Controller Reviews

[BeldarTheBrave]

So, I was originally looking for an inexpensive controller to meet my retro gaming needs. However, I have enjoyed this so much that I decided to spend a little money and test some controllers out. I might just be retreading ground that others already have, but hopefully my experience will help others. Here is a list of the ones I tested.

XBox 360, Microsoft Brand, USB $27: I tested one of these. It is solid and well made. The buttons and sticks are pretty responsive and feel nice to use. It is a bit on the larger side. I have big hands and it still feels a little bulky to me. The weight is about perfect. There is just one glaring flaw. The d-pad is absolutely awful. When you first push down on a direction it feels mushy, but when you press hard enough to activate the switch it gets crunchy. It is strange that the d-pad is so cheap as the rest it is so well done. I also dislike that asymmetrical layout, but that is a personal preference. I should also note that there is some wiggle and play in the sticks that I didn't like. It didn't affect my ability to use them, bit it doesn't feel nice. I do not recommend these for retro gaming that requires a d-pad.

Xbox 360, Microsoft Brand, Wireless $30: I tested two of these. The are exactly like the wired controller in most regards. They are a touch heavier (not an issue in my experience) but the build quality is the same even down to the wiggle in the thumb sticks. The d-pad is equally terrible. The wireless connection works nearly flawlessly across my living room. Very little work is needed to get multiple controllers working at the same time. I still don't recommend these for d-pad intensive gaming.

Xbox 360, Rock Candy Brand, USB $20: I tested three of these. For a third party controller, I'm impressed! They feel nearly the same quality as the Microsoft brand with a few minor exceptions. The plastic is a little slicker and they have no vibration feature. The sticks don't have the same obnoxious wiggle that all the name brand contollers had. The d-pad is even slightly better. It is unfortunately still mushy, but it doesn't have that weird crunch at the end of the press. These still aren't great for retro gaming, but they are a bit better than the name brand and also cheaper. If I was playing more modern games, I would be equally happy with these or Microsoft brand.

8bitdo NES30 Pro, Bluetooth $45: I tested two of these. The NES30 Pro was highly recommended for retro gaming, so I decided to give a couple of them a try. The results were rather disappointing. The controllers are tiny, even slightly smaller than an original SNES controller. The buttons are firm, crispy, and have a long depth of press to actuate. The all important d-pad was wiggly and lose under the plastic in both controllers I tested. It was super firm to press and it made platform and fighting games much more difficult. The two thumbsticks are just there to look cute I think. They are too small to use for any long term gaming and have such a short 0 to 100 range that they almost feel digital rather than analog. The Bluetooth connect was spotty at 10 feet on both a Pi 3 and a high end PC even with a firmware update. Seeing as these are premium priced controllers, I do not recommend them.

Wii U Pokken Tournament, Hori Brand, USB $15: I have tested 3 of these. Wow! These things are nice! The d-pad is smooth and responsive. It depresses and rolls perfectly for fighting games. The buttons are firm, but have a short press. There is no vibration or analog stick, but these are absolutely perfect for SNES or older console gaming. The price is nice too.

JF-Gaming Double Vibration USB $10: I tested 2 of these. They are clones of the dualshock Playstation controllers. These felt like a cheap mess in my hands at first. They are light, creaky, and the buttons feel weird to press. The triggers in the back are so loosely held in the plastic housing that it feels like they will fall out (though, it's never actually happened.) The d-pad is a little firm but it rolls well and was reasonably responsive. Despite the fact that they feel like garbage to hold, they worked respectably in the games I tested them with. I was most impressed with the analog sticks, they feel way nicer than the rest of the unit. If you are looking to keep your costs down, these will work fairly well.

KiwiTata Classic SNES USB $8: I tested four of these. They are cheap USB clones of the SNES game pad. They have the look down perfectly, they really bring back memories. Unfortunately, they are pretty mediocre quality. They weigh almost nothing and that makes them feel weird to hold. The buttons on all of the controllers actually didn't feel too bad. Two of the controllers had fairly nice and usable d-pads while the other two were a loose mushy mess. Quality control seems poor. While they aren't the best, they are cheap and it seems about half of them are fairly good. It's a gamble, though, and it might not be worth the risk of getting a whole bad batch.

Gtron Classic NES USB $7: I tested two of these. They are much like a NES clone version of the SNES clones I tried. They are paper light but the buttons are a little loose and wiggly. The d-pad isn't too bad but it isn't great either. The edges were a little sharp and my thumb was a little sore after 30 minutes of play. They are a fair option because of the price, but there is much better to be found.

Logitech F710 Gamepad, Wireless $40: I tested two of these. These things are well made. They feel sturdy to hold, the buttons are firm but smooth, and the analog sticks are wonderful. The quality is higher than even the name brand Xbox controllers with almost zero wiggle in the sticks. The d-pad is on a super nice four-way switch plate, making it almost (but not quite) as good as the Pokken Tournament pad. The wireless connectivity has been great at 10 to 15 feet with only one drop out in many hours of play. The only disadvantage is that they are oddly curved, so if you have tiny hands they might be uncomfortable.

So, out of all of these I always go for the Pokken when playing 8 or 16-bit games. If I need an analog stick I go for the Logitech F710 without hesitation. In the future I plan on testing one of the iBuffalo controllers that are so popular, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I hope this helps someone find what they want!

[lilbud]

@BeldarTheBrave Here are some of my thoughts on what you said:

360 D-Pad: the only bad part of the controller.

F710 is an amazing controller, but the analog sticks are trash

[swd120]

8bitdo NES30 Pro is god awful - but you need to check out the NES 30 (Non pro)

The NES30 is much better built, and the buttons feel pretty much identical to an original NES controller except it has 4 buttons, and shoulder buttons. It's damn near perfect for retro stuff - and then I break out PS3 controllers for things that need analog - Which lets be honest here, there really aren't that many good analog games that run well on the raspberry pi.

[buddyscott]

@swd120 whats the main issues for the pro version? build quality?

[Corvin]

The F710 is indeed a great controller. Concerning the "oddly curved" issue, you might try the F510. Its nearly identical to the F710 but wired, so it lacks the battery compartment and is therefore lighter and better suitable for smaller hands. I'm using the F710 while my fiance prefers the F510 because of her smaller hands ;)

[lilbud]

@Corvin The F710 is a good controller, if you disregard the sync issues and god-awful analog sticks

@swd120 The PS3 controller also has awful analog sticks.

[Eldrethor]

@buddyscott My main problem with the NES30 Pro is that it's not anywhere as comfortable as other controllers out there. While I get that its selling point is in its slim form factor, the face buttons are uncomfortably small, the analog sticks are tiny and don't get much mileage, and the L2 and R2 buttons aren't in a comfortable position. The D-pad also has this poppy, clicky feel to it when you press on it, which makes double-tapping feel trickier to do than on the softer D-pads found on most first-party console controllers.

The build quality is outstanding, and it's a really sleek controller. The analog sticks don't get much use but the L3 and R3 buttons make great hotkeys. Yet I keep going back to my PS2 controller because it's just way more comfortable in every possible way. The D-pad feels less "poppy", the face buttons are just the right size, and the shoulder buttons are easier to reach.

[StormJH1]

I'm flagging this thread because it is a good resource! I actually own the USB wireless connection dongle for my 360 controllers, but haven't even bothered trying to use it because (as you said), the D-pad is just awful. I haven't emulated anything from the PS1 era or newer, so my Pi 3 is basically a classic gaming, D-pad oriented machine anyway.

The iBuffalo Classic (about $25) hasn't been mentioned, probably since it's so obvious. It's basically a pitch-perfect SNES controller clone, and arguably the flagship cabled controller for RetroPie use. Buttons feel great, about 5+ feet of cable. Just works great.

I have an old 90's era Gravis USB Gamepad that worked with no issues. It has some mileage on it and the buttons have a little float to them, but it's a great example of how well RetroPie recognizes and accepts just about anything.

I can add a cheap option, which is the GameBound NES & SNES USB Controllers. I found these on Amazon - it's about $10 for one or $16 for a 2-pack. I got it because my wife only wanted to play classic NES games and didn't want the additional buttons. Amazon reviews seemed kind of all over the map, but mine shipped with no issues. The buttons don't have quite the spring and reliability of the iBuffalo Classic, but it generally performs well and I don't see anything wrong with it, particularly if you just want some extras for multi-player use.

I think you have to take online reviews of USB controllers with a grain of salt - half of them seem to complain about things that likely have nothing to do more with configuration or other hardware than the controller itself, like lag or mis-mapped buttons.

[Capeman]

Let me add in my 2 cents!

The Logitech Precision is one of the best retro controllers ive ever used, solid build and very good feeling clicky but non-tactile buttons. The Dpad is logitech style floating circle, but it is accurate, comfortable and does the job well. PS1 button layout with no analogs, its perfect for retro gaming. Only con is that it's discontinued so finding one on ebay is hit or miss. It's my go to and prime recommendation to anyone!

Logitech Cordless Rumblepad 2 - same as the F-710 review above, but it's the model that pre-dates it. Solid black instead of silver, and has a much larger connection dongle (box on a cord) so the wireless range and stability is much better than the F-710.

8-BitDo SFC30 - The 8bitdo snes controller, it's solid, well built and the buttons feel great! Wireless is a little laggy, but that's bluetooth in general and no fault of the controller. The logitech wireless controllers use 802.11 frequency so the lag is less noticeable when wireless, but i stick with wired most of the time because of this.

[Danorak1981]

Whilst everyone os entitled to an opinion, I really don't get the disappointing reviews for the 8Bitdo Pads. I have a NES30 Pro and an SFC30, and I personally have no issue with them, but then maybe its because I'm more of a casual gamer.

I often take my Pi to bed (theres a sadistic joke there somewhere!) and game into the night, and I have to say that my bed is about 15ft from my TV/Pi, never have any connectivity issues. I am an old-ish-school gamer, in as much that I mainly play SNES/NES/Amiga, so these fit the bill just fine. I having been playing Mario 64 with the NES30 Pro and don't find the sticks any less difficult than the N64 controller. That aside however, the SNES/NES and pads I owned for my Amiga took a real hammering from 1000's of hours of play when I was younger, so if they feel a bit slack (which they don't!) it adds to the nostalgia.

I will say one thing, in that i'm about 6'1" and my hands are quite large: after about 3 hours my hands do ache using the NES30 Pro as it is slim, but I am 35, I did spend a lot of time gaming when younger-and really, were there times when my hands ached then too? Yep! I'm pretty sure if I look hard enough at my left thumbprint I can still see a direction arrow imprinted from our first NES!

[incrediblekyle]

The controller im currently using is the **True Depth 3d bt controller **. Its a wireless controller that I picked up when I first got my Raspberry pi 3 and I'm very proud of the purchase. The initial setup was a nightmare ( binding the controller, changing layouts in GUI, core remaps, etc) but after that its a dream. Both analog sticks are firm and quick with response. The dpad is form fitted for the thumb so no discomfort. And the price... It fluxes on Amazon but I grabbed mine for 13.99! Best wireless option imo.

[Sano]

My turn !
I use a couple of my old PS3 controllers (no need to review those I think).

I also acquired a Hori Fighting Stick Mini 4, for arcade purpose.
It's a USB 8 buttons arcade stick, small and pretty light, but though and quite stable if put on a coffee table.
I couldn't find better for 30€, and it's also compatible with PS3/4.