Saitek ST90

Written by Bart Skinner on 10/26/2003 for PC  

Today I’m reviewing the Saitek ST90 joystick from Saitek. It’s the low end model of Saitek’s new line of joysticks. This USB joystick is made to be truly ambidextrous, which is a sight for sore eyes for all those south paws out there. It’s also true plug and play with Windows XP as I had no need to install any drivers.

This is also the by far the lightest joystick I’ve ever seen. It’s great for taking to LAN parties as it is light and also the legs fold up for space saving goodness. The three legs fold down and form a stable tripod and lock into place with the orange locking ring on the bottom. The rubber grip pads on the bottom of the legs also provide more stability.

The ST90 features a precision trigger, 2 thumb buttons, and a digital throttle just above the thumb buttons. This is quite a nice feature as you don’t need to move the throttle with your off hand like most other larger sticks. The digital throttle has three settings so you can’t gradually adjust your speed like true throttles do. This is a budget joystick though and having a throttle on one is better than not having one at all. It also has a large base to rest your hand as you are bombing enemy tanks in Battlefield 1942.


One of the downsides to this joystick is the lack of torso/rudder twist, useful for games such as flight simulators or for Mechwarrior. The lack of a true throttle is also another minus towards this stick. The absence of these features along with the small amount of buttons will make flight simulator fans shy away from this joystick.

Overall, I think this a great, responsive joystick: good for arcade type games where you only need a couple buttons. For $15, it’s at a great price point for LAN goers that play games like Battlefield 1942, like me! This light yet sturdy joystick will be sufficient for most gamers, but for those looking for more features and buttons, I would suggest looking at something higher end like the Saitek Cyborg Evo.