Hardware Are these adapters/controllers any good?

[doveman]

I was thinking of getting some adapters and controllers for my Wii U so I can play retro games but wanted to make sure I don't buy the wrong stuff.

Is this a good NES/SNES adapter?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B2K0C8M/

Are these wireless controllers any good or would I need to get wired ones?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B078W7SVP2/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B074HBQ78V/

If I need wired ones, are these any good?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L89DLBN/

I'm probably not going to bother buying a GC adapter and controllers just to play Super Smash Bros but if I decided to, are either of these adapters any good?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07QSJ7RN1/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07H28XM3Z/

Are there any other adapters/controllers I should think about getting? I'm not really sure what I'd need to play particular games and I don't have any specific games in mind, so if there's a controller that will be good for playing a wide range of games I'd rather get that than several controllers that will only be useful for a handful of games each.

 

[Zense]

I was thinking of getting some adapters and controllers for my Wii U so I can play retro games but wanted to make sure I don't buy the wrong stuff.

Is this a good NES/SNES adapter?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B2K0C8M/

Are these wireless controllers any good or would I need to get wired ones?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B078W7SVP2/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B074HBQ78V/

If I need wired ones, are these any good?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07L89DLBN/

I'm probably not going to bother buying a GC adapter and controllers just to play Super Smash Bros but if I decided to, are either of these adapters any good?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07QSJ7RN1/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07H28XM3Z/

Are there any other adapters/controllers I should think about getting? I'm not really sure what I'd need to play particular games and I don't have any specific games in mind, so if there's a controller that will be good for playing a wide range of games I'd rather get that than several controllers that will only be useful for a handful of games each.

Seeing that you've specifically chosen the 2,4ghz 8bitdo controllers, I figure you've already done a lot of research and also want the least amount of input lag, because these controllers are famous for that. I have not tried them myself, but I've heard that some of them even natively work as Wii classic controllers, especially for VC titles.

As for the gamecube adapters they will likely work as I've been using one I got dirt cheap from aliexpress and I can easily beat lvl9 cpu in smash ultimate or melee. The advantage of gamecube controllers is also using native controllers playing gamecube games, so you have support for the analog triggers L and R for games like Super Mario Sunshine, Paper Mario TTYD etc.. There are ways around that though.

The wired ones look to be offbrand copies of the nes classic controllers and it says on the page they work with the Wii U. They are like 2£ cheaper than what the official ones seem to go for on ebay new. Personally I'd go with the official ones or a known brand like 8bitdo.

 

[doveman]

Thanks for your advice Zense. I don't know a lot about this but I had read that the 8bitdo controllers are good. Wireless can be a bit more convenient but I think if the wired controllers are more versatile (e.g. they definitely work as Wii classic controllers and for VC titles) then I'd probably chose those. I've realised that SNES/NES adapter is only designed to connect one of each, so that wouldn't be the way to go if I want to use two NES controllers for multiplayer games anyway.

I didn't realise the gamecube controllers could be used for other games as I read they only worked with Super Smash Bros, so if that's not true I might get a couple.

The prices for official NES classic mini controllers on ebay are around £15-20, so the offbrand ones on Amazon for £13.99 for two is quite a bit cheaper.

 

[Zense]

Thanks for your advice Zense. I don't know a lot about this but I had read that the 8bitdo controllers are good. Wireless can be a bit more convenient but I think if the wired controllers are more versatile (e.g. they definitely work as Wii classic controllers and for VC titles) then I'd probably chose those. I've realised that SNES/NES adapter is only designed to connect one of each, so that wouldn't be the way to go if I want to use two NES controllers for multiplayer games anyway.

I didn't realise the gamecube controllers could be used for other games as I read they only worked with Super Smash Bros, so if that's not true I might get a couple.

The prices for official NES classic mini controllers on ebay are around £15-20, so the offbrand ones on Amazon for £13.99 for two is quite a bit cheaper.

No problem. The gamecube adapter with gc controllers works for Smash 4 WiiU and for any gamecube game you run through Nintendont, on an unmodded system. However, with custom firmware you can use Hid to vpad and use it for any game running on the Wii U (so still no Wii games). USB controllers will work with gamecube games too, so you're really only losing games that run on the Wii. Here's the link to this nice homebrew app: https://gbatemp.net/threads/hid-to-vpad.424127/

For games running on vWii you'd need a controller that hooks up to the back of the Wiimote, like that NES controller you've linked to. A WiiU Pro controller might work too through syncing it on the Wii menu but I'm not entirely sure about this. I'd have to test it.

Seeing that you seem to want to play NES and SNES and want to have the least amount of controllers I'd say get an SNES style controller just so it works for both systems since it has all the necessary buttons.

To summarize:
Wii U games (Including VC games on WiiU): Wii U Pro controller style controller and USB controllers (using hid to vpad), and ONLY* for VC I believe you can use the controllers that hook up to the back of the Wiimote (like classic controller and that NES controller).
Wii games (including VC games and some wiiware on Wii): Controllers that hook up to the back of a Wii mote, like that NES controller or the Wii Classic Controller (pro or normal).
GC games: Wii U Pro controller style controller, controllers that hook up to the back of a wii mote and USB controllers (no need for hid to vpad, just nintendont).

*Some Wii U games work with the controllers that hook up to a Wiimote but the general rule is that they don't. Examples of working games are Smash 4 Wii U, Mario Kart 8, ZombiU.

As an additional point about running VC games on the Wii I don't see much point in doing this, because with a softmodded Wii U you can inject most retro games and fix all those darkening filters that were making the Wii U versions of VC games inferior to the Wii ones. Plus you can always use retroarch for lots of emulated games. The vWii is mostly for Wiiware games and wii games.

 

[doveman]

Yeah, getting an SNES style controller to be able to play both NES and SNES games is probably the best idea for me.

The wireless 8bitdo ones have their own USB controller which I could plug into the Wii U's front ports (I'm using the back one for my HDD) but I'm not sure they will actually work with the Wii U, unlike the NES mini controllers which plug into the Wimote.

An official SNES mini classic controller which will plug into the Wiimote and definitely work is around £17
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Official-Super-Nintendo-SNES-Classic-Mini-Controller/223791032261

There's third-party copies available for under £10 for 2 but I don't know if they're any good
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Wired...o-SNES-Classic-Mini-Edition-2017/263296384989

I'd rather just get one that works well for £17 now and get another one later rather than spend £10 on a couple of rubbish ones but maybe you know of some decent copies? If you know that the 8bitdo one will work with the Wii U then I might get that rather than the official wired ones as it will be a bit more convenient not having to plug it into the Wiimote.

 

[Zense]

Yeah, getting an SNES style controller to be able to play both NES and SNES games is probably the best idea for me.

The wireless 8bitdo ones have their own USB controller which I could plug into the Wii U's front ports (I'm using the back one for my HDD) but I'm not sure they will actually work with the Wii U, unlike the NES mini controllers which plug into the Wimote.

An official SNES mini classic controller which will plug into the Wiimote and definitely work is around £17
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Official-Super-Nintendo-SNES-Classic-Mini-Controller/223791032261

There's third-party copies available for under £10 for 2 but I don't know if they're any good
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-Wired...o-SNES-Classic-Mini-Edition-2017/263296384989

I'd rather just get one that works well for £17 now and get another one later rather than spend £10 on a couple of rubbish ones but maybe you know of some decent copies? If you know that the 8bitdo one will work with the Wii U then I might get that rather than the official wired ones as it will be a bit more convenient not having to plug it into the Wiimote.

I found a post confirming that connecting the sn30pro with usb and using it through xinput mode with hidtovpad makes the controller work.
"Tried connecting it with the USB cable and running it trough HID-to-VPAD and got it to work as a xbox controller. But havn't tested it very much."
https://www.reddit.com/r/wiiu/comments/7yg0ys/8bitdo_sn30pro_and_sf30pro_controllers_are_they/

If I had one myself I would test for you, but sadly I can't. So yeah those two seem to be your options I agree that having the controller hooked to the wiimote sucks. Don't know if you'd be okay with having it wired to your wiiu though?