My friend had one of these when we were little kids and I remember being impressed by how smooth and high-quality the joystick felt. This was mid-80s so maybe it’s because the competition was lacking.
Also, I’m pretty sure this was the only Vectrex within ~40,000km^2 of where I grew up.
It was probably because the joystick was analog (and self centering) which was pretty revolutionary at the time.