The short answer is buy an arcade stick.
When I am playing a fighting game I don't like to use the old 360 d-pad, but I haven't tried it with my cross one yet. I don't like the ps3 one much either though sine it blisters the shit out of my thumb. Saturn pads are the shit.
If I'm not playing a fighting game I find the 360 controller to be much better though. Other than the d-pad everything else just feels better. The triggers feel better and have better resistance, same with the buttons, the sticks are concave which makes them much more comfortable and the left stick is in a better location for playing most any other game. Also I like the heaviness of it, I can't stand when my controller is really light weight.