth and very accurate in flight sims like aero dancing/wings, and even in armada. It's a shame the trackball isn't a mouse re-build, which would make it much more fun.
Upon reading reviews of this, it seems to be common for the stick to break down due to weak buttons. Those reviewers also claim that before it was broken, the stick was perfect for quake and unreal, both fps type games where the stick would be under.heavy and very rapid movement. With that fact, and the fact that the stick is a decade old, hard to find affordably, and the in-game adjustment from the forced trackball being on the left, I wouldn't recommend using the stick for fps games, even if it is an excellent experience.
Also, it should be noted that other than the trigger points, all buttons are tactile, so they could be replaced with ease. Even more interesting, is madcatz also released in the same year a PC flight stick, remarkably similar to this, called the Panther XL. This flight stick is black with red highlights (trackball, buttons), and seems to he mostly the same mold. I'm currently trying to find one of these for spare parts, as I'm not too fond of white and blue, and think the red and black would be a more appropriate look for my personal sega rig.(currently a seller on ebay has a lot of 5, but he won't split the lot, ill bug him when his auction fails and see if he will split one out then).