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Best Retro Controller

Best Retro Controller


  • Total voters
    146

Xdrive05

Member
1024px-Nintendo-GameCube-Wavebird-Silver.jpg


Love me some Wavebird. <3
 

Naked Lunch

Member
exactly. not to mention the drift. I have 8 DS2 laying around. 1 is completely broken, 4 have worn out sticks with drift, all of them except 2 have mushy buttons. I usually use this controller when I'm playing PS2
8138159900_1355238780.jpg


the dpad is kinda shit honestly, but everything else is much better. the sticks and and buttons feel much more responsive. oh, and it's wireless.
Never heard of that one. Ill look into it, thanks.
I ended up just using a PS1 Dualshock 1 for many PS2 games to avoid the mushy pressure sensitive buttons. Surprisingly alot of PS2 games do still work with the PS1 pad but there are still a bunch that dont.

Im surprised there hasnt been a modern aftermarket PS2 pad made yet like alot of other consoles like N64 and Dreamcast.
 

Alexios

Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Good to see the best one winning. But the Neo Geo CD/CDZ one deserves a honorable mention too (if not the original Neo Geo also for having an actual arcade stick by default, but I guess that was even more niche by design and price when CD at least tried to be more consumer friendly).
 
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Retro for me is about joysticks since I played on Commodore computers long before I started playing on consoles.

TAC-2 is my fav
nrfv9gU.jpg
I was going to suggest the Quickshot 2 for the C64 seeing as it had an autofire switch, however I remember being advised I should be upgrading to one with micro switches as they didn't break so often, so I bought this one:

i9yStvI.jpg


Kind of like a cyclops with a big conk.

TBH though the Competition Pro my brother had was better/more comfy...
 

Melon Husk

Member
Ideally the game should match the controller it was designed for, but I'm partial to Sega's 6 face button layout and floating d-pad when it comes to 2D. Most comfortable.
 
exactly. not to mention the drift. I have 8 DS2 laying around. 1 is completely broken, 4 have worn out sticks with drift, all of them except 2 have mushy buttons. I usually use this controller when I'm playing PS2
8138159900_1355238780.jpg


the dpad is kinda shit honestly, but everything else is much better. the sticks and and buttons feel much more responsive. oh, and it's wireless.
I still have one of these kicking around somewhere; probably the best PS2 controller I owned.

The GameCube and Xbox S controllers were always way more comfortable to me. The DualShock controllers always felt awkward to hold for me since the “handles” are more like nubs and way too small. I honestly would’ve preferred the prototype Boomerang PS3 controller to the DS3 that we got, especially when the R2/L2 on it was made worse.

qyn9MYl.jpg
 

Fredrik

Member
I was going to suggest the Quickshot 2 for the C64 seeing as it had an autofire switch, however I remember being advised I should be upgrading to one with micro switches as they didn't break so often, so I bought this one:

i9yStvI.jpg


Kind of like a cyclops with a big conk.

TBH though the Competition Pro my brother had was better/more comfy...
That looks good, never tried that. Is it sturdy?

Iirc the Competition Pro felt cheap, isn’t that what shipped with The C64?

The Tac2 was built like a tank, no micro switches, just a metal ball that hits a metal frame. Love it. Lots of oxide issues though, easily fixed but still annoying.

I like Wico’s Command Control and Three Way too, not for tight control games but they never failed. I still have them and they still work perfectly.
 
That looks good, never tried that. Is it sturdy?

Iirc the Competition Pro felt cheap, isn’t that what shipped with The C64?

The Tac2 was built like a tank, no micro switches, just a metal ball that hits a metal frame. Love it. Lots of oxide issues though, easily fixed but still annoying.

I like Wico’s Command Control and Three Way too, not for tight control games but they never failed. I still have them and they still work perfectly.
Well it looks like a tank for sure - not even a heavy session on Decatholon is going to bust that.

Re: the Arcade, yes it was sturdy, however it was a little bit awkward to grip as it tapered towards the button on the end.

The Competition Pro I'm referring to certainly wasn't shipped with the C64 I had - it was this one here (and the same manufacturer as the Arcade as per my previous pic):

yMsuo0f.jpg
 

Fredrik

Member
Well it looks like a tank for sure - not even a heavy session on Decatholon is going to bust that.

Re: the Arcade, yes it was sturdy, however it was a little bit awkward to grip as it tapered towards the button on the end.

The Competition Pro I'm referring to certainly wasn't shipped with the C64 I had - it was this one here (and the same manufacturer as the Arcade as per my previous pic):

yMsuo0f.jpg
Yup that’s it! Sorry for being vague, was talking about what shipped with the new The C64 remake thingy. But it looks like it’s just a copy, probably worse than the original.


fdG1Vk5.jpg
 

ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
Just came in here to make sure Saturn was winning and the world hasn't gone THAT crazy

Also good that the horrible looking painful to use dreamcast controller doesn't have many votes

Sega made my fav and least fav retro controller haha
 

FeldMonster

Member
I don't think it is fair to put an NES or Genesis controller against Xbox/PS2 controllers. Too much changed between those times, they aren't in the same category.

In fact, I would consider the Xbox/PS2 controllers as "modern", not "retro".

For the truly retro controllers, I would vote for the Super Nintendo controller. Of the more modern options on this list, I would vote for the Xbox Controller S, which is basically the prototype for all modern controllers in terms of shape/ergonomics.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
I dunno, I love them all and all are nostalgic

Saturn D pad-
PSX1 Shoulder button layout/Buttons -
Gamecube shape and triggers
Dreamcast VMU
Analogue sticks….?
 
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MrA

Banned
Good to see the best one winning. But the Neo Geo CD/CDZ one deserves a honorable mention too (if not the original Neo Geo also for having an actual arcade stick by default, but I guess that was even more niche by design and price when CD at least tried to be more consumer friendly).
All neo geo controls designed by snk were top
Though I think the vectrex deserves a mention as it had the best pre nes controller, 4 face buttons, good analog stick
GCE-Vectrex-Controller-FL.jpg
 
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