Response from Jonathan: Seb,

Whether you can fix this problem or not depends on what kind of joysticks you have in your game currently. Some joysticks are only 4-way joysticks. This means that they only register the main directions and not the diagonals (i.e. up, down, left, right). These joysticks are great for classic arcade games that only register these directions (i.e. Pac Man, Donkey Kong, etc.). Of course, these joysticks are terrible for games that register 8 directions (i.e. Street Fighter 2, Mortal Kombat and most newer arcade games). For these games, it’s better to have an 8-way joystick installed.

Now some joysticks are both 4-way and 8-way and can be switched by either pulling up and rotating the joystick or modifying the restrictor plate on the joystick itself. Restrictor plates can look like a gear or just a piece of metal. You might do some inspection on your joystick to see if it has anything that looks like it could be modified to allow for the diagonal directions.

If you’ve just got old 4-way joysticks installed in your game and you’re trying to play a game that requires 8 directions, it would probably be best to replace these joysticks with new 8-way ones. You can purchase these from any of the retailers listed under the Arcade Parts Suppliers & Distributors heading on our resources page.

Hope that helps. Thank you for your question and good luck with your repair.