I just wanted to do a quick follow up to my video on Logitech controllers, where I bemoaned the absence of modern controllers with the six face action buttons I love so much, particularly for classic Capcom fighting games, that also have the two analogue sticks and triggers the modern era needs.
I think the only option currently on the market is this Retro-Bit Saturn Pro controller, kinda, sorta, but we’ll get back to you in a minute.
This Logitech Cordless Rumblepad and its stablemates from the year 2000 were the last of that line that stuck with the six face buttons, and there wasn’t an awful lot of other manufacturers picking up the baton.
What gave me some hope was this iBuffalo controller, the catchily named BSGP1601BK, which I bought back in 2017, and I think was manufactured in 2012.
It’s still not quite hitting all the requisites, as the shoulder buttons are just that, digital buttons, not analogue triggers. But that aside, it’s close to what I wanted, very close to a PlayStation DualShock controller but with six face buttons.
In fairness, it’s better than my memory of it, after digging it out of the drawer and playing through Street Fighter Alpha 2 easily enough with it. Overall though, it’s just not particularly good.
The analogue sticks are perfectly fine, and reasonably comfortable to reach, in well, pretty much the same way a DualShock is.
I’d prefer a circular D-pad than this cross style one, but that’s not a deal breaker. What does shatter that deal is it being pretty uncomfortable to use, and only mostly accurate. It will get you through casual playthroughs but expect to miss inputs often enough to tank your online ranking. I think it’s because it’s too close to the analogue stick, and I’m occasionally accidentally nudging it.
The face buttons are worse, if anything, feeling pretty squidgy, and being slightly too small and closely packed for even my delicate, dainty hands. And this was before one button decided to stick about half of the time it’s used, although I seem to have sorted that with liberal applications of WD40.
So, even if you like the look of this, it’s not worth picking one up even if you can find one on eBay. If it has survived functionally, like this one the rubberised coating will be returning to its base state of oil and will need scraping or dissolving off, unless you like sticky controllers for some reason. I’m not here to kink shame you.
In terms of currently manufactured pads with six face buttons, there’s various Hori fighting pads, some of which also feature one analogue stick like this Fighting Commander OCTA controller, but none that fit my dual stick requirements. They are essentially channelling the Wingman Action Pad.
For me, If I just want the six face buttons, I’ll use this Retro-Bit recreation of the Sega Saturn pad. This is a Bluetooth version, and, well, it’s every bit as good as the pad it’s modelled on. It’s great, and it did get my hopes up for their pro controller version.
This is the Retro-Bit SEGA Saturn® 2.4GHz Wireless Pro Controller, and while I’m primarily concerned with using it on PC, with the appropriate dongle it can be used on the Saturn itself, which is pretty cool.
It’s pretty clear what the design brief was, take the classic design and find somewhere to cram a couple of analogue controls sticks on. As you’ve no doubt noticed these are just a smidgen smaller than the PlayStation sticks. In fact they are either the same sticks used in the Nintendo Switch Lite, or a very close cousin.
Up top, we also have some additional shoulder buttons over the standard design, and cards on the table, my fault entirely, I assumed these would be analogue triggers from the design of them. They’re in fact digital, but with a weirdly long throw to actuate the buttons, so yet again we haven’t ticked all the modern controller boxes.
The strong points of the classic Saturn controller remain, particularly this as best as I can determine entirely faithful recreation of the greatest d-pad that ever lived. Comfortable and precise, if you drop a fireball input on this I’m confident the blame lies with you, not the controller.
The face buttons are also sensibly laid out and responsive, just like the original pad, so no complaints with that for the fighting games I want to use it for. The only downside for that aspect is that, well, it’s just not as comfortable for this as the standard controller, with the extra shoulder buttons and sticks adding bulk that’s not useful for these games and just making it a bit less ergonomic than the classic.
But, that much was obvious just from looking at it. The potential upside is that this can be used with many more games, stretching all the way into modernity. For example, something like Burnout Paradise, where despite the analogue sticks being pretty small and therefore not having the widest range of motion, it still handles the necessary pretty well.
However, digital shoulder buttons mean that you can’t accurately step on and off the gas and brakes. I’m almost okay with this in the arcade style racers I mostly play, where braking is a lapse in moral character, but I’m not going to pretend it’ll be suitable for your Gran Turismos and the like.
In terms of using it for FPS style games, well, obviously you’d be better with a mouse and keyboard, but it’s useable. However useable is hardly cutting it when better options exist. For me, it’s entirely fine for about half an hour, after which point it starts to strain my already entirely too RSI-ridden digits. The layout forces your thumbs out at a bit too oblique of an angle, and extended a bit too much for continued use. In short bursts, it’s not noticeable, but this isn’t great for marathon sessions.
The triggers being digital are less of an issue in FPS games, maybe not an issue at all really, but as you’ll be using both analogue sticks continuously in these games it throws into sharp relief how much of a stretch it is to reach the triggers, and how unbalanced it feels when doing so while also stretching your thumbs into the lower middle of the pad.
While I’d hoped this would be the one true joypad to rule them all for both retro and modern gaming, this isn’t quite it. It’s the old jack of all trades, master of none problem, where the adaptations for modern gaming has detracted from its primary strength of being a really comfortable digital pad by grafting on the analogue controls that don’t provide enough of a benefit for the trade-off to be successful.
However it’s still useful, I think it will do very well as a dedicated controller for this MisterPi FPGA box, which handles everything up to the original PlayStation so almost custom built for that, particularly as I tend to play these in short bursts, rather than marathon gaming sessions. Perhaps I’ll report back when I finally get round to covering the Mister project on the channel.
Until then, if you enjoyed this videotronic missive then consider subscribing, and until next time, take care of yourself, and each other.