The Junk Food Arcades Snack Box Micro (2023) is quickly becoming one of the most popular input method options for fighting game fanatics, but is it really worth the price tag?
Fighting games are serious, any errant input could leave you open to attack, so pro gamers have been switching to a newer peripheral as of late, a leverless controller. First popularized by the “Hitbox“, leverless controllers allow you to hone your directional inputs with precision, and remove the travel time between complex motions.
Having been around for a decade or so, a leverless controller is not anything too new. What is new, however, is the compact size that they are now being shrunk down to. Georgia-based family business Junk Food Custom Arcades created the Snack Box Micro. The device is a tiny leverless controller compatible with all consoles. Now in its second iteration, the Snack Box Micro supports customized artwork, USB-C, and an app to configure the controller wirelessly.
Key specs
- Buttons: Kailh low-profile red (hot-swappable)
- Connectivity: USB-C
- Platform: PS5 (fighting games only), PS4, Xbox, Switch, PC
- Features: Built-in Book PCB, hot-swappable switches, customizable button caps, iOS and Android app, one-button SOCD changes, customizable LED lighting & top panel.
- Price: $265.00
Design
No matter how many images you might see on websites or online, nothing really prepares you for how small and compact the Snack Box Micro really is. The controller is just 25.4 x 12.7 x 1.27 cm, meaning it has an incredibly low footprint on your desk or lap. Though, its size never compromises how comfortable it is to use. The rounded edges all ensure that the controller stays comfortable even while being used during longer sessions.
You also have an array of buttons up top which can control functions on your console or PC of choice, though since there is no included manual, you’ll have to seek out the Junk Food Arcades Discord to find out more about what you have just purchased.
Meanwhile, its array of buttons at the top is smaller than the arcade-standard Sanwa buttons on Arcade Sticks, allowing it to have this absolutely tiny footprint. Each of the controller’s “main” buttons” reimagines a noir layout arcade stick with additional buttons, taking notes from the likes of Hori and Hitbox.
Around each button are also two LEDs, with customizable color profiles. The Snack Box Micro’s PCB is also entirely hot-swappable, meaning that if you don’t like the actuation of the Kailh Red switches included, you can replace them with your own. The switches themselves are not lubed out of the box, nor are they dampened.
