I've played with a lot of various controllers so I'll go through a bunch of them and my opinions on them but save my favorite overall for last.
BASE RULES
NES
This controller I am not a fan of. The reason is not because of the common reasons such as: it's an uncomfortable to hold block and don't have any good underneath grip, etc. The gripe I have with this controller is actually how the buttons themselves feel. They are a bit difficult to press. Of course "a bit" doesn't mean I need a hammer and nail to get it in, just that pressing them down eventually makes my thumbs a bit painful. Pressing them while quickly testing them out won't show these results but being in the mix of Contra or the sort where you're really focused so you might put a bit more pressure than normal in the heat of the game has the hard-plastic-button feeling really shine in the worst way. It's a good, high quality and aesthetic controller but, especially the D-Pad, it can just simply hurt my thumbs after awhile.
SNES
This one fixed the NES issue with a softer-feeling D-Pad plastic. The face buttons are perfectly fine as well as the inclusion of the L and R buttons however my gripe with this controller is how "Soft" the shoulder buttons feel. They don't have that nice "click" to them which WOULD be fine if I'm playing a game where that is expected from digital controls (I don't know a single game like that but I don't doubt it exists) but aiming diagonally in Super Metroid, for example, has me using %0.0001 of my brain power to detect whether I've pressed it in enough to say I'm aiming diagonally... Which is just a ten-thousandth more brain power than I have access to for this action. On top of that, I always struggle with the Start and Select button on this controller because they are far too tiny to quickly utilize AND are made of mushy rubber. Worse yet that they are even more mushy than the shoulder buttons. Of course this controller is not a pass for me but these two flaws do create a bit of a shift which makes it not the most definitive controller for its use case and a knockoff that fixes these while keeping the Nintendo quality is desired for me.
Megadrive/Genesis 3-6 Button
Right on the start: I'm NOT a fan of D-Pads with the round table connector thing. Never have been. The reason why is because they do nothing for me: Most controllers don't have them so I'm forced to learn to be precise with even the most stiff of cross D-Pads so throwing in this kind of D-Pad just doesn't enhance my comfortability or innovation. Aside from that, I haven't felt an authentic one of either of these controllers in years so I'm going to assume my AtGames SUPER-LIGHT controller does NOT represent the actual quality of SEGA... Otherwise it's hollow/cheap plastic and not satisfying to hold. In actuality for it's design, this is where things get really strange for me. I'm either forced to utilize a controller with ONE LESS face button than many games I like playing require, or TWO MORE. This is strange. If you couldn't make up your mind, then I daresay just stay in the middle and have a 5-button controller. XD Eitherway, I quite enjoy the inclusion of the many 6 buttons over the standard 4 but with these controllers (At least the AtGames ones) my issue is that they stick up way too far and don't go down far enough, causing my fingers to graze on the TALL walls/edges of the other buttons and it isn't comfortable to actually press. Sometimes it feels like I go to press it in and am stopped short by something stopping me from pressing it all of the way through but that's just... How far it goes down. The design here with the 6 face buttons, to me, beats the SNES. (Just add some L and R buttons and you won definitively) Except actually PRESSING the buttons, the most important thing, don't feel good like it does on the SNES so it's unfortunately a pass if I could avoid it. If a game uses all 6 buttons, I'd probably opt to mapping them to L And R of the SNES controller instead if I was picky enough.
DDR Mat
I only own the flexible mat, not some arcade machine floor panel block so that does play a factor as I quite like the floor panel (especially with the railing behind me) as it helps balance and generally just have more fun. Of course the majority of the games I won't be using this to play with but for the games it's designed for (Dance Dance Revolution) and a select other games such as a few fighting games and less face-button heavy games such as Pokemon, it's one of the best controllers out there as long as you ensure you have enough buttons and your mat isn't sliding all over the floor. (Remember... We're using the flexible one...)
Nintendo 64
This controller is fantastic and most of the games that were designed with it in mind utilize it properly. Many people TODAY complain that its senseless design is for 3-armed aliens but show me which N64 games ha syou playing as if you're a 3-armed alien? None. Developers know we are two-armed humans so utilized the controller in a way that we may variate between the D-Pad and Analog stick for innovative fun but not in a way we must use them simultaneously. With this being said, I do have a few major problems with this controller. Firstly, the analog stick never quite feels "tight" enough to me. As if it's impossible to find a controller to moves back into position when you let go, making the analog stick feel unresponsive, unreliable, wobbly, etc. Even the most brand new N64 controller analog sticks neevr felt quite right as if it's really stuck IN THE MIDDLE when resting. Another issue is the fact they were plastic. If you're used to the wobbly ones, sometimes to get a full %100 on any of the X or Y axis in the analog stick requiring REALLY pushing/pulling the analog stick way to the wall which eventually just hurts the thumb pressing into plastic like that. The inclusion of the button slot which houses the memory card and rumble pack is innovative and unique but I didn't really appreciate having to "equip rumble" when it could have been built in and togglable by a switch on the side of the controller or in-game. Aside from all of this, the 6-count face buttons, L, R AND Z as well as full analog support has me sold that this controller, thus far, tops everything above. Especially since the face buttons, START included, are all comfortable to press and the D-Pad is satisfying. The A and B buttons are positioned perfectly where my fingers rest. Almost every game played with a controller thus far, including the one controller listed below this one, would be better off playing with the N64 controller for the MOST part. (But never definitively) If it weren't for the analog stick not being designed differently, this would be even higher of a desired controller.
Playstation (No analog)
Now we're getting into the "industry standard" areas.... Meaning you SONY and XBOX are now in th egame with controllers that don't change. The playstation controller is viable but the huge issue I have here is how it feels to press the face buttons. They're large, which isn't necessarily bad, but they don't travel down far... At all. It makes these buttons not at all fun to press, which is very important. Another major issue I have is the Directional Pad. If they will be separated buttons... THEN MAKE THEM SEPARATE. It doesn't help that it is just a cross shaped directional pad disguised as 4 different buttons. I absolutely could not wrap my mind around this and all it did was make these directional buttons feel very uncomfortable to press under any circumstance, let alone feeling like I may somehow get an extra unwanted diagonal input. The Start and Select buttons can be a bit tiny to press, too, and them being rubber doesn't help just like on the SNES controller. What's up with controllers deciding to make their tiniest buttons out of rubber? It's rubber... It feels GOOD to press. So why are they so tiny and barely pressable/feelable? Aside from this, the handle feels nice for the most part, the inclusion or FOUR shoulder buttons is an incredible inclusion and they feel pretty ok to press.... But it doesn't help that the rest of the controller can fall short.
PS2
This one has generally the same aesthetic. I skipped the Dualshock PS1 controller as it's mostly the same. The weight and quality is nice but I'm not a fan of the analog stick placement. The reason for this is because it is actually completely against my hand's neutral resting position. I understand the logic here: They couldn't change up the fundamentals of a controller layout if they are making an INCLUSION. So they have to place the analog sticks in a place that isn't occupied and doesn't shift the already-placed buttons around, especially when most games at the time (PS1 dualshock) mostly relied on the D-Pad anyway, so it's just an addition. This, however, is NOT an excuse as they create tension put pulling my thumbs so far away from my palm in an extreme and unnatural position just to control those sticks - And they expect me to also be able to reach the shoulder buttons?? Of course we all leanr to do it but that doesn't mean it's very comfortable. On the contrary it kind of hurts and, depending on my positioning, my thumb tips can end up touching. If I wanted to use my index fingers to control the face buttons, as many PS2 games for some reason expect you to do while also controlling the camera somehow, it's actually difficult to do due to the arc my finger has to do, which it isn't even on the correct angle to perform proficiently. This analog stick place is an absolutely horrifying design and holding the grips/handles while operating them, even if you're doing so exclusively, is not comfortable or fun as it doesn't give me the control I desire. As for the rest, it's mostly the exact same as the PS1 except I think the face buttons MIGHT stick out a bit more... But not noticeably enough for differences to be made. As for the pros, the fact that there are two more analog sticks is such an awesome feature and opens the door to a vast array of video games that the N64 would struggle with mostly because of the lack of L/R2 buttons. (C buttons CAN could as a separate analog stick depending on the game) Due to that, I'd only use this controller, so far, if I had to play those specific games asI don't have much choice, otherwise I'd rather use the N64 controller on games that can be used by it.
Gamecube
This controller is very comfortable for my hands due to its smaller size. Every single button, excluding the L and R buttons, feel satisfying and comfortable to use. I'm not a giant for of the miniature D-Pad and C Stick but it's serviceable and I have no complaints. I do wish, though, that X and Y didn't exist and, instead, the controller kept with the C-Buttons as well as having the C-Stick but, unfortunately, the 4 buttons on the N64 controller were converted into a separate analog stick and two buttons named X and Y took it's place... Shame. The analog stick is very comfortable as well. However, the problem is the L and R buttons. They have a LOT of press in before the click. Now this generally is NOT a problem as there's a reason for it: Analog controls. L and R both represent an axis in the controller, than a digital button being pressed or not but the issue with this design is, other than Starfox Assault, I don't know a single game that utilized this feature and that's a MAJOR issue because, as a digital button, the L and R buttons are uncomfortable. as an analog button, they're fine. This means we have sacrificed control over WHEN our button is considered pressed over a game that utilized analog buttons that don't exist. That stinks.
Due to the lack of Select and.... Z2(?), this controller also isn't viable as a replacement for the PS2 controller, as much as I wish it was as the analog sticks and buttons are much better this time. It just lacks the button count. I feel that there is no reason a Z button on the oposite side couldn't be made. Now I'm not saying they should have as it wasn't what they wanted but it wouldn't do anything but make the controller better, not worse, if it was there even if a game didn't utilize it. With this being said: yes it's a good controller for Luigi's Mansion and the PS2 controller is good for GTA San Andreas but I have enough issue with the PS2 controller to feel I just want a replacement for it. I'm not complaining about the N64 controller so a Gamecube replacing it isn't a big need to me... Unless I'm playing Jet Force Gemini, in which that C-Stick would be nice. Otherwise, most Gamecube games could be played on the N64 controller and I woudlnt' have an issue with it other than the analog stick. Check this one out: If the N64 had the analog stick of the Gamecube, it would GENERALLY be the better controller. I'm ok with sacrificing those unused analog sticks.
DS Lite
I'm skipping the DS and I'm only and DS Lite much more extensively. The buttons, ALL of them (other than the Start and Select), feel extremely satisfying to press. The Directional Pad is a perfect form of mushiness and every button feels comfortable to press. The touch screen was also fun to use, of course. Sometimes I do wish certain features in certain games weren't locked to the touch screen but that's generally fine as it wasn't uncomfortable or a problem to use. The Start and Select, though, were a bit of a chore to press... Thumb-stabbingly so. The DS controller is a perfect replacement for both the NES and SNES controller, even if it isn't as stylish aesthetically. This is more of a system-praise, but the inclusion of the GBA slot was great as it allowed Guitar Hero to be played in an awesome fashion! Which brings us to the next one...
Guitar Hero 5-Fret controller
Comfortable to use and press the buttons. The only issue I have is when the strum becomes wobbly. I don't enjoy that but other than this, it's extremely fun to use, especially for the games it's designed for such as... Guitar Hero. It can be used to play other games, too, such as... Well to tell you the truth, I haven't tried it with anything else but games like Guitar Hero but off of the top of my head, I'm sure it would be a nice controller for games like Xevious where you hold strum up/down for up and down flying and two of the color buttons for left/right controls (Preferably your ring and index finger) then your middle finger for shooting. It can be done and I'm sure it's great but I haven't tried this so, for now, Guitar Hero 5-Fret controller beats every other controller at Guitar Hero and I'm sufficient with the PS2 controller and this controller for Guitar Hero.... The PS2 controller ends up hurting my index and middle fingers which isn't a good sign.
Wiimote (Upright With Motion Plus)
First off, it uses AA batteries. Instant turn off to me even during the days when that was normal for... Television-remote shaped devices such as this one. Every second using it felt like my time was ticking, especially as a little kid whose lifespan is measured by how many fresh batteries I have that I haven't and aren't able to pay for myself. (Wouldn't be a problem if they weren't energy guzzlers and rarely turned off on their own unless they were literally dying) Other than that, this controller is fine as there aren't many alternatives to it. However, it isn't the greatest for games like the two Resident Evil Chronicles games and similar. This isn't the fault of the Wii remote itself, though, but lightgun technology is just leagues better than infrared sensor bars. We'll ignore that, though. For games that utilize upright Wii Remotes for swinging, pointing and pressing B, A and the directional pad, it's sufficient. The directional pad is stiffer than I'd generally enjoy, especially trying to reach up to it upright like this, but it isn't impossible. The Plus and Minus buttons in this position are something you press when you're planning on just completely stopping the game to press. That's how difficult they are to press. Thankfully most games utilized them as forms of pausing so it isn't bad. The Home button suffers the same issue even more so but that's good as to ensure you don't accidentally press it. The swinging and rotation generally has me paying more attention to the on-screen sensoring/balancing, than me hand, though, which makes it just an unecessary step to my fun factor. What this means is, for example, with VR controllers I just slash some guy in half with my sword. That's it. I swing my hand where I want it to go and see the carnage. With the Wii remote, however, I move my hand up, paying attention to ensure it moved up YET, since if I start swinging before it fully moved up, there would be a problem, then I swing.... Makign sure I don't swing TOO hard or it won't register. This has me laughing just thinking about it but as you can see, it works and it can be fast but not too fast and it adds extra meticulous steps and brain power for something that should be basic. I love brain power but I don't love when I don't feel like I have control over what I'm doing. Then it isn't much of a controller, now is it?
Wiimote (Sideways)
Now this is where the controller has more of a standard control scheme. Off the jump, no. It does not replace the majority of any of the controllers on this list while sideways. It has the buttons for the NES (And if you're creative, the SNES, too) but, believe it or not, the Wii Remote's D-Pad is somehow even more uncomfortable than the NES.... Actually, I take that back. It's just uncomfortable in a different way. Where the NES controller's D-Pad hurt my thumb and make sit red from harsh pressing on plastic, this D-Pad's edges actually feel like it's stabbing into my fingers. It's also much smaller, which I don't mind, but that makes the pinching more precise and often which I do mind. Pressing A with my left hand feels good and don't feel like I'm reaching far. Same with B. Buttons 1 and 2 are small but feel sufficient to press. The three center buttons still are the same, though. In reality, this controller sideways just don't beat other controllers. That's just the facts for me. Now if I was playing a sideways controller game that's blazing commands and audio from the controller's speakers and has me using some motions and gyro controls simultaneously, then now it's good and useful! Otherwise, why even force me to use it sideways, instead of... Say a Wii Classic Controller or the SNES extension? It doesn't feel better to play the majority of games with this controller. This goes for Donkey Kong Country Returns and its ground-slap and mouth blow mechanics and New Super Mario Bros. Wii's twirl and properller suit activation shaking. It's just not enough for me to feel I need to use THIS controller to play the game with, than assign those features to a button on the controller then use a different one entirely. In general, there's little reason to use this controller sideways when you don't need to. I have used it extensively in Super Smash Bros. Brawl over other types like Gamecube controller because I wanted to get good with the more simple controls and I bought a Wii - Let me use it instead of my last console! XD
Wiimote (Nunchuck)
I won't dwell too much on this one but just know that without gyro controls, the Nunchuck really loses it's charm to me outside of games like Metroid Prime Trilogy and New Play Control! Pikmin. Other than that, games like Boxing feel one-handed oriented. (So much that Wii Sports Club's version of it uses TWO Wii REMOTES to control both arms!) I think the Wii Remote + Nunchuck is a one-of-a-kind controller and has almost no competition for the games it specializes in AS LONG AS IT'S USED PROPERLY. If a game, such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl, is using it just to add an analog stick and some back buttons then most likely it's a game that could just be controlled with a more comfortable controller that WON'T slip out of your hand and has built-in analog stick(s). In this case, the nunchuck is redundant and it's just developers forcing us to use hardware that isn't technologically needed which stinks everytime. I have an IR sensor, gyro controls and a built-in speaker. USE ME OR LET ME USE A DIFFERENT CONTROLLER, PLEASE.
XBOX
I have used this so little that I don't even know what to say other than I distinctly remember how uncomfortable the analog sticks felt, (They were also wobbly like the N64... The hell?) and tiny they were.... That's it. I remember nothing else about this controller's feeling. I CAN say the D-Pad is an even worse version of the Genesis/Megadrive one and it's bulky shaped... The only thing this controller seems to have going for it is the 6 buttons like the N64 has. That's a plus. All controllers designed like these should have 6 buttons to me.
PS3 (SIXAXIS)
This controller is almost exactly the same as the PS2's Daulshock 2 controller but there ARE some major differences. Firstly, of course, it includes SIXAXIS. This is a type of motion control so that's cool! .... If any games wanted to actually use it BUT, hey, it doesn't hurt to have it regardless so it's a plus. It's a wireless controller WITH A PORT, meaning it is like a hybrid (Unlike the Wii...) so that's also a plus. I can be wireless or not by choice. This controller gives me control! Another thing is the speakers built in. I don't remember them being high quality (BECAUSE I DON'T REMEMBER ANY GAME USING IT) but that's a plus and a step above the PS2. I also didn't mention that the PS2 introduced built-in rumble so that's awesome! This one has it as well, which makes it a step above the N64 controller in that field. All of this technology gives the controller so weight, which actually makes tapping the controller to recharge th ebattery in The Last of Us feel authentic and a little smidget of an experience - Cool! The last thing is that the analog sticks have been separated JUST a tiny bit more! At least that's how it feels... But still not enough to make them comfortable.... They're also in the same exact problematic location. It'll get old rementioning this quickly, though, but trust me I'm going to keep mentioning it. It's important. Overall, this controller IS a step up in almost every way from the PS2's Daulshock 2 controller so that's nice we finally have a REAL successor over it. For now. In the end, despite the upgrades, it's still not as comfortable as the Gamecube controller's buttons or analog sticks... Or D-Pad despite having far more features. This is a large bummer I can't go and chop up some fiends in God of War 3 with my Gamecube controller still. Oh well.... There's still that XBO- Nevermind.
PSP
This system has some comfortable buttons! The controller itself is quite comfortabel to hold and play. The D-Pad is a nice balance between clicky and mushy. The face buttons do their job well and the L and R buttons are very good and feel great to press! Between this controller and a Nintendo DS controller to, for example, play my SNES games... I'd unfortunately still have to pick the DS as the D-Pad is more fun to press and feel better. This is also the same with the face buttons. The L and R buttons, in their most kept-up form, are better than the PSP's... But those buttons don't last nearly as long as the PSP's L and R buttons from my experience which sucks but if both are coming out of the box, the DS will simply feel better. There's one thing I haven't even touched yet, though... And that's the PSP's DREADED Circle Pad that SONY deceptively calls an Analog Stick. (Well, it IS an analog stick but we have a more specific name for this SLIDER, than an orbiting stick.) This thing is so unbelievably uncomfortable on every PSP I've ever touched. It's sad. It's tiny and in an inconvenient location and, worse yet, it's straight up plastic with ridges. For being plastic, the ridget help on controlling the circle pad but it doesn't make it anymore comfortable. It feels like it's sandpaper on my thumb's fingerprint. The circlepad itself also feels like a thin plastic that I could lift off and just break which... Well I shouldn't be doing that anyway but I also shouldn't be THINKING about doing that if I was busy enjoying the circle pad. This pad sucks and I quite enjoy circle pads. It beats nothing in the control stick game and, behind DS, it's bested for playing my SNES games.
DSi
I mention this one as it's quite different than the DS. The buttons are stiffer and closer to the shell. The L and R buttons are sticking out more like the PSP which COULD be a plus but I just really enjoy pressing the DS Lite's L and R more. Unfortunately it's just as receptive to damage and ceasing to function like the DS Lite, unlike the PSP, so that sucks. Personally, it's more comfortable AND fun to pressy-press the DS Lite buttons (And even the PSP buttons) of this one. I've also noticed no difference in the touch screen so... Let's just walk away now.
Game Boy Advance SP
I skipped all of the Game Boys, their iteration as well as the standard Advance because they're simply beat by the SP since I can charge the SP and therefore automatically I won't be intending to play a game on the, say, Gameboy controller of the SP. I also won't be getting into the Micro (As I've never touched one) so with that being said, the Gameboy Advance SP's L and R are great. They feel a bit fragile but they aren't compared to the DS Lite in my experience (As far as it inexplicably not working, NOT in the sense of throwing it down a flight of stairs) but they don't feel as good, either. The controller lacks two buttons so it can only be comparable to variations of the Wii Remote, the NES controller and... An L and R-less SNES controller. Which we won't talk about that last one. Would I rather the Gameboy Advance SP controller over a Wii Remote to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Hm.. Maybe? The D-Pad doesn't stick out as much as the Wii Remote's so although that means we have an awesome stab-less feelign in our thumb, it also makes playing such games such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl more of a chore as the buttons don't stick out enough for me to know when I'm pressing it. Bummer. I'm also not complaining abotu the 1 and 2 buttons that they need to be replaced by the A and B buttons. I'd probably rather just use a Wii Remote sideward for this intention. If I won't choose it over a sideways Wiimote then I won't chose it over an SNES controller.
XBOX 360
This controller has plagued me long enough. From it's large size, to it's button-less triggers all of the way to just PLUGGING IT INTO THE XBOX 360 WITH IT'S SEPARATE CONVERTOR CORD PIECE. Now two of those points are objectively poor... Come on. But the button-less triggers isn't a bad thing. These are advanced analog controls like the Gamecube. If a game uses it then that's good. Personally I don't play any games that use it and barely any XBOX 360 games used the feature, either. Unfortunately what it has UNDER the Gamecube is that even though Gamecube has analog L and R buttons, they still at least provided the option to click the button in so that's nice. The XBOX 360 lacks that click so bam. Points taken off for removing a feature that didn't get in the way. Most games I play (And that came out on XBOX) mostly used them like Digital buttons anyway. (Which is stupid considering there are digital buttons right above them all LB and RB and those were used much less...) The reason for this is likely because human hands naturally rest on the two triggers in the back anyways. ... Anyways, the face buttons are just a bit too much for me to find them satisfying to press. There's no balance there. The Directional Pad is once again a disc plate thing instead of just being more precise. I will applaud them, though, that their bumper buttons feel good to press, the analog sticks don't hurt my fingers and overall the controller has weight and build quality to it. (But if I don't want to use it, how much does that matter?) Here's the funny part: Despite the flaws, I'd rather use this controller over the Playstation 3 controller! You see, where the Playstation 3 breaks both of my wrists and causing carpal tunnel simply reaching for the analog sticks, this controller breaks only ONE of my wrists! So we're getting somewhere! In reality, I'm still scraping at the bottom of the barrel. Why am I playing with broken wrists anyway? Due to the position of the D-Pad (And even the right analog stick) I feel much less discomfort using them despite being in canonically the same position as the analog sticks on the Playstation 2/3 controller. That means something. Maybe the giant, bulky size has a part to play in that fact for me... Anyways, the Start and Back buttons (Not the trigggers) on this controller are a major pain to press. No different than Start/Select on the other controllers but at least this one isn't rubber so it makes it less of a pain. Also, interestingly, it isn't satisfying to press the XBOX button which is strange to me. It feels like the button goes down unilateral... Like when I press it down, the stick it's 'balanced' on is really thin and it doesn't go down all as one button would which I don't know why it feels like that. It's just not fun to press. Not saying it should be, though. It just isn't and that's a minus. Anyways, this one beat the PS3 controller and I'd rather use it to play GTA San Andreas so there's that. It's running for something and it's winning.
PS Vita
Now this is an interesting controller to use! Firstly, it features two camera, two touch screens, gyro controls, speakers and two analog sticks. This is putting down every handheld as well as many, if not all, controllers mentioned thus far in the button/functionality department. So let's talk about the less standard features. The Gyro Controls are barely used in games so I can't even decide if it's more or less functionable than the Wii Remote's gyro controls. Oh well. It's there and I played test your Balance on Mortal Kombat without an issue sooo I'm just going to say it's functionable just as competently as the Wii Remote is. Not that there's much competition. Due to the design of this controller, you wouldn't catch me using it to play Mario Kart Wii on a television with it over the Wiimote's bar design, though. The touch screens, both front and back, are NOT like the DS's, however. This one is touch sensitive, the DS is pressure sensitive. Pressure Sensitive ALWAYS wins in my book, unless it has fingerprint/shape recognition or if there are multiple touches. (I'm just assuming pressure sensitive can't get multiple touches due to it's engineering but it this is false, then ignore this last one.) I like Pressure as I can use my finger OR I can use an object. Yey! Ontop of that, every touch-sensitive screen is smearing my fingerprints and my fingers smudge on them, making it like... Impossible to swipe compared to the DS screen that isn't grabbing and restraining my fingers somehow BUT despite taste differences, the resolution to this screen is higher resolution, which isn't necesarily a CONTROLLER review, but it does effect the pixels that my finger presses are registered in making the touches more precise than a DS screen so that's a plus over the DS's screen. (But not in my book... Since I can't use any object. >) The cameras are competent. It does its job. The DSi's camera did its job. It didn't really enhance the fun factor as barely any game utilized it properly. The fact that it's there is good, though. Now, let's get into the meat here. The face buttons. First of all, the directional pad is probably going to be the best on this list. No D-Pad on this list will liekly feel as smooth, responsive, perfectly sized and not cutting me up or as much downtravel when pressing it that feels perfect as this one. This D-Pad is my favorite. It feels good. The only issue I have with it is that... well, it's a cross D-Pad. I know you're wondering "So you don't like Cross? You don't like Disc plates? What DO you like?" all of my life I wanted, for ONCE, the D-Pas to just be a duplicate of the face buttons on the right side. Is that so horrible to ask for? (Take it an extra mile and have the N64 6-buttons on both sides to make me smile.) The reason I desire this is because, like I said, I like feeling precise buttons. Feeling like I'm going up when I want to go up. Not up-right unless I press up and right. It makes most games more fun for me. MOST. The PS Vita gets a pass here because the D-Pad feels so precise and separate, it's as if I'm pressing 4 different buttons and that's good enough to me. The face buttons are great, too. They have that sharp edge like the Genesis/Megadrive but, somehow, they DON'T cut me up on the edges. Probably because they don't stick up far enough to do so. The Start and Select, FOR ONCE, actually feel good to press! They aren't the easiest to press, though... And that's where the problems start to surface. For starters, the L and R buttons are easily the absolutely worst I've seen in any console ever. They could have tacked on a full XBOX 360 analog RT and LT and it would have somehow been better. These buttons are wobbly, pressing them dorps inputs and don't feel like they're properly pressed and, worse yet, they curve around the device which looks beautiful aesthetically but it makes them harder to press... While at the same time harder to NOT press if you're resting your hands. (How did they manage that???) These L and R buttons are a nightmare and far too many times am I pressing them just for them to not work. No, my buttons are not faulty, trust me. It's their design. Ontop of that are the analog sticks. They arne't bad analog sticks by any means. They are a bit small which can suck to some and be good for others. They're also ontop of the Start and Select buttons which... I don't like. XD But the issue here is how they FEEL. Ontop there's some nice feeling rubber... But the sides? Thumb-slicing (But smoothened) hard plastic that HURTS. Remember, SONY. this is NOT a circle pad. We are not resting our thumbs on the top of the analog stick. We're pusshign it by it's sides so why are we cursed with plastic sides but... Rubber tops? It looks good, yeah, but it doesn't feel good after awhile. Aside from that, they stick out not at all which means they dont' hamper pressing those jusing face buttons and directional pads on games that use it. Let's stack this one against the others. Would I use this controller over the Nintendo DS to play my SNES games? HELL YE- But wait... Those L and R buttons.... Ugh.... I'll need to think about that one more.
There's one thing I ALMOST skipped and it's very important with this device. DOES IT HOLD IN MY PALMS WELL? The answer simply is no. The device is extremely flat and round. I find my fingers underneath the device players footsies/fingies with eachother, hugging and kissing eachother and doing all kinds of roll around because nothing feels comfortable. It's just... Resting on my hand like a smart phone which, yes, smart phones are not comfortable to hold either. (Even less comfortabel than a PS Vita since it's designed with one hand in mind ANd in a portrait position.) This kind of sucks for me. Sony wanted to beat Nintendo by having a slimmer device and they won... At the sacrifice to the fact that slim doesn't always mean better.
NES Zapper
.... Uh... To play Duck hunt it's fine. XD I wouldn't try it with anything else. It only has a single button on it so forget things like Umbrella Chronicles if it had lightgun functionality. It is quite comfortable, though.
DSi/3DS/N3DS XL
These are bigger but not better. They all have their differences but none of them feel better in anyway to me than the Nintendo DS Lite and the circle pad is neither better nor worse their than origina counterparts so they're going into the garbage bin as not worth talking about.
XBOX ONE
This is an interesting one. it's the same as the 360 but smaller. (Unless I had a third party controller? I've never owned an XBOX ONE.) It's also VERY high quality grade. (Thanks Microsoft!) Unfortunatelt that's the only difference between it and the 360. Oh, the analog sticks are smaller and feel nicer. That's cool. Oh, also the D-Pad is a... What is that, an octogon??? anyways, I had the model that had the cross D-Pad. The D-Pad DOES feel nice, I must say! if "Stiff" is what they were going for, they topped the DS as far as comfortability but not my tastes. I like stiff but the DS still just feels so much better in the D-Pad department mostly because, despit ethe XBOX ONE D-Pad feeling great in it's stiff fashion, it doesn't feel like it goes down enough. That's the Genesis/Megadrive syndrome, I guess. Shame because this controller is pretty good. It beats the XBOX 360 so far so, again, it's competing in a race and it's winning for those times I want to play GTA San Andreas. Other than that, the triggers still don't support buttons. Games I play still don't use those triggers and the analog sticks' placement haven't moved. I'm still one wrist short of comfortability but this controller is very high grade. Does it beat the DS for SNES games? Nope. It does beat the 360 for GTA San Andreas, though. Unfortunately it doesn't beat the N64 controller for games that I'd like to have 6 face buttons for, whichever games those are.
AYANEO Pocket Micro (Original)
I know this is a weird one but the controller is so high quality and fantastic enough that it deserves to be on this list. Fo rthis, we're talking about the original controller. Not the revised "Classic" version that does not support analog sticks. Firstly, this controller has gyro and a touch screen. It isn't pressure based, though so... There's that. The layout of this controller is the exact same as the PS Vita, PS2, SNES, etc. so let's just get straight to the point: Without sticks, would I use it to play SNES games? Well, right now that privilege is to the Nintendo DS Lite. The face buttons actually, somehow, are much mroe comfortable to press than the DS Lite buttons! (Please note, AYANEO products do have some quality distinctions between each unit. This isn't Nintendo quality so I'm going based on my own device and not an average.) As for the directional pad, these buttons are unbelievably great with a perfect balance between mushy and clicky. It's a VERY hard choice. The thing here, though, is that despit ehow great the DS face buttons are, the Pocket Micro's is better feeling so even if the D-Pad is just SLIGHTLY worse than the DS Lite's, which I can't even decide, the face buttons alone take the cake. Ontop of that, the L and R, ESPECIALLY the L2 and R2 buttons (Which the DS Lite does not possess) feel SO good to press. Would I play SNES games on this device? Hell yeah. But I don't think that's the real challenge here. The REAL challenge is the PS Vita's face buttons. It was only discounted because of the ungodly L and R buttons but if we ignore that for a second... Does it stack up? These ABXY buttons actually DO top the PS Vita's equivalent. it's a small margin but they do. Especially since the Pocket Micro has buttons that curve, so their edges are comfortable, even if the PS Vita is far from slicing my fingers like the Wiimote's D-Pad. However, that's all. The D-Pad on the PS Vita STILL reigns supreme over even the Pocket Micro. Attrocious L and R buttons? Worse face buttons? The D-Pad being exceptional doesn't make up for that. The Pocket Micro wins in the SNES department! The great thing is that it isn't over. It doesn't intend on winning that battle against the DS Lite. It threatens even the XBOX ONE controller. Does it hold up? Are the analog sticks comfortable? Indeed they are but the analog STICK rubber itself might not be as comortable as the XBOX ONE (I can't test that so I won't claim it's better or worse.) but both analog sticks are placed in a fantastic location on the Pocket Micro, unlike the XBOX ONE. The Pocket Micro's device itself is in a metal shell and it's very thick, so the placement feels very comfortable for being a handheld. I'm not reaching for it. It's directly below the D-Pad and Face buttons. That's awesome. Would I play GTA San Andreas on this? Yes. I would! Definitively so far, the Pocket Micro's controller beats everything other than the niche uses cases of the Wiimote, Guitar Hero Controller, DDR Dance Mat and N64 controller. For everything else I'd use it faster. I'd arguably even play Mario Kart Wii with gyro controls on it faster than a Wii Remote. (Assuming it's NOT in the Wii wheel peripheral... Which I never really liked much anyway.) There is a major flaw to this device, though... And it's quite bad. Worse than the L And R button on the PS Vita. That's the Start and Select buttons. I won't go into detail but just know they're placed poorly, devil's design in their size and shape and they're just in easy to press. Thankfully it's just the Start and Select, though... If I'm playing an NES or SNES game, I can just map certain buttons such as those to L2 and R2 instead.
PS4
Next in line is the PS4 controller. I think we've already found our top dogs here but I'll continue for you guys' entertainment. (Whoever is still reading this far.
) The PS4's facebuttons are, once again, an upgrade to the PS3. This is because they seems to be sticking out just a MILLIMETER MORE. It's STILL barely noticeably different but it does seem to exist so that's a plus, even if it's still uncomfortable to press. The D-Pad this time around is competent. It's much less mushy so I feel like I have abut more control over the controller now which makes me smile a tiny bit more. It isn't great, though, and they don't feel like they press down far enough for me to be satisfied at all. The analog sticks... Sigh... Are still the same. Same location. Same distance. Same size. They're the same. They didn't work the first time. Now they're just keeping it because it's iconic, it seems. (The world doesn't revolve around me, dummy! Clearly people must like it!) This time, however, they incorporated a touch screen, real gyro controls and a... Light. Cool! The touch screen si fantastic. I don't feel like my finger is being grabbed and restrained like I do on touch screen. It slides on it as if it's a Nintendo DS - No it slides even better! It's also super responsive and accurate. That's a major step up! All controllers should have this! Unfortunately this entire touch screen that also serves as a button suffers from the XBOX 360 XBOX button syndrome, where the button pressed unilateral... But that appears to be by design as pressing down in different locations can produce different results. To be honest, though, that doesn't make sense to me. If it's a touch screen, but button itself shouldn't need to physically FEEL I'm pressing it in a different location to no. The entire thing should be pressed like a normal button that goes down evenly, but the controller detects where by the touchscreen position. Doesn't make sense? It sure would make the button more satisfying to press. One thing I forgot to mention with the PS3, and I'm remembering it now with the PS4, is that the L2 and R2 buttons are duplicates of the analog XBOX 360 trigger buttons... That's NOT a good sign. Worse yet that they don't feel as high quality as the ones provided by XBOX 360 and ONE. Another similarity to the PS3 is the charging cable! Yey! ... Except UNLIKE the PS3, it uses Micro USB... Boo! The PS3 uses the very sturdy Mini USB which is excellent! I've never in my life replaced a Mini USB. Micro USB, however? The port breaks AND the charger connector breaks. That's cheap. That sucks. Now I think about it... I've never replaced ANY charging for any console ever... I've only needed to replace DS and GBA SP chargers and the sort because it would get lost of be cut or something. But not from wear and tear ever. Tells you a lot about Micro USBs. What a set back that's big enough that it reeks. The analog sticks' rubber themselves feel much better than the PS3 but that doesn't matter if I can't reach them. Overall, it IS a step up in everyway, other than the charger port, of the PS3 so that's good. I would murder Olympians and hide from Clickers with the PS4 controller if I wasn't busy doing that on the Pocket Micro's controller. Oh well, right?
3DS
The moment a lot of you have probably been waiting for! The 3DS is the same exact thing as the Nintendo DS Lite, except it has a well-placed Circle Pad. Nice! Let's look at the thing it has in common first, before the contrasts. The D-Pad is actually not necessarily uncomfortable to reach but at the same time it isn't something I look forward to doing. I do like USING it, but not alongside the Circle Pad due to the uncomfort in swapping. At least it didn't feel uncomfortable to go from the D-Pad to the analog stick on the N64. The buttons themselves are actually among the MOST clicky feeling things on this list. I screamed like a baby, stating I wanted "Accurate D-Pads" and, well, I guess I got what I wanted... x100 over. These buttons are unbelievably stiff and feel like they're assaulting me back when they unclick into position. (Which isn't a bad thing I'm being assaulted like this.) The issue is that not only are they not as satisfying or functionally effective as the DS Lite's D-Pad, they are actually a bit TOO clicky. TOO accurate, which makes me feel like they shouldn't even be in a cross at all. The PS Vita was very clicky and great, too, but when I click on them, at least they don't FEEL like they are apart of a cross but the 3DSs D-Pad does and that doesn't make them unusable or bad in anyway, only that it doesn't make them feel better than the PS vita or the DS Lite's D-Pad. Which is sad. The Face buttons are super high quality and feel great to press so that's nice. Just not nearly as satisfying as the Nintendo DS since they don't stick out enough to be THAT satisfying. Aw. I still like how the Nintendo DS Lite's L and R buttons feel! Unfortunately for the 3DS, it's STILL a victim to failing L and R buttons but honestly it might be less so than a Nintendo DS. SO that's nice. doesn't feel bad but not as good as the DS Lite's L and R. The touch screen is the touch screen. Now, for the features it DOES have different than the DS Lite is the obvious Circle Pad. Of every handheld I've ever held in my hands, the Nintendo 3DS wins at giving us a comfortable analog stick. No other system beats it. Not even the Pocket Micro. The analog sticks on the Pocket Micro feel great but the fact that they are analog sticks (You know... Things that STICK OUT while I'm pushing it into my POCKET) can hurt the experience when they could have just been circle pads and done the job the same. I like the analog sticks for certain things, I will say that, but the majority of it can have worked just as well on a Circle Pad and the 3DS's Circle Pad is just perfect. The size. The feeling of the rubber. The distance. Everything is perfect about the 3DS circle pad. Too bad there's only one. The camera is the camera. Not as good as the DSi or the PS Vita which is sad because of Face Raiders and AR games but... Who cares? XD The Start, Select and Home buttons are not good. I do give Nintendo a thumbs up for innovation and unique design there but in practice they aren't satisfying to press and are prone to (Little kids using a stylus to press them and dent them) damage and warping. I don't like the DS Lite's Start and Select but it wins at this game..... Incase you're wondering, I think the Wiimote's HOME buttons is easier and more comfortable to press than the Pocket Micro's abomination they call the Start and Select buttons. Just incase you were wondering. Would I play SNES games on this over the DS Lite? I suppose not since I'd rather play it on the Vita over the 3DS but that is unfair! The 3DS doesn't shine in playing SNES games anyway. The real question is whether I would play GTA San Andreas on the 3DS over the XBOX ONE? Well, assuming there was a 3DS port that didn't require a second analog stick or L2 and R2 buttons... Then the answer would probably be YES. Holding a 3DS actually feels good and I don't have french-kissing fingers like I do on a PS Vita somehow. Of course it doesn't feel better than the Pocket Micro because it's much thinner than the Pocket Micro. Would I play GTA San Andreas on 3DS over a Pocket Micro if both were playing some unique 3DS port that didn't need the extra buttons? The answer is actually no. The face buttons, D-Pad and L and R don't beat the Pocket Micro's controller, even IF I somehow decided it mattered that I was swapping the analog stick for a Circle Pad. Sorry 3DS! Your Circle Pad puts you above a lot of systems in so many ways but your face buttons and D-Pad, as high quality and awesome as they are, are competing with systems with buttons just as high quality.
Wii Classic Controller Pro
This controller is quite nice! I will NOT be reviewing the original Classic Controller and it is the same as the pro excluding the handles and the two Z buttons are on the sides of the L and R buttons which doesn't make it worth the review. Starting off, the face buttons suffer from the Genesis/Megadrive syndrome. Slicing my fingers up on the edges. They also don't feel like they go down all of the way. Real nice. They don't feel nearly as bad, though, but it does exist as second place here. Th eanalog sticks feel fine. They're rubber and do their job but, somehow, it seems like they used the LEAST amount of rubbe possible so, despite being rubber, it still feels so hard when I push them. Not hard as in resistence. Hard as in just hard material. Like I'm pushing on a smooth rock. Something about it just hurts my thumb tips. Combine that with the placement of them being the same exact as the PS2 analog sticks, reaching for them and all, and it is not comfortable. I will give it a plus by saying it's much more comfortable to use than the PS4's analog sticks which are, so far, their best iteration. I don't feel like I'm reaching THAT far. The D-Pad is excellent. It feels high quality and good. It feels like a good mix between mushy and clicky as well as being precise. The issue is that it doesn't feel like it goes down far enough before abruptly stopping like the Genesis/Megadrive controllers barely stilling halfway when it gets to the click point. Oh well. The Plus and Minus buttons are much more reachable and easy to press compared to many of the other multi-center button controllers on this list. The Home Button, like the Wiimote, won't be accidentally pressed, though. The L, R and two Z buttons feel very good! They go in enough to feel satisfying and all! I think that's the only "Perfect" thing about this controller. The rest is average or pretty alright. (D-Pad) Sorry abotu that but there are better options.
New 3DS
I won't go into the differences here of the 3D because they're marginal as best but I will talk about the ZL, ZR and C-Nub buttons (And.... Thing) The ZL and ZR buttons feel fantastic. I thought they wouldn't be they do. Their size makes their clickiness feel satisfying to press and I thought I wouldn't be able to reach them but I most certainly do! They're actually the most satisfying buttons to press on the device and I find myself just randomly pressing them, especially during loading screens. Nice! The rest is generally standard 3DS stuff, though. The Start and Select resemble the DS lite more now, though. It matters little. What matters to me is the C-Nub. This thing is the most broken, unresponsive thing I've even been required to use to "control" my game. It doesn't travel accurate movements well, just the tiniest dot of moistness of your thumb makes the thing go haywire and outright cease to function (Which, if you're me, every few seconds after wiping my thumb on my shirt) and, somehow, they expect us to aim and shoot in Resident Evil Revelations with it. XD No one is doing this, I promise you. What bugs me to most is the fact that the original 3DS had a peripheral called the Circle Pad Pro, which added the ZL, ZR and and second full Circle Pad on the right side. It made reaching to the face buttons a bit more difficult but it doesn't hurt the experience. With this device, the 3DS actually feels like I can finally go and play a 1:1 version of GTA San Andreas! The buttons on this peripheral were actually slightly more satisfying to press than the ones on the New 3DS Systems which is interesting. But the problem is we physically cannot connect this device to any New 3DS system because.... It "Already had a second Circle Pad". That's unbelievably and not only does it make a sour taste in my mouth from Nintendo themselves, it actually makes the original 3DS more desirable for.... The like 4 games that use it. It still wouldn't beat the Pocket Micro even if it did have the Circle Pad Pro functionality for GTA San Andreas, but it would put it easily in second place. Sorry New 3DS, there's no point for you.
AYANEO Pocket DMG
Another strange one by AYANEO on the list. It's just too high quality to not include. This device has everything say, a PS2 controller has. The major difference here is that the right analog stick is instead modified for a touch pad similar (But not as great as) the PS4's touch pad. That's unique! The real draw here, though, is how unbelievably comfortable using the D-Pas with the Face buttons feel due to their position and width away from eachother. The analog stick being so far down is still very comfortable, but not so much if you're swapping between that and the D-Pad, 3DS Syndrome style. This device actually feels amazing to play SNES games with because of how close the controls are to eachother. Let's test is now: Would I use this controller to play SNES games over my Pocket Micro? (Well, yes because the screen on the device is catored to it over the Pocket Micro aspect ratio-wise, but I digress) How about Nintendo DS games? Hmm... These are quite difficult decisions. The buttons themselves need to answer for this. Are they better feeling to use and press than the other? The Pocket Micro's Face buttons beat the Pocket DMG. The Pocket DMG has bigger buttons BUT they are just a TINY bit mushier. Which isn't a problem much. The real issue that makes it worse (But not bad by any means) is that they are more spaced apart from eachother, leaving my whole thumb able to be between the ABXY buttons without touching any on the Pocket DMG, and the buttons themselves are bigger.... While having much less travel distance Playstation Controller Syndrome style. They really aren't anywhere near as satisfying to press than the Pocket Micro's. As for the D-Pad, it's so comfortable to press the Pocket Micro's smaller, more blocky D-Pad than the Pocket DMG's longer-finned cross D-Pad but at the same time, I get more control over the D-Pad on the Pocket DMG. It's sort of like how the DS Lite has a mushier, more saitsfying press than the 3DS, but the 3DS is more stiff and has more control. The difference is that the D-Pad on the Pocket DMG doesn't meet that level of stiff but keep the great feeling of control. In this sense, the Pocket DMG wins over the D-Pad but loses against the face buttons. It's a tie? or is it... The Pocket DMG has the D-Pad and face buttons much closer together and due to the bulkiness of the controller, it makes this more comfortable. Therefore, would I rather play SNES games with the Pocket Micro or the Pocket DMG? Funny how the AYANEO devices actually are competing more than anything else. No, I would not rather play SNES game son the Pocket Micro. The Pocket DMG wins the SNES games race and games like it. As for the 4 L and R buttons, they're QUITE difficult to press with my shorter handers when operating the analog stick so that's a negative above any reason I need to keep going from there. As for the analog stick, it's super fun to use and feels very good. The touch pad on the other hand needs work and, yes, it's AYANEO's fault. Not the fault of me sucking as using it or me not being used to it. It does it's job but it isn't a marvel in touch screen engineering. (like the PS4 touch screen.) Therefore for most games it is generally insufficient but it's nice to have. Would I play GTA San Andreas on it using the defined 3DS port above on the Pocket DMG or the Pocket Micro? That's a hard one... But the winner would still be the Pocket Micro in this sense.
PS5 (DualSense)
Many of you may have been waiting for this one. So let's see. The first thing we have to do is see if it matches up to the Ps4's controller. The touch screen seems to be just as competent. PRESSING the touch screen, now that's a major improvement! It feels tight and nice. The buttons SEEM to be an improvement size-wise but not much else... STILL they have no travel distance when pressed, are a bit mushy and are NOT satisfying to press. That's great. The D-Pad, however, is easily their best. It's clicky without feeling like it's snapping back at me. I feel like I have control over it AND they actually FEEL separated from eachother similar to the PS Vita! Of course it isn't as great click wise, satisfying wise or size wise as the PS Vita but it's definitely they're second best so far! It seems to be on par with the PSP D-PAd. I think my D-Pad is a little worn out so it feels just a tin ybit more mushy but when the PSP is fresh and new, MAYBE it's a bit more clicky and stiff which is a plus. Either way, based on the hardware I have, the D-Pad on this controller beats the PSP. The L and R buttons are sufficient. The L2 and R2 buttons, however.... They are simply unmatched. "Adaptive Triggers" should be standard in every single controller. They are THE answer to Gamecube's Analog + digital control triggers without being full analog of full digital. Also without being both at the same time sacrificing one for the other. It is one AND the other together in perfect harmony. Of course this alone isn't enough for me to bring this over everything else but it IS enough to feel this button is unmatched like the PS Vita's Digital Pad. Hey! SONY has created two different features that are unmatched so far! Awesome for them! ... But let's talk about the analog sticks. Did they fix them? Well, no generally but they did improve them once again. They are QUITE smaller, it feels, pushed into a position that makes them feel more like the position of the right analog stick of the XBOX ONE controller, which is better than where they have been, and the rubber is much better feeling than anything they have produced prior. Hey, what a major step up! It's STILL in the same uncomfortable position nonetheless, though, so we're still scraping the bottom of the barrel for rupees so it rarely counts. The Share and Option buttons and sitting RIGHT on top of the Pocket Micro's Start and Select buttons for being among the most uncomfortable thing to press ever. It isn't fun but still - Nothing is worse than the Start and Select buttons on the Micro. xD This definitely is down there near it, though. Number two place as the worst, I guess. I'd rate it over the PS Vita's L and R buttons since at least the L and R buttons are still justifiably usable. Just abominable. Is it better than the PS4 controller? In almost every way. It also has upgraded it's charger yet again to, this time, an upgrade and not a downgrade: USB-C. Yey! That's potentially even better than Mini USB! (Except I HAVE had to replace USB C wires, before...) The issue? It doesn't matter WHAT charger it can use IF IT CAN'T HELP A CHARGE. The thing feels like it dies 15 minutes later from a full charge. (Major exaggeration. Excuse me.) I've never had a controller die so often. I wish they increased the batter but that's ok. It can be a wired controller. That's no problem to me. Now the question is does thi sbeat the XBOX ONE controller? Honestly.... I'm not sure. The XBOX ONE controller has some nice buttons... The D Pad isn't as good as the PS5's, nor are the Triggers. The face buttons are better, though. ONE analog stick is better sufficiently, but the other one marginally so. (Or marginally not. Give or take.) I guess I've used the PS5 controller more so I'll say I'd rather play GTA San Andreas with the PS5 Con - But those two analog sticks... Damn... The XBOX ONE's left analog stick is perfectly fine. It's just the right one... Ugh, this is a difficult decision. I'll just stick with the Pocket Micro beating both of these controllers for when I am in the mood to fail at following that damn train!
PS Move
I have never once used one of these, neither version, unfortunately. It's a shame because I really wanted to play the Resident Evil Chronicles games on these devices but never got a chance. Boo! I'm only including it, though, to show you that I haven't forgotten about it!
Kinect
The XBOX Kinect... Gosh I hated this thing.... But it isn't XBOX's fault. It's the fault of the lack of interesting games to play on it. No I'm NOT interested in various sports games, tech demos, Just Dance or that Star Wars game or... Sonic Riders which I played and realized this game simply doesn't work. There're no games to play on it! MAYBE I would have enjoyed it more if Wii Sports was on it and other games that used Miis instead of those XBOX Avatars. Or if games just in general were on it! No games are on it! The few that were I simply didn't enjoy. I didn't feel like I was playing a game that requires skill or control but instead a game that just... Did what it felt like.
Oculus Quest 2 Controllers
I don't even know is these are the names of these controllers to be honest but just roll with me. These controllers are actually really good! Both analog sticks are a nice size, are very smooth and click satisfyingly. They feel good to TOUCH which is the point. The A and B (I think they are) buttons also are serviceably fine and there is no complaint but the most catisfying thing to press is the side trigger. It feels so good and this time around, most games actually USE this as an analog button unlike the XBOX 360 games and their LT/RT poor button usage. Very satisfying! Woudl I play GTA SA with this controller if a port was made (And it wasn't VR, just to keep it simple) with this controller? Hm.. Very interesting. These analog sticks DO feel more comfortable than the Pocket Micro and Pocket DMG analog sticks but not the face buttons so it's a nice analog stick but it's also a no.
PSVR/Vive/Meta Quest 2
These are the 3 VR headsets I've used and, yes, they also count as controller. I'm grouping these together because the specs mostly just change the screen and non-controller stuff so my say is these these controllers are awesome! But that's really all there is to say. Which is better than the other? Truth be told, it mostly comes down to non-controller reasons as they ALL have gyro and movement tracking and do it well. These are great controllers. I do like them but by themselves they cannot really control a whole lot outside of head movement and, I guess with more sophisticated ones I don't posses nor have tried, eye movement and blinking. None of which would be able to play the majority of the games I enjoy.
Joy-Cons
I actually didn't mean for this to be so far down on the list but here it is. The Nintendo's Joy-Cons. These controllers, for the MOST part, are attrocious but I am here to explain WHY and, of course, also say my pros. The let's start with the pros instead of the cons. The controllers are quite versatile. Much moreso than ANYTHING ELSE on this list, including the Wii Remotes. The comes down to their raling system. It can be attached to things. Don't like how close the controller is to the other? Attach it to a longer controller middle part. (Whatever it's called.) Want SL and SR? Connect the ... Things. (Whatever THOSE are called) Of course it can also be connected to the console itself. That's all nice. I sure wish I could do that for a few of the other controllers on this list. Another plus are the ZL and ZR buttons. They aren't the best: They don't travel very far when clicking them but they DO click and they stick out in a way that actually makes them feel good to rest your hands on and maybe press in when it is time to do so. Another plus is the ability to read Amiibos! Where and how you do that, however, it not a plus. It's so uncomfortable and not fun to fiddle with it on the right analog stick. That same analog stick, by the way, has some pretty cool, VERY unused Wii-esque infrared sensor! Again, it's unused so who cares at this point... Unfortunately. The next plus are the motion and gyro controls. I actually have had no issue with them! They work well, much better than the Wiimote with Motion Plus to my experience! Ontop of that, these devices are MUCH smaller and, paired with the SL/SR thingy you connect, when holding the device on it's side (So your thumbs rest on L/R) it actually makes for very comfortable motion control handling. It also had the L and R buttons feel very neatly designed and comfortable to press! Finally, being able to actually have the Joy-Con side ways and sacrifice nothing is actually an awesome thing! Unfortunately, that's where the praises for the devices end and unfortunately still, most of those things, excluding the great motion/gyro controls, are only great on paper. For example: The ZL and ZR buttons stick out which is a plus but that doesn't mean they feel very good to press. Amiibo but it doesn't feel good to use. Sliding rail but the rail is prone to warping, breaking or just getting stuck. Infrared but not used. Side ways Joy-Con but the right analog stick is much less comfortable than the left. L and R feeling good to rest your thumb on - but NOT feeling good to press with holding them upright. It's like everything good about this controller, aside from the barely used motion controls, are actually only good on paper so let's jump into these cons. The first thing is that the face buttons are VERY tiny. Believe it or not that the Pocket Micro's buttons, you know, the ones I praised for being pretty much the best face buttons on this list, are THE SAME SIZE pretty much. But you know the difference? Those buttons aren't being swallowed by the controller Playstation controller style like the Joy-Cons's face buttons are. These buttons have such little travel when pressed AND they are small. At least SONY had the decency to make their face buttons really big to compensate that, I guess. Either way, it doesn't actually make the controller better that they are so small with such little travel. This doesn't stop at the face buttons, either. The 4 back buttons have no travel, while L and R are somehow wobbly and suffer from the PS Vita L and R button Syndrome where inputs are dropped/doesn't feeling like you're clicking JUST the center/part that needs to be clicked to activate the button. At least the PS Vita had travel in its buttons. It was just super wobbly so you won't know if it traveled.... Or just wobbled. For the Switch, it has a wobble AND no travel... So you don't know what you're pressing. Ontop of that, it also slightly curves around the system like the PS Vita, which is great for the thumb position when holding it like a Wii Remote... But not so much any other time. The D-Pad also has little to no travel. The analog sticks are uncomfortably small. Somehow this is a bad thing. These sticks feel like they are going to be damaged because they wobble, are immediately prone to Stick Drift which I have on all like 10 of my Joy-Cons, including ones that are fresh from Nintendo (probably still in the repairs package for 2 years since I didn't care to take them out when I find out the drift happened shortly after others ones I took out the package) and since the controllers are SO flat, it's a little difficult to move them around without me feeling like I'm reaching around the controller while simultaneously trying to balance it in my hands like a smart phone we mentioned awhile ago. It's not comfortable. Less so when it's actually docked into the Nintendo Switch itself. I really want to praise the first controller ever to finally give me my longtime wish: A D-Pad that is just 4 separate buttons but I can NOT praise this feature of the controller no matter how much I try and it' sbecause the D-Pad buttons are so small and flat into the device, which means I feel like I have even LESS control over the games that use it than if it was just a flat cross shape. At least the cross shape will help me know if I'm pressing the button or not just a but better since, again, their's no travel distance. The SL and SR buttons are unusable without the connector thing which, ok fine. But once you connect the connector thing, those plastic cover buttons wobble to death on the button with doesn't make it feel comfortable and, worse yet, it has a weird mushy but click feeling... Like it's supposed to just "click" when you press it... But it mushed a bunch until the click and not in a resistive way like the Gamecube. Just... Uncanny. Uncomfortable. Unknown. Lacking Control. Let alone holding the controller upright and using your middle or index and another finger to press SL and SR. The controller itself is too small for that so I find the controller rolling in my hand if I tried doing that. Ontop of any of that, somehow these super-smooth Joy-Cons somehow take the SLIGHTEST Moisture from my thumb like the New 3DS's C-Nub does. It doesn't cease to function like that device but I feel my fingers ice skating on it unlike, say, the PS5 or actually any other controller to be honest. I do have this issue with the 3DS's Circle Pad but MUCH less so and much less often. A quick wipe on my shirt with my thumb fixes the problem for awhile. Not so much the Joy-Con for some reason. Do I enjoy using these controllers? Other than the Kinect but only because no game interested me, I think I don't want to use this controller for ANYTHING, let alone SNES games. :/ That's so unfortunate. These buttons are just so poor and everthing I dislike while the analog sticks are not sized properly (Maybe too big, despite being small, as the device is really small? I don't know...) for me to use the analog sticks offhand and also press the SL/SR buttons... And then stick drift. There's your review. This controller can go in the trash unless it's all about the Motion Controls. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. I just remembered the Plus and Minus buttons. So far, the Pocket Micro's Start and Select were devised from hell. They are not easy to press but SOMEHOW the Switch tops it. I don't know how it's possible. These buttons are NOT shaped like circles which, that's ok. But the shapes they chose are IMPOSSIBLE to press. ONe you do, it doesn't feel good AT ALL. Holy moly. They're also tiny, even sharper than the Genesis/Megadrive face button edges and sometimes I find myself just using my nail to press these buttons in. That's NOT a good sign!
Wii U Pro Controller
You probably saw this one coming as I skipped the Wii U's two proprietary controllers. I was going to put the Wii U Gamepad up there as it would make this less obvious but what I have to say about it is generally the exact same as the Wii U Pro Controller excluding the giant touch screen, space between the buttons and weight mostly. It would have given away my tastes. This controller is crowned as THE controller. Would I play SNES games on it over the Pocket DMG? YES. (As long as it isn't on the Pocket DMG itself.) Would I play GTA San Andreas on it over the Pocket Micro? Once again. YES. Even if it was on the Pocket Micro's screen. though I wouldn't torture myself and I'd just use the controls on the Pocket Micro for this. What makes this controller so good? If you read this far, it' snot hard to guess. I won't get to the obvious part first, though. The Face buttons are great. They have a curve to them similar to the Pocket Micro (But not as curvy and juicy as the Pocket Micro's) so they don't slash up my fingers on their edges. They also stick out perfectly, are sized nearly perfect and are spaced out just as perfectly. They aren't just a TINY bit bigger than the Pocket Micro's buttons and are spaced out a bit more. It has sufficiently good travel distance and are very satisfying to press. The Directional Pad here is NOT 4 buttons, unfortunately, as it is a cross. However, this cross is stiff and long-finned enough to give me the control I desire like the Pocket DMG (But not as stiff as the Pocket DMG, for better or for worse) and also mushy enough similar to the Pocket Micro (not as mushy, of course) that makes me feel satisfaction in pressing it. It's a perfect balance between the two analog sticks and I feel great control over it. If I couldn't choose wether the control and stiffness of the D-Pad on the Pocket DMG is better than the mushy satisfaction of the one on the Pocket Micro, the Wii U Pro Controller contains one perfectly in between which makes me believe it's better than both of those options. (I wouldn't want the Wii U Gamepad D-Pad on either of those devices, though, as it's too big and etc.) It still, of course, doesn't beat the PS Vita's D-Pad but it beats everything else. The size of the controller as well as aesthetic (Black one) and shape design make this great to hold. Even better to feel it's shiny top and matt bottom. For the FIRST TIME did Nintendo truly get their Plus and Minus buttons correct. These buttons, although small, stick out and are very satisfying to press. I think I'm just used to it but I never accidentally press these buttons but I've seen cases where others are going crazy on the controller and press these buttons accidentally. I will take that into consideration and say that maybe they're a bit TOO easy to press but not for me so I'm fine. At the same time, however, this time around, the HOME button appears to be even harder. It's like... The button is INSIDE of the controller. Why am I spelunking to press a button? Worse yet, that's only in the caves. Deep down in the mines is the POWER button. Somehow this button is sunken and even more difficult to press. Granted I never press this button anyway so it DEFINTIELY shouldn't be easy so that's a great thing it can't possible be accidentally pressed. The L and R buttons stick out enough, they give great feedback to know exactly that you pressed it or not and they are a great balance between mushy and clicky. The Pocket Micro's L and R buttons are amazing to press and are very clicky. No mush. However, the only reason the Pocket Micro loses this battle, despite the button itself being more satisfying to press, it because the button it literally flat on it's flat square self. My fingers, even when curved at the seams, aren't entirely flat. It needs SOME curve. Thankfully the Pocket Micro didn't add curve. Would ruin the aesthetic of the device and button but that sacrifice means the slight curve of the Wii U Gamepad's L and R buttons beats it as far as satisfying goes! The ZL and ZR buttons have that nice Switch "Stick out" but even more so in a more valid manner. Unlike the Switch, this button DOES have travel distance and isn't clicky loud but has that nice click feeling when you press it in without feeling like it's hampered by analog travel. (Because, unfortunately, there's no analog... Which is better for the controller to me if it was one or the other.) Now, finally, the obvious: The analog sticks. For some reason, this is the ONLY controller with analog sticks in just a comfortable human resting hands position. When you have you hands to your side, you're basically holding an invisible Wii U Pro Controller. No, you're not holding an invisible Playstation controller unless your fingers are broken and stiffened with carpal tunnel from reaching for those analog sticks all of the time. No you arne't holding an XBOX 360 controller... Unless only one hand suffers fromt he debilitation. Nope. You're holding this controller. So why make the controller uncomfortable? Why go out of your way to do so? Jus tput them both at the top where it's easy to reach. The Pocket Micro did it perfectly. The only difference is that these are at the bottom which actually makes a task I mentioned early about Playstation difficult: Using your index fingers to control the buttons above. On the Wii U Pro Controller, you can actually use your index fingers to move around the analog stick much more naturally, then curving them for button presses. Then you can just use your thumbs to press the face buttons an dD-Pad if need to be. I do it all of the time. Not only am I just skilled at it, but it's physically less demanding and contortionistic than this approach. Clicking the analog sticks feels great. Going aroudn inthe circle is great. The rubber is grea. What isn't there to like here? One thing people complained about the Pocket Micro was that the analog sticks get in the way when you're playing a game that doesn't use them. I won't bite people's opinions but I didn't have that issue myself. Bravo to AYANEO for coming out with the Pocket Micro Classic which is the same thing without analog sticks.... Yay. .-. Anyways, if you're playing on a Playstation, remember what I said? They dind't want to change up their work when they added the analog sticks... So due to this, the current placement of the D-Pad and face buttons actually makes using the analog sticks difficult and painful since they get in the way of the analog sticks since they're the reason they're placed so poorly. (But not the other way around.) Another thing is if you're playing on the XBOX 360 controller. You might say using the D-Pad is difficult since the analog stick is pushing the D-Pad so far down and the fingers don't rest well or symmetrically with the fingers on the face buttons. That's a valid complain. (One I don't personally possess but I understand it.) The Wii U Pro Controller solves this but separating the two analog sticks, similar to PS2, by separating them into a position that doesn't get in the way of you wanting to play your SNES games. Nor into a position they are locked away and are a pain to use. No. Separately, the analog sticks are comfortable and the buttons are comfortable without any compromise. I wanted to review the Switch Pro controller but it's no different than any other controller: An insult more that Nintendo stepped backwards just so they can appeal to people and their XBOX analog stick placement desires, I guess. I say that if I wanted to use an XBOX controller, I should. Why make everything XBOX when I'm on a Nintendo Switch? Same with Playstation, etc. The truth is, the analog stick DOES feel more comfortable on the Switch Pro Controller than the XBOX ONE but still not symmetrical or as comfortable as the Wii U Pro Controller so why change? Worse yet, why change to what a competitor is also offering the same of, if not better? This controller IS my go-to for almost every game that aren't those specific case scenarios with Wiimotes, N64 controllers, Vr or the sort. Every other controller, including the Pocket Micro and Pocket DMG, and kiss my butt as they are just simply inferior. Not in EVERY way but in most ways and enough ways that make me just have no use for said controller. Relating the Wii U Gamepad, I won't get into it's motion controls. Just know that it's large. It's heavy. It dies in 10 seconds while the Wii U Pro Controller NEVER dies. Its lifespan pretends it's immortal (And it's rechargable with Mini USB!) and goes on for like an entire month. The Wii U Gamepad is good for what it does but during those times I'm not using it for what it does, I wouldn't choose it over the Wii U Pro Controller.
My dream Controller?
If you've gotten this far then pat yourself on the back. Here's my dream controller: One that has the design of a Wii U Pro Controller. The ZR and ZL buttons are replaced with Adaptive triggers. The middle is replaced with the touchscreen of the PS4. Gyro controls. Two extra buttons by the A and X button. (To make it like the N64) 6 more buttons on the oposite side and just remove the D-Pad completely so this replaces it, just going up left instead of upright. (Think of a layout of C-Buttons mirrored on the controller for the other side) Charger that is hefty and won't break and has a long battery life. A little screen would be cool, too, similar to the Dreamcast. <3 (Which I didn't review in this.)
Holy freaking crap, dude. This is my largest comment yet, and MOST of my comments on GBATemp are gigantic walls. I doubt I'll be topping this one in awhile. I hope you enjoyed my controllers and my likes, dislikes and whys from them all! <3
BASE RULES
What defines a good controller? One that you find fun and enjoy using. It does not have to be comfortable physically nor does it have to be the most efficient or make you win more often. Those don't define a good controller to me. With that being said, the rule of good and bad controller primarily comes down to which game you're playing, how you wish to play it and if the controller... Gives you the most control. So please keep this in mind while reading.NES
This controller I am not a fan of. The reason is not because of the common reasons such as: it's an uncomfortable to hold block and don't have any good underneath grip, etc. The gripe I have with this controller is actually how the buttons themselves feel. They are a bit difficult to press. Of course "a bit" doesn't mean I need a hammer and nail to get it in, just that pressing them down eventually makes my thumbs a bit painful. Pressing them while quickly testing them out won't show these results but being in the mix of Contra or the sort where you're really focused so you might put a bit more pressure than normal in the heat of the game has the hard-plastic-button feeling really shine in the worst way. It's a good, high quality and aesthetic controller but, especially the D-Pad, it can just simply hurt my thumbs after awhile.
SNES
This one fixed the NES issue with a softer-feeling D-Pad plastic. The face buttons are perfectly fine as well as the inclusion of the L and R buttons however my gripe with this controller is how "Soft" the shoulder buttons feel. They don't have that nice "click" to them which WOULD be fine if I'm playing a game where that is expected from digital controls (I don't know a single game like that but I don't doubt it exists) but aiming diagonally in Super Metroid, for example, has me using %0.0001 of my brain power to detect whether I've pressed it in enough to say I'm aiming diagonally... Which is just a ten-thousandth more brain power than I have access to for this action. On top of that, I always struggle with the Start and Select button on this controller because they are far too tiny to quickly utilize AND are made of mushy rubber. Worse yet that they are even more mushy than the shoulder buttons. Of course this controller is not a pass for me but these two flaws do create a bit of a shift which makes it not the most definitive controller for its use case and a knockoff that fixes these while keeping the Nintendo quality is desired for me.
Megadrive/Genesis 3-6 Button
Right on the start: I'm NOT a fan of D-Pads with the round table connector thing. Never have been. The reason why is because they do nothing for me: Most controllers don't have them so I'm forced to learn to be precise with even the most stiff of cross D-Pads so throwing in this kind of D-Pad just doesn't enhance my comfortability or innovation. Aside from that, I haven't felt an authentic one of either of these controllers in years so I'm going to assume my AtGames SUPER-LIGHT controller does NOT represent the actual quality of SEGA... Otherwise it's hollow/cheap plastic and not satisfying to hold. In actuality for it's design, this is where things get really strange for me. I'm either forced to utilize a controller with ONE LESS face button than many games I like playing require, or TWO MORE. This is strange. If you couldn't make up your mind, then I daresay just stay in the middle and have a 5-button controller. XD Eitherway, I quite enjoy the inclusion of the many 6 buttons over the standard 4 but with these controllers (At least the AtGames ones) my issue is that they stick up way too far and don't go down far enough, causing my fingers to graze on the TALL walls/edges of the other buttons and it isn't comfortable to actually press. Sometimes it feels like I go to press it in and am stopped short by something stopping me from pressing it all of the way through but that's just... How far it goes down. The design here with the 6 face buttons, to me, beats the SNES. (Just add some L and R buttons and you won definitively) Except actually PRESSING the buttons, the most important thing, don't feel good like it does on the SNES so it's unfortunately a pass if I could avoid it. If a game uses all 6 buttons, I'd probably opt to mapping them to L And R of the SNES controller instead if I was picky enough.
DDR Mat
I only own the flexible mat, not some arcade machine floor panel block so that does play a factor as I quite like the floor panel (especially with the railing behind me) as it helps balance and generally just have more fun. Of course the majority of the games I won't be using this to play with but for the games it's designed for (Dance Dance Revolution) and a select other games such as a few fighting games and less face-button heavy games such as Pokemon, it's one of the best controllers out there as long as you ensure you have enough buttons and your mat isn't sliding all over the floor. (Remember... We're using the flexible one...)
Nintendo 64
This controller is fantastic and most of the games that were designed with it in mind utilize it properly. Many people TODAY complain that its senseless design is for 3-armed aliens but show me which N64 games ha syou playing as if you're a 3-armed alien? None. Developers know we are two-armed humans so utilized the controller in a way that we may variate between the D-Pad and Analog stick for innovative fun but not in a way we must use them simultaneously. With this being said, I do have a few major problems with this controller. Firstly, the analog stick never quite feels "tight" enough to me. As if it's impossible to find a controller to moves back into position when you let go, making the analog stick feel unresponsive, unreliable, wobbly, etc. Even the most brand new N64 controller analog sticks neevr felt quite right as if it's really stuck IN THE MIDDLE when resting. Another issue is the fact they were plastic. If you're used to the wobbly ones, sometimes to get a full %100 on any of the X or Y axis in the analog stick requiring REALLY pushing/pulling the analog stick way to the wall which eventually just hurts the thumb pressing into plastic like that. The inclusion of the button slot which houses the memory card and rumble pack is innovative and unique but I didn't really appreciate having to "equip rumble" when it could have been built in and togglable by a switch on the side of the controller or in-game. Aside from all of this, the 6-count face buttons, L, R AND Z as well as full analog support has me sold that this controller, thus far, tops everything above. Especially since the face buttons, START included, are all comfortable to press and the D-Pad is satisfying. The A and B buttons are positioned perfectly where my fingers rest. Almost every game played with a controller thus far, including the one controller listed below this one, would be better off playing with the N64 controller for the MOST part. (But never definitively) If it weren't for the analog stick not being designed differently, this would be even higher of a desired controller.
Playstation (No analog)
Now we're getting into the "industry standard" areas.... Meaning you SONY and XBOX are now in th egame with controllers that don't change. The playstation controller is viable but the huge issue I have here is how it feels to press the face buttons. They're large, which isn't necessarily bad, but they don't travel down far... At all. It makes these buttons not at all fun to press, which is very important. Another major issue I have is the Directional Pad. If they will be separated buttons... THEN MAKE THEM SEPARATE. It doesn't help that it is just a cross shaped directional pad disguised as 4 different buttons. I absolutely could not wrap my mind around this and all it did was make these directional buttons feel very uncomfortable to press under any circumstance, let alone feeling like I may somehow get an extra unwanted diagonal input. The Start and Select buttons can be a bit tiny to press, too, and them being rubber doesn't help just like on the SNES controller. What's up with controllers deciding to make their tiniest buttons out of rubber? It's rubber... It feels GOOD to press. So why are they so tiny and barely pressable/feelable? Aside from this, the handle feels nice for the most part, the inclusion or FOUR shoulder buttons is an incredible inclusion and they feel pretty ok to press.... But it doesn't help that the rest of the controller can fall short.
PS2
This one has generally the same aesthetic. I skipped the Dualshock PS1 controller as it's mostly the same. The weight and quality is nice but I'm not a fan of the analog stick placement. The reason for this is because it is actually completely against my hand's neutral resting position. I understand the logic here: They couldn't change up the fundamentals of a controller layout if they are making an INCLUSION. So they have to place the analog sticks in a place that isn't occupied and doesn't shift the already-placed buttons around, especially when most games at the time (PS1 dualshock) mostly relied on the D-Pad anyway, so it's just an addition. This, however, is NOT an excuse as they create tension put pulling my thumbs so far away from my palm in an extreme and unnatural position just to control those sticks - And they expect me to also be able to reach the shoulder buttons?? Of course we all leanr to do it but that doesn't mean it's very comfortable. On the contrary it kind of hurts and, depending on my positioning, my thumb tips can end up touching. If I wanted to use my index fingers to control the face buttons, as many PS2 games for some reason expect you to do while also controlling the camera somehow, it's actually difficult to do due to the arc my finger has to do, which it isn't even on the correct angle to perform proficiently. This analog stick place is an absolutely horrifying design and holding the grips/handles while operating them, even if you're doing so exclusively, is not comfortable or fun as it doesn't give me the control I desire. As for the rest, it's mostly the exact same as the PS1 except I think the face buttons MIGHT stick out a bit more... But not noticeably enough for differences to be made. As for the pros, the fact that there are two more analog sticks is such an awesome feature and opens the door to a vast array of video games that the N64 would struggle with mostly because of the lack of L/R2 buttons. (C buttons CAN could as a separate analog stick depending on the game) Due to that, I'd only use this controller, so far, if I had to play those specific games asI don't have much choice, otherwise I'd rather use the N64 controller on games that can be used by it.
Gamecube
This controller is very comfortable for my hands due to its smaller size. Every single button, excluding the L and R buttons, feel satisfying and comfortable to use. I'm not a giant for of the miniature D-Pad and C Stick but it's serviceable and I have no complaints. I do wish, though, that X and Y didn't exist and, instead, the controller kept with the C-Buttons as well as having the C-Stick but, unfortunately, the 4 buttons on the N64 controller were converted into a separate analog stick and two buttons named X and Y took it's place... Shame. The analog stick is very comfortable as well. However, the problem is the L and R buttons. They have a LOT of press in before the click. Now this generally is NOT a problem as there's a reason for it: Analog controls. L and R both represent an axis in the controller, than a digital button being pressed or not but the issue with this design is, other than Starfox Assault, I don't know a single game that utilized this feature and that's a MAJOR issue because, as a digital button, the L and R buttons are uncomfortable. as an analog button, they're fine. This means we have sacrificed control over WHEN our button is considered pressed over a game that utilized analog buttons that don't exist. That stinks.
Due to the lack of Select and.... Z2(?), this controller also isn't viable as a replacement for the PS2 controller, as much as I wish it was as the analog sticks and buttons are much better this time. It just lacks the button count. I feel that there is no reason a Z button on the oposite side couldn't be made. Now I'm not saying they should have as it wasn't what they wanted but it wouldn't do anything but make the controller better, not worse, if it was there even if a game didn't utilize it. With this being said: yes it's a good controller for Luigi's Mansion and the PS2 controller is good for GTA San Andreas but I have enough issue with the PS2 controller to feel I just want a replacement for it. I'm not complaining about the N64 controller so a Gamecube replacing it isn't a big need to me... Unless I'm playing Jet Force Gemini, in which that C-Stick would be nice. Otherwise, most Gamecube games could be played on the N64 controller and I woudlnt' have an issue with it other than the analog stick. Check this one out: If the N64 had the analog stick of the Gamecube, it would GENERALLY be the better controller. I'm ok with sacrificing those unused analog sticks.DS Lite
I'm skipping the DS and I'm only and DS Lite much more extensively. The buttons, ALL of them (other than the Start and Select), feel extremely satisfying to press. The Directional Pad is a perfect form of mushiness and every button feels comfortable to press. The touch screen was also fun to use, of course. Sometimes I do wish certain features in certain games weren't locked to the touch screen but that's generally fine as it wasn't uncomfortable or a problem to use. The Start and Select, though, were a bit of a chore to press... Thumb-stabbingly so. The DS controller is a perfect replacement for both the NES and SNES controller, even if it isn't as stylish aesthetically. This is more of a system-praise, but the inclusion of the GBA slot was great as it allowed Guitar Hero to be played in an awesome fashion! Which brings us to the next one...
Guitar Hero 5-Fret controller
Comfortable to use and press the buttons. The only issue I have is when the strum becomes wobbly. I don't enjoy that but other than this, it's extremely fun to use, especially for the games it's designed for such as... Guitar Hero. It can be used to play other games, too, such as... Well to tell you the truth, I haven't tried it with anything else but games like Guitar Hero but off of the top of my head, I'm sure it would be a nice controller for games like Xevious where you hold strum up/down for up and down flying and two of the color buttons for left/right controls (Preferably your ring and index finger) then your middle finger for shooting. It can be done and I'm sure it's great but I haven't tried this so, for now, Guitar Hero 5-Fret controller beats every other controller at Guitar Hero and I'm sufficient with the PS2 controller and this controller for Guitar Hero.... The PS2 controller ends up hurting my index and middle fingers which isn't a good sign.
Wiimote (Upright With Motion Plus)
First off, it uses AA batteries. Instant turn off to me even during the days when that was normal for... Television-remote shaped devices such as this one. Every second using it felt like my time was ticking, especially as a little kid whose lifespan is measured by how many fresh batteries I have that I haven't and aren't able to pay for myself. (Wouldn't be a problem if they weren't energy guzzlers and rarely turned off on their own unless they were literally dying) Other than that, this controller is fine as there aren't many alternatives to it. However, it isn't the greatest for games like the two Resident Evil Chronicles games and similar. This isn't the fault of the Wii remote itself, though, but lightgun technology is just leagues better than infrared sensor bars. We'll ignore that, though. For games that utilize upright Wii Remotes for swinging, pointing and pressing B, A and the directional pad, it's sufficient. The directional pad is stiffer than I'd generally enjoy, especially trying to reach up to it upright like this, but it isn't impossible. The Plus and Minus buttons in this position are something you press when you're planning on just completely stopping the game to press. That's how difficult they are to press. Thankfully most games utilized them as forms of pausing so it isn't bad. The Home button suffers the same issue even more so but that's good as to ensure you don't accidentally press it. The swinging and rotation generally has me paying more attention to the on-screen sensoring/balancing, than me hand, though, which makes it just an unecessary step to my fun factor. What this means is, for example, with VR controllers I just slash some guy in half with my sword. That's it. I swing my hand where I want it to go and see the carnage. With the Wii remote, however, I move my hand up, paying attention to ensure it moved up YET, since if I start swinging before it fully moved up, there would be a problem, then I swing.... Makign sure I don't swing TOO hard or it won't register. This has me laughing just thinking about it but as you can see, it works and it can be fast but not too fast and it adds extra meticulous steps and brain power for something that should be basic. I love brain power but I don't love when I don't feel like I have control over what I'm doing. Then it isn't much of a controller, now is it?
Wiimote (Sideways)
Now this is where the controller has more of a standard control scheme. Off the jump, no. It does not replace the majority of any of the controllers on this list while sideways. It has the buttons for the NES (And if you're creative, the SNES, too) but, believe it or not, the Wii Remote's D-Pad is somehow even more uncomfortable than the NES.... Actually, I take that back. It's just uncomfortable in a different way. Where the NES controller's D-Pad hurt my thumb and make sit red from harsh pressing on plastic, this D-Pad's edges actually feel like it's stabbing into my fingers. It's also much smaller, which I don't mind, but that makes the pinching more precise and often which I do mind. Pressing A with my left hand feels good and don't feel like I'm reaching far. Same with B. Buttons 1 and 2 are small but feel sufficient to press. The three center buttons still are the same, though. In reality, this controller sideways just don't beat other controllers. That's just the facts for me. Now if I was playing a sideways controller game that's blazing commands and audio from the controller's speakers and has me using some motions and gyro controls simultaneously, then now it's good and useful! Otherwise, why even force me to use it sideways, instead of... Say a Wii Classic Controller or the SNES extension? It doesn't feel better to play the majority of games with this controller. This goes for Donkey Kong Country Returns and its ground-slap and mouth blow mechanics and New Super Mario Bros. Wii's twirl and properller suit activation shaking. It's just not enough for me to feel I need to use THIS controller to play the game with, than assign those features to a button on the controller then use a different one entirely. In general, there's little reason to use this controller sideways when you don't need to. I have used it extensively in Super Smash Bros. Brawl over other types like Gamecube controller because I wanted to get good with the more simple controls and I bought a Wii - Let me use it instead of my last console! XD
Wiimote (Nunchuck)
I won't dwell too much on this one but just know that without gyro controls, the Nunchuck really loses it's charm to me outside of games like Metroid Prime Trilogy and New Play Control! Pikmin. Other than that, games like Boxing feel one-handed oriented. (So much that Wii Sports Club's version of it uses TWO Wii REMOTES to control both arms!) I think the Wii Remote + Nunchuck is a one-of-a-kind controller and has almost no competition for the games it specializes in AS LONG AS IT'S USED PROPERLY. If a game, such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl, is using it just to add an analog stick and some back buttons then most likely it's a game that could just be controlled with a more comfortable controller that WON'T slip out of your hand and has built-in analog stick(s). In this case, the nunchuck is redundant and it's just developers forcing us to use hardware that isn't technologically needed which stinks everytime. I have an IR sensor, gyro controls and a built-in speaker. USE ME OR LET ME USE A DIFFERENT CONTROLLER, PLEASE.
XBOX
I have used this so little that I don't even know what to say other than I distinctly remember how uncomfortable the analog sticks felt, (They were also wobbly like the N64... The hell?) and tiny they were.... That's it. I remember nothing else about this controller's feeling. I CAN say the D-Pad is an even worse version of the Genesis/Megadrive one and it's bulky shaped... The only thing this controller seems to have going for it is the 6 buttons like the N64 has. That's a plus. All controllers designed like these should have 6 buttons to me.
PS3 (SIXAXIS)
This controller is almost exactly the same as the PS2's Daulshock 2 controller but there ARE some major differences. Firstly, of course, it includes SIXAXIS. This is a type of motion control so that's cool! .... If any games wanted to actually use it BUT, hey, it doesn't hurt to have it regardless so it's a plus. It's a wireless controller WITH A PORT, meaning it is like a hybrid (Unlike the Wii...) so that's also a plus. I can be wireless or not by choice. This controller gives me control! Another thing is the speakers built in. I don't remember them being high quality (BECAUSE I DON'T REMEMBER ANY GAME USING IT) but that's a plus and a step above the PS2. I also didn't mention that the PS2 introduced built-in rumble so that's awesome! This one has it as well, which makes it a step above the N64 controller in that field. All of this technology gives the controller so weight, which actually makes tapping the controller to recharge th ebattery in The Last of Us feel authentic and a little smidget of an experience - Cool! The last thing is that the analog sticks have been separated JUST a tiny bit more! At least that's how it feels... But still not enough to make them comfortable.... They're also in the same exact problematic location. It'll get old rementioning this quickly, though, but trust me I'm going to keep mentioning it. It's important. Overall, this controller IS a step up in almost every way from the PS2's Daulshock 2 controller so that's nice we finally have a REAL successor over it. For now. In the end, despite the upgrades, it's still not as comfortable as the Gamecube controller's buttons or analog sticks... Or D-Pad despite having far more features. This is a large bummer I can't go and chop up some fiends in God of War 3 with my Gamecube controller still.
Oh well.... There's still that XBO- Nevermind.PSP
This system has some comfortable buttons! The controller itself is quite comfortabel to hold and play. The D-Pad is a nice balance between clicky and mushy. The face buttons do their job well and the L and R buttons are very good and feel great to press! Between this controller and a Nintendo DS controller to, for example, play my SNES games... I'd unfortunately still have to pick the DS as the D-Pad is more fun to press and feel better. This is also the same with the face buttons. The L and R buttons, in their most kept-up form, are better than the PSP's... But those buttons don't last nearly as long as the PSP's L and R buttons from my experience which sucks but if both are coming out of the box, the DS will simply feel better. There's one thing I haven't even touched yet, though... And that's the PSP's DREADED Circle Pad that SONY deceptively calls an Analog Stick. (Well, it IS an analog stick but we have a more specific name for this SLIDER, than an orbiting stick.) This thing is so unbelievably uncomfortable on every PSP I've ever touched. It's sad. It's tiny and in an inconvenient location and, worse yet, it's straight up plastic with ridges. For being plastic, the ridget help on controlling the circle pad but it doesn't make it anymore comfortable. It feels like it's sandpaper on my thumb's fingerprint. The circlepad itself also feels like a thin plastic that I could lift off and just break which... Well I shouldn't be doing that anyway but I also shouldn't be THINKING about doing that if I was busy enjoying the circle pad. This pad sucks and I quite enjoy circle pads. It beats nothing in the control stick game and, behind DS, it's bested for playing my SNES games.
DSi
I mention this one as it's quite different than the DS. The buttons are stiffer and closer to the shell. The L and R buttons are sticking out more like the PSP which COULD be a plus but I just really enjoy pressing the DS Lite's L and R more. Unfortunately it's just as receptive to damage and ceasing to function like the DS Lite, unlike the PSP, so that sucks. Personally, it's more comfortable AND fun to pressy-press the DS Lite buttons (And even the PSP buttons) of this one. I've also noticed no difference in the touch screen so... Let's just walk away now.
Game Boy Advance SP
I skipped all of the Game Boys, their iteration as well as the standard Advance because they're simply beat by the SP since I can charge the SP and therefore automatically I won't be intending to play a game on the, say, Gameboy controller of the SP. I also won't be getting into the Micro (As I've never touched one) so with that being said, the Gameboy Advance SP's L and R are great. They feel a bit fragile but they aren't compared to the DS Lite in my experience (As far as it inexplicably not working, NOT in the sense of throwing it down a flight of stairs) but they don't feel as good, either. The controller lacks two buttons so it can only be comparable to variations of the Wii Remote, the NES controller and... An L and R-less SNES controller. Which we won't talk about that last one. Would I rather the Gameboy Advance SP controller over a Wii Remote to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Hm.. Maybe? The D-Pad doesn't stick out as much as the Wii Remote's so although that means we have an awesome stab-less feelign in our thumb, it also makes playing such games such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl more of a chore as the buttons don't stick out enough for me to know when I'm pressing it.
Bummer. I'm also not complaining abotu the 1 and 2 buttons that they need to be replaced by the A and B buttons. I'd probably rather just use a Wii Remote sideward for this intention. If I won't choose it over a sideways Wiimote then I won't chose it over an SNES controller.XBOX 360
This controller has plagued me long enough. From it's large size, to it's button-less triggers all of the way to just PLUGGING IT INTO THE XBOX 360 WITH IT'S SEPARATE CONVERTOR CORD PIECE. Now two of those points are objectively poor... Come on. But the button-less triggers isn't a bad thing. These are advanced analog controls like the Gamecube. If a game uses it then that's good. Personally I don't play any games that use it and barely any XBOX 360 games used the feature, either. Unfortunately what it has UNDER the Gamecube is that even though Gamecube has analog L and R buttons, they still at least provided the option to click the button in so that's nice. The XBOX 360 lacks that click so bam. Points taken off for removing a feature that didn't get in the way. Most games I play (And that came out on XBOX) mostly used them like Digital buttons anyway. (Which is stupid considering there are digital buttons right above them all LB and RB and those were used much less...) The reason for this is likely because human hands naturally rest on the two triggers in the back anyways. ... Anyways, the face buttons are just a bit too much for me to find them satisfying to press. There's no balance there. The Directional Pad is once again a disc plate thing instead of just being more precise. I will applaud them, though, that their bumper buttons feel good to press, the analog sticks don't hurt my fingers and overall the controller has weight and build quality to it. (But if I don't want to use it, how much does that matter?) Here's the funny part: Despite the flaws, I'd rather use this controller over the Playstation 3 controller! You see, where the Playstation 3 breaks both of my wrists and causing carpal tunnel simply reaching for the analog sticks, this controller breaks only ONE of my wrists! So we're getting somewhere! In reality, I'm still scraping at the bottom of the barrel. Why am I playing with broken wrists anyway? Due to the position of the D-Pad (And even the right analog stick) I feel much less discomfort using them despite being in canonically the same position as the analog sticks on the Playstation 2/3 controller. That means something. Maybe the giant, bulky size has a part to play in that fact for me... Anyways, the Start and Back buttons (Not the trigggers) on this controller are a major pain to press. No different than Start/Select on the other controllers but at least this one isn't rubber so it makes it less of a pain. Also, interestingly, it isn't satisfying to press the XBOX button which is strange to me. It feels like the button goes down unilateral... Like when I press it down, the stick it's 'balanced' on is really thin and it doesn't go down all as one button would which I don't know why it feels like that. It's just not fun to press. Not saying it should be, though. It just isn't and that's a minus. Anyways, this one beat the PS3 controller and I'd rather use it to play GTA San Andreas so there's that. It's running for something and it's winning.
PS Vita
Now this is an interesting controller to use! Firstly, it features two camera, two touch screens, gyro controls, speakers and two analog sticks. This is putting down every handheld as well as many, if not all, controllers mentioned thus far in the button/functionality department. So let's talk about the less standard features. The Gyro Controls are barely used in games so I can't even decide if it's more or less functionable than the Wii Remote's gyro controls. Oh well. It's there and I played test your Balance on Mortal Kombat without an issue sooo I'm just going to say it's functionable just as competently as the Wii Remote is. Not that there's much competition. Due to the design of this controller, you wouldn't catch me using it to play Mario Kart Wii on a television with it over the Wiimote's bar design, though. The touch screens, both front and back, are NOT like the DS's, however. This one is touch sensitive, the DS is pressure sensitive. Pressure Sensitive ALWAYS wins in my book, unless it has fingerprint/shape recognition or if there are multiple touches. (I'm just assuming pressure sensitive can't get multiple touches due to it's engineering but it this is false, then ignore this last one.) I like Pressure as I can use my finger OR I can use an object. Yey! Ontop of that, every touch-sensitive screen is smearing my fingerprints and my fingers smudge on them, making it like... Impossible to swipe compared to the DS screen that isn't grabbing and restraining my fingers somehow BUT despite taste differences, the resolution to this screen is higher resolution, which isn't necesarily a CONTROLLER review, but it does effect the pixels that my finger presses are registered in making the touches more precise than a DS screen so that's a plus over the DS's screen. (But not in my book... Since I can't use any object. >
) The cameras are competent. It does its job. The DSi's camera did its job. It didn't really enhance the fun factor as barely any game utilized it properly. The fact that it's there is good, though. Now, let's get into the meat here. The face buttons. First of all, the directional pad is probably going to be the best on this list. No D-Pad on this list will liekly feel as smooth, responsive, perfectly sized and not cutting me up or as much downtravel when pressing it that feels perfect as this one. This D-Pad is my favorite. It feels good. The only issue I have with it is that... well, it's a cross D-Pad. I know you're wondering "So you don't like Cross? You don't like Disc plates? What DO you like?" all of my life I wanted, for ONCE, the D-Pas to just be a duplicate of the face buttons on the right side. Is that so horrible to ask for? (Take it an extra mile and have the N64 6-buttons on both sides to make me smile.) The reason I desire this is because, like I said, I like feeling precise buttons. Feeling like I'm going up when I want to go up. Not up-right unless I press up and right. It makes most games more fun for me. MOST. The PS Vita gets a pass here because the D-Pad feels so precise and separate, it's as if I'm pressing 4 different buttons and that's good enough to me. The face buttons are great, too. They have that sharp edge like the Genesis/Megadrive but, somehow, they DON'T cut me up on the edges. Probably because they don't stick up far enough to do so. The Start and Select, FOR ONCE, actually feel good to press! They aren't the easiest to press, though... And that's where the problems start to surface. For starters, the L and R buttons are easily the absolutely worst I've seen in any console ever. They could have tacked on a full XBOX 360 analog RT and LT and it would have somehow been better. These buttons are wobbly, pressing them dorps inputs and don't feel like they're properly pressed and, worse yet, they curve around the device which looks beautiful aesthetically but it makes them harder to press... While at the same time harder to NOT press if you're resting your hands. (How did they manage that???) These L and R buttons are a nightmare and far too many times am I pressing them just for them to not work. No, my buttons are not faulty, trust me. It's their design. Ontop of that are the analog sticks. They arne't bad analog sticks by any means. They are a bit small which can suck to some and be good for others. They're also ontop of the Start and Select buttons which... I don't like. XD But the issue here is how they FEEL. Ontop there's some nice feeling rubber... But the sides? Thumb-slicing (But smoothened) hard plastic that HURTS. Remember, SONY. this is NOT a circle pad. We are not resting our thumbs on the top of the analog stick. We're pusshign it by it's sides so why are we cursed with plastic sides but... Rubber tops? It looks good, yeah, but it doesn't feel good after awhile. Aside from that, they stick out not at all which means they dont' hamper pressing those jusing face buttons and directional pads on games that use it. Let's stack this one against the others. Would I use this controller over the Nintendo DS to play my SNES games? HELL YE- But wait... Those L and R buttons.... Ugh.... I'll need to think about that one more.There's one thing I ALMOST skipped and it's very important with this device. DOES IT HOLD IN MY PALMS WELL? The answer simply is no. The device is extremely flat and round. I find my fingers underneath the device players footsies/fingies with eachother, hugging and kissing eachother and doing all kinds of roll around because nothing feels comfortable. It's just... Resting on my hand like a smart phone which, yes, smart phones are not comfortable to hold either. (Even less comfortabel than a PS Vita since it's designed with one hand in mind ANd in a portrait position.) This kind of sucks for me. Sony wanted to beat Nintendo by having a slimmer device and they won... At the sacrifice to the fact that slim doesn't always mean better.
NES Zapper
.... Uh... To play Duck hunt it's fine. XD I wouldn't try it with anything else. It only has a single button on it so forget things like Umbrella Chronicles if it had lightgun functionality. It is quite comfortable, though.
DSi/3DS/N3DS XL
These are bigger but not better. They all have their differences but none of them feel better in anyway to me than the Nintendo DS Lite and the circle pad is neither better nor worse their than origina counterparts so they're going into the garbage bin as not worth talking about.
XBOX ONE
This is an interesting one. it's the same as the 360 but smaller. (Unless I had a third party controller? I've never owned an XBOX ONE.) It's also VERY high quality grade. (Thanks Microsoft!) Unfortunatelt that's the only difference between it and the 360. Oh, the analog sticks are smaller and feel nicer. That's cool. Oh, also the D-Pad is a... What is that, an octogon??? anyways, I had the model that had the cross D-Pad. The D-Pad DOES feel nice, I must say! if "Stiff" is what they were going for, they topped the DS as far as comfortability but not my tastes. I like stiff but the DS still just feels so much better in the D-Pad department mostly because, despit ethe XBOX ONE D-Pad feeling great in it's stiff fashion, it doesn't feel like it goes down enough. That's the Genesis/Megadrive syndrome, I guess. Shame because this controller is pretty good. It beats the XBOX 360 so far so, again, it's competing in a race and it's winning for those times I want to play GTA San Andreas. Other than that, the triggers still don't support buttons. Games I play still don't use those triggers and the analog sticks' placement haven't moved. I'm still one wrist short of comfortability but this controller is very high grade. Does it beat the DS for SNES games? Nope. It does beat the 360 for GTA San Andreas, though. Unfortunately it doesn't beat the N64 controller for games that I'd like to have 6 face buttons for, whichever games those are.
AYANEO Pocket Micro (Original)
I know this is a weird one but the controller is so high quality and fantastic enough that it deserves to be on this list. Fo rthis, we're talking about the original controller. Not the revised "Classic" version that does not support analog sticks. Firstly, this controller has gyro and a touch screen. It isn't pressure based, though so... There's that. The layout of this controller is the exact same as the PS Vita, PS2, SNES, etc. so let's just get straight to the point: Without sticks, would I use it to play SNES games? Well, right now that privilege is to the Nintendo DS Lite. The face buttons actually, somehow, are much mroe comfortable to press than the DS Lite buttons! (Please note, AYANEO products do have some quality distinctions between each unit. This isn't Nintendo quality so I'm going based on my own device and not an average.) As for the directional pad, these buttons are unbelievably great with a perfect balance between mushy and clicky. It's a VERY hard choice. The thing here, though, is that despit ehow great the DS face buttons are, the Pocket Micro's is better feeling so even if the D-Pad is just SLIGHTLY worse than the DS Lite's, which I can't even decide, the face buttons alone take the cake. Ontop of that, the L and R, ESPECIALLY the L2 and R2 buttons (Which the DS Lite does not possess) feel SO good to press. Would I play SNES games on this device? Hell yeah. But I don't think that's the real challenge here. The REAL challenge is the PS Vita's face buttons. It was only discounted because of the ungodly L and R buttons but if we ignore that for a second... Does it stack up? These ABXY buttons actually DO top the PS Vita's equivalent. it's a small margin but they do. Especially since the Pocket Micro has buttons that curve, so their edges are comfortable, even if the PS Vita is far from slicing my fingers like the Wiimote's D-Pad. However, that's all. The D-Pad on the PS Vita STILL reigns supreme over even the Pocket Micro. Attrocious L and R buttons? Worse face buttons? The D-Pad being exceptional doesn't make up for that. The Pocket Micro wins in the SNES department! The great thing is that it isn't over. It doesn't intend on winning that battle against the DS Lite. It threatens even the XBOX ONE controller. Does it hold up? Are the analog sticks comfortable? Indeed they are but the analog STICK rubber itself might not be as comortable as the XBOX ONE (I can't test that so I won't claim it's better or worse.) but both analog sticks are placed in a fantastic location on the Pocket Micro, unlike the XBOX ONE. The Pocket Micro's device itself is in a metal shell and it's very thick, so the placement feels very comfortable for being a handheld. I'm not reaching for it. It's directly below the D-Pad and Face buttons. That's awesome. Would I play GTA San Andreas on this? Yes. I would! Definitively so far, the Pocket Micro's controller beats everything other than the niche uses cases of the Wiimote, Guitar Hero Controller, DDR Dance Mat and N64 controller. For everything else I'd use it faster. I'd arguably even play Mario Kart Wii with gyro controls on it faster than a Wii Remote. (Assuming it's NOT in the Wii wheel peripheral... Which I never really liked much anyway.) There is a major flaw to this device, though... And it's quite bad. Worse than the L And R button on the PS Vita. That's the Start and Select buttons. I won't go into detail but just know they're placed poorly, devil's design in their size and shape and they're just in easy to press. Thankfully it's just the Start and Select, though... If I'm playing an NES or SNES game, I can just map certain buttons such as those to L2 and R2 instead.
PS4
Next in line is the PS4 controller. I think we've already found our top dogs here but I'll continue for you guys' entertainment. (Whoever is still reading this far.
) The PS4's facebuttons are, once again, an upgrade to the PS3. This is because they seems to be sticking out just a MILLIMETER MORE. It's STILL barely noticeably different but it does seem to exist so that's a plus, even if it's still uncomfortable to press. The D-Pad this time around is competent. It's much less mushy so I feel like I have abut more control over the controller now which makes me smile a tiny bit more. It isn't great, though, and they don't feel like they press down far enough for me to be satisfied at all. The analog sticks... Sigh... Are still the same. Same location. Same distance. Same size. They're the same. They didn't work the first time. Now they're just keeping it because it's iconic, it seems. (The world doesn't revolve around me, dummy! Clearly people must like it!) This time, however, they incorporated a touch screen, real gyro controls and a... Light. Cool! The touch screen si fantastic. I don't feel like my finger is being grabbed and restrained like I do on touch screen. It slides on it as if it's a Nintendo DS - No it slides even better! It's also super responsive and accurate. That's a major step up! All controllers should have this! Unfortunately this entire touch screen that also serves as a button suffers from the XBOX 360 XBOX button syndrome, where the button pressed unilateral... But that appears to be by design as pressing down in different locations can produce different results. To be honest, though, that doesn't make sense to me. If it's a touch screen, but button itself shouldn't need to physically FEEL I'm pressing it in a different location to no. The entire thing should be pressed like a normal button that goes down evenly, but the controller detects where by the touchscreen position. Doesn't make sense? It sure would make the button more satisfying to press. One thing I forgot to mention with the PS3, and I'm remembering it now with the PS4, is that the L2 and R2 buttons are duplicates of the analog XBOX 360 trigger buttons... That's NOT a good sign. Worse yet that they don't feel as high quality as the ones provided by XBOX 360 and ONE. Another similarity to the PS3 is the charging cable! Yey! ... Except UNLIKE the PS3, it uses Micro USB... Boo! The PS3 uses the very sturdy Mini USB which is excellent! I've never in my life replaced a Mini USB. Micro USB, however? The port breaks AND the charger connector breaks. That's cheap. That sucks. Now I think about it... I've never replaced ANY charging for any console ever... I've only needed to replace DS and GBA SP chargers and the sort because it would get lost of be cut or something. But not from wear and tear ever. Tells you a lot about Micro USBs. What a set back that's big enough that it reeks. The analog sticks' rubber themselves feel much better than the PS3 but that doesn't matter if I can't reach them. Overall, it IS a step up in everyway, other than the charger port, of the PS3 so that's good. I would murder Olympians and hide from Clickers with the PS4 controller if I wasn't busy doing that on the Pocket Micro's controller. Oh well, right?3DS
The moment a lot of you have probably been waiting for! The 3DS is the same exact thing as the Nintendo DS Lite, except it has a well-placed Circle Pad. Nice! Let's look at the thing it has in common first, before the contrasts. The D-Pad is actually not necessarily uncomfortable to reach but at the same time it isn't something I look forward to doing. I do like USING it, but not alongside the Circle Pad due to the uncomfort in swapping. At least it didn't feel uncomfortable to go from the D-Pad to the analog stick on the N64. The buttons themselves are actually among the MOST clicky feeling things on this list. I screamed like a baby, stating I wanted "Accurate D-Pads" and, well, I guess I got what I wanted... x100 over. These buttons are unbelievably stiff and feel like they're assaulting me back when they unclick into position. (Which isn't a bad thing I'm being assaulted like this.) The issue is that not only are they not as satisfying or functionally effective as the DS Lite's D-Pad, they are actually a bit TOO clicky. TOO accurate, which makes me feel like they shouldn't even be in a cross at all. The PS Vita was very clicky and great, too, but when I click on them, at least they don't FEEL like they are apart of a cross but the 3DSs D-Pad does and that doesn't make them unusable or bad in anyway, only that it doesn't make them feel better than the PS vita or the DS Lite's D-Pad. Which is sad. The Face buttons are super high quality and feel great to press so that's nice. Just not nearly as satisfying as the Nintendo DS since they don't stick out enough to be THAT satisfying. Aw. I still like how the Nintendo DS Lite's L and R buttons feel! Unfortunately for the 3DS, it's STILL a victim to failing L and R buttons but honestly it might be less so than a Nintendo DS. SO that's nice. doesn't feel bad but not as good as the DS Lite's L and R. The touch screen is the touch screen. Now, for the features it DOES have different than the DS Lite is the obvious Circle Pad. Of every handheld I've ever held in my hands, the Nintendo 3DS wins at giving us a comfortable analog stick. No other system beats it. Not even the Pocket Micro. The analog sticks on the Pocket Micro feel great but the fact that they are analog sticks (You know... Things that STICK OUT while I'm pushing it into my POCKET) can hurt the experience when they could have just been circle pads and done the job the same. I like the analog sticks for certain things, I will say that, but the majority of it can have worked just as well on a Circle Pad and the 3DS's Circle Pad is just perfect. The size. The feeling of the rubber. The distance. Everything is perfect about the 3DS circle pad. Too bad there's only one. The camera is the camera. Not as good as the DSi or the PS Vita which is sad because of Face Raiders and AR games but... Who cares? XD The Start, Select and Home buttons are not good. I do give Nintendo a thumbs up for innovation and unique design there but in practice they aren't satisfying to press and are prone to (Little kids using a stylus to press them and dent them) damage and warping. I don't like the DS Lite's Start and Select but it wins at this game..... Incase you're wondering, I think the Wiimote's HOME buttons is easier and more comfortable to press than the Pocket Micro's abomination they call the Start and Select buttons. Just incase you were wondering. Would I play SNES games on this over the DS Lite? I suppose not since I'd rather play it on the Vita over the 3DS but that is unfair! The 3DS doesn't shine in playing SNES games anyway. The real question is whether I would play GTA San Andreas on the 3DS over the XBOX ONE? Well, assuming there was a 3DS port that didn't require a second analog stick or L2 and R2 buttons... Then the answer would probably be YES. Holding a 3DS actually feels good and I don't have french-kissing fingers like I do on a PS Vita somehow. Of course it doesn't feel better than the Pocket Micro because it's much thinner than the Pocket Micro. Would I play GTA San Andreas on 3DS over a Pocket Micro if both were playing some unique 3DS port that didn't need the extra buttons? The answer is actually no. The face buttons, D-Pad and L and R don't beat the Pocket Micro's controller, even IF I somehow decided it mattered that I was swapping the analog stick for a Circle Pad. Sorry 3DS! Your Circle Pad puts you above a lot of systems in so many ways but your face buttons and D-Pad, as high quality and awesome as they are, are competing with systems with buttons just as high quality.
Wii Classic Controller Pro
This controller is quite nice! I will NOT be reviewing the original Classic Controller and it is the same as the pro excluding the handles and the two Z buttons are on the sides of the L and R buttons which doesn't make it worth the review. Starting off, the face buttons suffer from the Genesis/Megadrive syndrome. Slicing my fingers up on the edges. They also don't feel like they go down all of the way. Real nice. They don't feel nearly as bad, though, but it does exist as second place here. Th eanalog sticks feel fine. They're rubber and do their job but, somehow, it seems like they used the LEAST amount of rubbe possible so, despite being rubber, it still feels so hard when I push them. Not hard as in resistence. Hard as in just hard material. Like I'm pushing on a smooth rock. Something about it just hurts my thumb tips. Combine that with the placement of them being the same exact as the PS2 analog sticks, reaching for them and all, and it is not comfortable. I will give it a plus by saying it's much more comfortable to use than the PS4's analog sticks which are, so far, their best iteration. I don't feel like I'm reaching THAT far. The D-Pad is excellent. It feels high quality and good. It feels like a good mix between mushy and clicky as well as being precise. The issue is that it doesn't feel like it goes down far enough before abruptly stopping like the Genesis/Megadrive controllers barely stilling halfway when it gets to the click point. Oh well. The Plus and Minus buttons are much more reachable and easy to press compared to many of the other multi-center button controllers on this list. The Home Button, like the Wiimote, won't be accidentally pressed, though. The L, R and two Z buttons feel very good! They go in enough to feel satisfying and all! I think that's the only "Perfect" thing about this controller. The rest is average or pretty alright. (D-Pad) Sorry abotu that but there are better options.
New 3DS
I won't go into the differences here of the 3D because they're marginal as best but I will talk about the ZL, ZR and C-Nub buttons (And.... Thing) The ZL and ZR buttons feel fantastic. I thought they wouldn't be they do. Their size makes their clickiness feel satisfying to press and I thought I wouldn't be able to reach them but I most certainly do! They're actually the most satisfying buttons to press on the device and I find myself just randomly pressing them, especially during loading screens. Nice! The rest is generally standard 3DS stuff, though. The Start and Select resemble the DS lite more now, though. It matters little. What matters to me is the C-Nub. This thing is the most broken, unresponsive thing I've even been required to use to "control" my game. It doesn't travel accurate movements well, just the tiniest dot of moistness of your thumb makes the thing go haywire and outright cease to function (Which, if you're me, every few seconds after wiping my thumb on my shirt) and, somehow, they expect us to aim and shoot in Resident Evil Revelations with it. XD No one is doing this, I promise you. What bugs me to most is the fact that the original 3DS had a peripheral called the Circle Pad Pro, which added the ZL, ZR and and second full Circle Pad on the right side. It made reaching to the face buttons a bit more difficult but it doesn't hurt the experience. With this device, the 3DS actually feels like I can finally go and play a 1:1 version of GTA San Andreas! The buttons on this peripheral were actually slightly more satisfying to press than the ones on the New 3DS Systems which is interesting. But the problem is we physically cannot connect this device to any New 3DS system because.... It "Already had a second Circle Pad". That's unbelievably and not only does it make a sour taste in my mouth from Nintendo themselves, it actually makes the original 3DS more desirable for.... The like 4 games that use it. It still wouldn't beat the Pocket Micro even if it did have the Circle Pad Pro functionality for GTA San Andreas, but it would put it easily in second place. Sorry New 3DS, there's no point for you.
AYANEO Pocket DMG
Another strange one by AYANEO on the list. It's just too high quality to not include. This device has everything say, a PS2 controller has. The major difference here is that the right analog stick is instead modified for a touch pad similar (But not as great as) the PS4's touch pad. That's unique! The real draw here, though, is how unbelievably comfortable using the D-Pas with the Face buttons feel due to their position and width away from eachother. The analog stick being so far down is still very comfortable, but not so much if you're swapping between that and the D-Pad, 3DS Syndrome style. This device actually feels amazing to play SNES games with because of how close the controls are to eachother. Let's test is now: Would I use this controller to play SNES games over my Pocket Micro? (Well, yes because the screen on the device is catored to it over the Pocket Micro aspect ratio-wise, but I digress) How about Nintendo DS games? Hmm... These are quite difficult decisions. The buttons themselves need to answer for this. Are they better feeling to use and press than the other? The Pocket Micro's Face buttons beat the Pocket DMG. The Pocket DMG has bigger buttons BUT they are just a TINY bit mushier. Which isn't a problem much. The real issue that makes it worse (But not bad by any means) is that they are more spaced apart from eachother, leaving my whole thumb able to be between the ABXY buttons without touching any on the Pocket DMG, and the buttons themselves are bigger.... While having much less travel distance Playstation Controller Syndrome style. They really aren't anywhere near as satisfying to press than the Pocket Micro's. As for the D-Pad, it's so comfortable to press the Pocket Micro's smaller, more blocky D-Pad than the Pocket DMG's longer-finned cross D-Pad but at the same time, I get more control over the D-Pad on the Pocket DMG. It's sort of like how the DS Lite has a mushier, more saitsfying press than the 3DS, but the 3DS is more stiff and has more control. The difference is that the D-Pad on the Pocket DMG doesn't meet that level of stiff but keep the great feeling of control. In this sense, the Pocket DMG wins over the D-Pad but loses against the face buttons. It's a tie? or is it... The Pocket DMG has the D-Pad and face buttons much closer together and due to the bulkiness of the controller, it makes this more comfortable. Therefore, would I rather play SNES games with the Pocket Micro or the Pocket DMG? Funny how the AYANEO devices actually are competing more than anything else. No, I would not rather play SNES game son the Pocket Micro. The Pocket DMG wins the SNES games race and games like it. As for the 4 L and R buttons, they're QUITE difficult to press with my shorter handers when operating the analog stick so that's a negative above any reason I need to keep going from there. As for the analog stick, it's super fun to use and feels very good. The touch pad on the other hand needs work and, yes, it's AYANEO's fault. Not the fault of me sucking as using it or me not being used to it. It does it's job but it isn't a marvel in touch screen engineering. (like the PS4 touch screen.) Therefore for most games it is generally insufficient but it's nice to have. Would I play GTA San Andreas on it using the defined 3DS port above on the Pocket DMG or the Pocket Micro? That's a hard one... But the winner would still be the Pocket Micro in this sense.
PS5 (DualSense)
Many of you may have been waiting for this one. So let's see. The first thing we have to do is see if it matches up to the Ps4's controller. The touch screen seems to be just as competent. PRESSING the touch screen, now that's a major improvement! It feels tight and nice. The buttons SEEM to be an improvement size-wise but not much else... STILL they have no travel distance when pressed, are a bit mushy and are NOT satisfying to press. That's great. The D-Pad, however, is easily their best. It's clicky without feeling like it's snapping back at me. I feel like I have control over it AND they actually FEEL separated from eachother similar to the PS Vita! Of course it isn't as great click wise, satisfying wise or size wise as the PS Vita but it's definitely they're second best so far! It seems to be on par with the PSP D-PAd. I think my D-Pad is a little worn out so it feels just a tin ybit more mushy but when the PSP is fresh and new, MAYBE it's a bit more clicky and stiff which is a plus. Either way, based on the hardware I have, the D-Pad on this controller beats the PSP. The L and R buttons are sufficient. The L2 and R2 buttons, however.... They are simply unmatched. "Adaptive Triggers" should be standard in every single controller. They are THE answer to Gamecube's Analog + digital control triggers without being full analog of full digital. Also without being both at the same time sacrificing one for the other. It is one AND the other together in perfect harmony. Of course this alone isn't enough for me to bring this over everything else but it IS enough to feel this button is unmatched like the PS Vita's Digital Pad. Hey! SONY has created two different features that are unmatched so far! Awesome for them! ... But let's talk about the analog sticks. Did they fix them? Well, no generally but they did improve them once again. They are QUITE smaller, it feels, pushed into a position that makes them feel more like the position of the right analog stick of the XBOX ONE controller, which is better than where they have been, and the rubber is much better feeling than anything they have produced prior. Hey, what a major step up! It's STILL in the same uncomfortable position nonetheless, though, so we're still scraping the bottom of the barrel for rupees so it rarely counts. The Share and Option buttons and sitting RIGHT on top of the Pocket Micro's Start and Select buttons for being among the most uncomfortable thing to press ever. It isn't fun but still - Nothing is worse than the Start and Select buttons on the Micro. xD This definitely is down there near it, though. Number two place as the worst, I guess. I'd rate it over the PS Vita's L and R buttons since at least the L and R buttons are still justifiably usable. Just abominable. Is it better than the PS4 controller? In almost every way. It also has upgraded it's charger yet again to, this time, an upgrade and not a downgrade: USB-C. Yey! That's potentially even better than Mini USB! (Except I HAVE had to replace USB C wires, before...) The issue? It doesn't matter WHAT charger it can use IF IT CAN'T HELP A CHARGE. The thing feels like it dies 15 minutes later from a full charge. (Major exaggeration. Excuse me.) I've never had a controller die so often. I wish they increased the batter but that's ok. It can be a wired controller. That's no problem to me. Now the question is does thi sbeat the XBOX ONE controller? Honestly.... I'm not sure. The XBOX ONE controller has some nice buttons... The D Pad isn't as good as the PS5's, nor are the Triggers. The face buttons are better, though. ONE analog stick is better sufficiently, but the other one marginally so. (Or marginally not. Give or take.) I guess I've used the PS5 controller more so I'll say I'd rather play GTA San Andreas with the PS5 Con - But those two analog sticks... Damn... The XBOX ONE's left analog stick is perfectly fine. It's just the right one... Ugh, this is a difficult decision. I'll just stick with the Pocket Micro beating both of these controllers for when I am in the mood to fail at following that damn train!
PS Move
I have never once used one of these, neither version, unfortunately. It's a shame because I really wanted to play the Resident Evil Chronicles games on these devices but never got a chance. Boo! I'm only including it, though, to show you that I haven't forgotten about it!
Kinect
The XBOX Kinect... Gosh I hated this thing.... But it isn't XBOX's fault. It's the fault of the lack of interesting games to play on it. No I'm NOT interested in various sports games, tech demos, Just Dance or that Star Wars game or... Sonic Riders which I played and realized this game simply doesn't work. There're no games to play on it! MAYBE I would have enjoyed it more if Wii Sports was on it and other games that used Miis instead of those XBOX Avatars. Or if games just in general were on it! No games are on it! The few that were I simply didn't enjoy. I didn't feel like I was playing a game that requires skill or control but instead a game that just... Did what it felt like.
Oculus Quest 2 Controllers
I don't even know is these are the names of these controllers to be honest but just roll with me. These controllers are actually really good! Both analog sticks are a nice size, are very smooth and click satisfyingly. They feel good to TOUCH which is the point. The A and B (I think they are) buttons also are serviceably fine and there is no complaint but the most catisfying thing to press is the side trigger. It feels so good and this time around, most games actually USE this as an analog button unlike the XBOX 360 games and their LT/RT poor button usage. Very satisfying! Woudl I play GTA SA with this controller if a port was made (And it wasn't VR, just to keep it simple) with this controller? Hm.. Very interesting. These analog sticks DO feel more comfortable than the Pocket Micro and Pocket DMG analog sticks but not the face buttons so it's a nice analog stick but it's also a no.
PSVR/Vive/Meta Quest 2
These are the 3 VR headsets I've used and, yes, they also count as controller. I'm grouping these together because the specs mostly just change the screen and non-controller stuff so my say is these these controllers are awesome! But that's really all there is to say. Which is better than the other? Truth be told, it mostly comes down to non-controller reasons as they ALL have gyro and movement tracking and do it well. These are great controllers. I do like them but by themselves they cannot really control a whole lot outside of head movement and, I guess with more sophisticated ones I don't posses nor have tried, eye movement and blinking. None of which would be able to play the majority of the games I enjoy.
Joy-Cons
I actually didn't mean for this to be so far down on the list but here it is. The Nintendo's Joy-Cons. These controllers, for the MOST part, are attrocious but I am here to explain WHY and, of course, also say my pros. The let's start with the pros instead of the cons. The controllers are quite versatile. Much moreso than ANYTHING ELSE on this list, including the Wii Remotes. The comes down to their raling system. It can be attached to things. Don't like how close the controller is to the other? Attach it to a longer controller middle part. (Whatever it's called.) Want SL and SR? Connect the ... Things. (Whatever THOSE are called) Of course it can also be connected to the console itself. That's all nice. I sure wish I could do that for a few of the other controllers on this list. Another plus are the ZL and ZR buttons. They aren't the best: They don't travel very far when clicking them but they DO click and they stick out in a way that actually makes them feel good to rest your hands on and maybe press in when it is time to do so. Another plus is the ability to read Amiibos! Where and how you do that, however, it not a plus. It's so uncomfortable and not fun to fiddle with it on the right analog stick. That same analog stick, by the way, has some pretty cool, VERY unused Wii-esque infrared sensor! Again, it's unused so who cares at this point... Unfortunately. The next plus are the motion and gyro controls. I actually have had no issue with them! They work well, much better than the Wiimote with Motion Plus to my experience! Ontop of that, these devices are MUCH smaller and, paired with the SL/SR thingy you connect, when holding the device on it's side (So your thumbs rest on L/R) it actually makes for very comfortable motion control handling. It also had the L and R buttons feel very neatly designed and comfortable to press! Finally, being able to actually have the Joy-Con side ways and sacrifice nothing is actually an awesome thing! Unfortunately, that's where the praises for the devices end and unfortunately still, most of those things, excluding the great motion/gyro controls, are only great on paper. For example: The ZL and ZR buttons stick out which is a plus but that doesn't mean they feel very good to press. Amiibo but it doesn't feel good to use. Sliding rail but the rail is prone to warping, breaking or just getting stuck. Infrared but not used. Side ways Joy-Con but the right analog stick is much less comfortable than the left. L and R feeling good to rest your thumb on - but NOT feeling good to press with holding them upright. It's like everything good about this controller, aside from the barely used motion controls, are actually only good on paper so let's jump into these cons. The first thing is that the face buttons are VERY tiny. Believe it or not that the Pocket Micro's buttons, you know, the ones I praised for being pretty much the best face buttons on this list, are THE SAME SIZE pretty much. But you know the difference? Those buttons aren't being swallowed by the controller Playstation controller style like the Joy-Cons's face buttons are. These buttons have such little travel when pressed AND they are small. At least SONY had the decency to make their face buttons really big to compensate that, I guess. Either way, it doesn't actually make the controller better that they are so small with such little travel. This doesn't stop at the face buttons, either. The 4 back buttons have no travel, while L and R are somehow wobbly and suffer from the PS Vita L and R button Syndrome where inputs are dropped/doesn't feeling like you're clicking JUST the center/part that needs to be clicked to activate the button. At least the PS Vita had travel in its buttons. It was just super wobbly so you won't know if it traveled.... Or just wobbled. For the Switch, it has a wobble AND no travel... So you don't know what you're pressing. Ontop of that, it also slightly curves around the system like the PS Vita, which is great for the thumb position when holding it like a Wii Remote... But not so much any other time. The D-Pad also has little to no travel. The analog sticks are uncomfortably small. Somehow this is a bad thing. These sticks feel like they are going to be damaged because they wobble, are immediately prone to Stick Drift which I have on all like 10 of my Joy-Cons, including ones that are fresh from Nintendo (probably still in the repairs package for 2 years since I didn't care to take them out when I find out the drift happened shortly after others ones I took out the package) and since the controllers are SO flat, it's a little difficult to move them around without me feeling like I'm reaching around the controller while simultaneously trying to balance it in my hands like a smart phone we mentioned awhile ago. It's not comfortable. Less so when it's actually docked into the Nintendo Switch itself. I really want to praise the first controller ever to finally give me my longtime wish: A D-Pad that is just 4 separate buttons but I can NOT praise this feature of the controller no matter how much I try and it' sbecause the D-Pad buttons are so small and flat into the device, which means I feel like I have even LESS control over the games that use it than if it was just a flat cross shape. At least the cross shape will help me know if I'm pressing the button or not just a but better since, again, their's no travel distance. The SL and SR buttons are unusable without the connector thing which, ok fine. But once you connect the connector thing, those plastic cover buttons wobble to death on the button with doesn't make it feel comfortable and, worse yet, it has a weird mushy but click feeling... Like it's supposed to just "click" when you press it... But it mushed a bunch until the click and not in a resistive way like the Gamecube. Just... Uncanny. Uncomfortable. Unknown. Lacking Control. Let alone holding the controller upright and using your middle or index and another finger to press SL and SR. The controller itself is too small for that so I find the controller rolling in my hand if I tried doing that. Ontop of any of that, somehow these super-smooth Joy-Cons somehow take the SLIGHTEST Moisture from my thumb like the New 3DS's C-Nub does. It doesn't cease to function like that device but I feel my fingers ice skating on it unlike, say, the PS5 or actually any other controller to be honest. I do have this issue with the 3DS's Circle Pad but MUCH less so and much less often. A quick wipe on my shirt with my thumb fixes the problem for awhile. Not so much the Joy-Con for some reason. Do I enjoy using these controllers? Other than the Kinect but only because no game interested me, I think I don't want to use this controller for ANYTHING, let alone SNES games. :/ That's so unfortunate. These buttons are just so poor and everthing I dislike while the analog sticks are not sized properly (Maybe too big, despite being small, as the device is really small? I don't know...) for me to use the analog sticks offhand and also press the SL/SR buttons... And then stick drift. There's your review. This controller can go in the trash unless it's all about the Motion Controls. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. I just remembered the Plus and Minus buttons. So far, the Pocket Micro's Start and Select were devised from hell. They are not easy to press but SOMEHOW the Switch tops it. I don't know how it's possible. These buttons are NOT shaped like circles which, that's ok. But the shapes they chose are IMPOSSIBLE to press. ONe you do, it doesn't feel good AT ALL. Holy moly. They're also tiny, even sharper than the Genesis/Megadrive face button edges and sometimes I find myself just using my nail to press these buttons in. That's NOT a good sign!
Wow that's a LOT of typing. This took a few hours and I know no one will read it but I hope it was still entertaining somehow. But wait as I'm not done. I DO have a favorite controller and it jsut isn't the Pocket Micro for GTA San Andreas or the Pocket DMG for SNES games or the N64 controller for it's extra two buttons... The winner is:Wii U Pro Controller
You probably saw this one coming as I skipped the Wii U's two proprietary controllers. I was going to put the Wii U Gamepad up there as it would make this less obvious but what I have to say about it is generally the exact same as the Wii U Pro Controller excluding the giant touch screen, space between the buttons and weight mostly. It would have given away my tastes. This controller is crowned as THE controller. Would I play SNES games on it over the Pocket DMG? YES. (As long as it isn't on the Pocket DMG itself.) Would I play GTA San Andreas on it over the Pocket Micro? Once again. YES. Even if it was on the Pocket Micro's screen. though I wouldn't torture myself and I'd just use the controls on the Pocket Micro for this. What makes this controller so good? If you read this far, it' snot hard to guess. I won't get to the obvious part first, though. The Face buttons are great. They have a curve to them similar to the Pocket Micro (But not as curvy and juicy as the Pocket Micro's) so they don't slash up my fingers on their edges. They also stick out perfectly, are sized nearly perfect and are spaced out just as perfectly. They aren't just a TINY bit bigger than the Pocket Micro's buttons and are spaced out a bit more. It has sufficiently good travel distance and are very satisfying to press. The Directional Pad here is NOT 4 buttons, unfortunately, as it is a cross. However, this cross is stiff and long-finned enough to give me the control I desire like the Pocket DMG (But not as stiff as the Pocket DMG, for better or for worse) and also mushy enough similar to the Pocket Micro (not as mushy, of course) that makes me feel satisfaction in pressing it. It's a perfect balance between the two analog sticks and I feel great control over it. If I couldn't choose wether the control and stiffness of the D-Pad on the Pocket DMG is better than the mushy satisfaction of the one on the Pocket Micro, the Wii U Pro Controller contains one perfectly in between which makes me believe it's better than both of those options. (I wouldn't want the Wii U Gamepad D-Pad on either of those devices, though, as it's too big and etc.) It still, of course, doesn't beat the PS Vita's D-Pad but it beats everything else. The size of the controller as well as aesthetic (Black one) and shape design make this great to hold. Even better to feel it's shiny top and matt bottom. For the FIRST TIME did Nintendo truly get their Plus and Minus buttons correct. These buttons, although small, stick out and are very satisfying to press. I think I'm just used to it but I never accidentally press these buttons but I've seen cases where others are going crazy on the controller and press these buttons accidentally. I will take that into consideration and say that maybe they're a bit TOO easy to press but not for me so I'm fine. At the same time, however, this time around, the HOME button appears to be even harder. It's like... The button is INSIDE of the controller. Why am I spelunking to press a button? Worse yet, that's only in the caves. Deep down in the mines is the POWER button. Somehow this button is sunken and even more difficult to press. Granted I never press this button anyway so it DEFINTIELY shouldn't be easy so that's a great thing it can't possible be accidentally pressed. The L and R buttons stick out enough, they give great feedback to know exactly that you pressed it or not and they are a great balance between mushy and clicky. The Pocket Micro's L and R buttons are amazing to press and are very clicky. No mush. However, the only reason the Pocket Micro loses this battle, despite the button itself being more satisfying to press, it because the button it literally flat on it's flat square self. My fingers, even when curved at the seams, aren't entirely flat. It needs SOME curve. Thankfully the Pocket Micro didn't add curve. Would ruin the aesthetic of the device and button but that sacrifice means the slight curve of the Wii U Gamepad's L and R buttons beats it as far as satisfying goes! The ZL and ZR buttons have that nice Switch "Stick out" but even more so in a more valid manner. Unlike the Switch, this button DOES have travel distance and isn't clicky loud but has that nice click feeling when you press it in without feeling like it's hampered by analog travel. (Because, unfortunately, there's no analog... Which is better for the controller to me if it was one or the other.) Now, finally, the obvious: The analog sticks. For some reason, this is the ONLY controller with analog sticks in just a comfortable human resting hands position. When you have you hands to your side, you're basically holding an invisible Wii U Pro Controller. No, you're not holding an invisible Playstation controller unless your fingers are broken and stiffened with carpal tunnel from reaching for those analog sticks all of the time. No you arne't holding an XBOX 360 controller... Unless only one hand suffers fromt he debilitation. Nope. You're holding this controller. So why make the controller uncomfortable? Why go out of your way to do so? Jus tput them both at the top where it's easy to reach. The Pocket Micro did it perfectly. The only difference is that these are at the bottom which actually makes a task I mentioned early about Playstation difficult: Using your index fingers to control the buttons above. On the Wii U Pro Controller, you can actually use your index fingers to move around the analog stick much more naturally, then curving them for button presses. Then you can just use your thumbs to press the face buttons an dD-Pad if need to be. I do it all of the time. Not only am I just skilled at it, but it's physically less demanding and contortionistic than this approach. Clicking the analog sticks feels great. Going aroudn inthe circle is great. The rubber is grea. What isn't there to like here? One thing people complained about the Pocket Micro was that the analog sticks get in the way when you're playing a game that doesn't use them. I won't bite people's opinions but I didn't have that issue myself. Bravo to AYANEO for coming out with the Pocket Micro Classic which is the same thing without analog sticks.... Yay. .-. Anyways, if you're playing on a Playstation, remember what I said? They dind't want to change up their work when they added the analog sticks... So due to this, the current placement of the D-Pad and face buttons actually makes using the analog sticks difficult and painful since they get in the way of the analog sticks since they're the reason they're placed so poorly. (But not the other way around.) Another thing is if you're playing on the XBOX 360 controller. You might say using the D-Pad is difficult since the analog stick is pushing the D-Pad so far down and the fingers don't rest well or symmetrically with the fingers on the face buttons. That's a valid complain. (One I don't personally possess but I understand it.) The Wii U Pro Controller solves this but separating the two analog sticks, similar to PS2, by separating them into a position that doesn't get in the way of you wanting to play your SNES games. Nor into a position they are locked away and are a pain to use. No. Separately, the analog sticks are comfortable and the buttons are comfortable without any compromise. I wanted to review the Switch Pro controller but it's no different than any other controller: An insult more that Nintendo stepped backwards just so they can appeal to people and their XBOX analog stick placement desires, I guess. I say that if I wanted to use an XBOX controller, I should. Why make everything XBOX when I'm on a Nintendo Switch? Same with Playstation, etc. The truth is, the analog stick DOES feel more comfortable on the Switch Pro Controller than the XBOX ONE but still not symmetrical or as comfortable as the Wii U Pro Controller so why change? Worse yet, why change to what a competitor is also offering the same of, if not better? This controller IS my go-to for almost every game that aren't those specific case scenarios with Wiimotes, N64 controllers, Vr or the sort. Every other controller, including the Pocket Micro and Pocket DMG, and kiss my butt as they are just simply inferior. Not in EVERY way but in most ways and enough ways that make me just have no use for said controller. Relating the Wii U Gamepad, I won't get into it's motion controls. Just know that it's large. It's heavy. It dies in 10 seconds while the Wii U Pro Controller NEVER dies. Its lifespan pretends it's immortal (And it's rechargable with Mini USB!
) and goes on for like an entire month. The Wii U Gamepad is good for what it does but during those times I'm not using it for what it does, I wouldn't choose it over the Wii U Pro Controller.My dream Controller?
If you've gotten this far then pat yourself on the back. Here's my dream controller: One that has the design of a Wii U Pro Controller. The ZR and ZL buttons are replaced with Adaptive triggers. The middle is replaced with the touchscreen of the PS4. Gyro controls. Two extra buttons by the A and X button. (To make it like the N64) 6 more buttons on the oposite side and just remove the D-Pad completely so this replaces it, just going up left instead of upright. (Think of a layout of C-Buttons mirrored on the controller for the other side) Charger that is hefty and won't break and has a long battery life. A little screen would be cool, too, similar to the Dreamcast. <3 (Which I didn't review in this.)
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Holy freaking crap, dude. This is my largest comment yet, and MOST of my comments on GBATemp are gigantic walls. I doubt I'll be topping this one in awhile. I hope you enjoyed my controllers and my likes, dislikes and whys from them all! <3
Last edited by Nivium,
I was also thinking about checking out 8bitdo-Controllers as I heard a lot of positive feedback from friendsabout them.
