A good joystick was a must in the 8-bit era. Most people would probably say that the legendary TAC-2 was the best one at the time, but I'd disagree - I managed to break mine in a couple of days.
There was one that lasted for years (in fact, I think it is still in a working condition): the one on the right in
this picture. It had precise controls and an excellent feel to it. The only problem with it was that after playing for a couple of hours the stick would be so slippery that it became impossible to have a good grip on it.
These days I play everything on keyboard.