feelings about the icade's controls have been mixed to positive. ign described the joystick and buttons "responsive", however, noted the input configuration was "a little cramped, but not unbearably so." ars technica's reviewer, ben kuchera, felt the joystick was "a little looser than [he] would prefer" and the buttons "require[d] a heavy finger to push", but said the controls "held up under [his] heavy hand". toucharcade praised the buttons, finding them "exactly like those that you'd find on an old "defender" cabinet."