The best and the worst:Controllers

What are the best controllers you've used and the ones you disliked the most? You don't have to have an order.


https://i.imgur.com/C1LSWzU.jpg
Best


Easily the best controllers ever put in my hands. No real order.

Been a long time since Nintendo made a controller that actually felt great to me. Switch pro is the comfiest modern controller which used to belong to DS4.

As mentioned DS4 is a comfy and the only good controller I have used from Sony. I hated all their previous controllers as they felt so tiny in my hands and cramped.

Xbox S controller is still the comfiest controller I've used from MS. Yet to try an XBone pad.

Genesis 6 button to me is the best one on Genesis. Not a huge fan of the 3 button. Genesis has the best D-pad.

SNES still one of the best classic gaming controllers.

Saturn controller. I don't know of any non-arcade stick controller I'd rather play fighting games with. Amazing D-pad. Buttons feel good and just really

comfy to hold. Easily my fave classic controller.

Saturn arcade stick. Sure it's not Neo Geo and despite it not having a switch in the stick. It feels so good to use when playing 2D fighting games. I even played some non-arcade like games with it. I just love to use it.


https://i.imgur.com/InL4mQq.jpg
Worst.

The Duke. Pretty sure whoever designed this doesn't have human hands. It's thicker than a bowl of snickers. The oval diagonal buttons are awkward.

Wii nunchuck. Outside of a point and click like Zak and Wiki and FPS games as it worked amazingly with Red Steel 2 and Metroid Prime 3. It felt useless outside of that. Just waggle for no reason. It was a novelty that quickly wore off.

Atari 5200. This thing is so bad it has too many buttons for games simpler than NES and it breaks right out of the box.

N64 controller. Again someone who isn't human designed this fucking thing. Yes, it popularized analog but it still was not fun to use.

SEGA Master System controller. I can forgive no pause button but why is this thing so small? NES controller was not this small. Thankfully can just use a Genesis controller on the SMS.

Previously mentioned all Dualshocks until DS4 were not comfy to use. Felt too small.


There are many others I ike and dislike but these are my absolute best and absolute best I have used.

Best:
- Saturn pad
- Mega Drive 6-button pad

And stick wise building your own arcade stick is a good option.


Worst:
- N64 pad
- Gamecube pad (didn't play much Gamecube stuff but some Timesplitters sessions with friends were enough to realize that the C-Stick is crap and the triggers kinda unresponsive)

Fuck, I forgot the Dreamcast controller. One of my favorite controllers ever. I know many disliked it and I get why.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SegataS

The Duke. Pretty sure whoever designed this doesn't have human hands. It's thicker than a bowl of snickers. The oval diagonal buttons are awkward.

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I actually really liked the Duke. The Black and White Buttons were useless, but everything else about the pad I liked. I wouldn't use the dpad for 2d games, though (S pad ftw in that regard). Anyway...

Best:

- Sega Saturn 2nd Edition controller. This is the perfect controller for 2D and classic survival horror games. Everything is perfect.
- Mega Drive 6 button.
- 360 controller: this is the quintessential controller for 3D games imo.
- DS4: massive step up from the DS3; this would be the top spot controller for 3d games, but I'm not 100% happy with the triggers as I am with the 360 pad's.

Worst:

- Wii "Wand"/Remote: A remote control as a controller? No thanks.
- Wii U Controller: A large tablet with touch controls, low battery life and awkward button positions? No thanks.
- Xbox One controller: Massive, massive step down from the 360. Dislike the new triggers (which are now mushy as hell), and the general layout.
- DS3: DS2 was workable, but the Dual Shock 3 was horrible. Hate the "triggers", and also the light feel to the pad. Yuck.
- N64 controller: Do I even need to explain why? The analogue stick is awkwardly placed, and the whole pad feels like a mess. Def the worst controller for me.

Best

- Wii U tablet/game pad
- SNES
- Xbox 360

Worst

- Jaguar
- 5200
- GameCube

Quote:

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Originally Posted by WarmSignal

Best

- Wii U tablet/game pad
- SNES
- Xbox 360

Worst

- Jaguar
- 5200
- GameCube

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Can't rep yet.


Yes, the GameCube controller to me is actually the worst controller I've used in the modern era. Worst D-Pad, horrible springy trigger buttons, and action buttons that just feel all over the place.

Of course, I completely understand the ergonomics of controllers have shown to have polarizing opinions. I know our newest returning member can't stand the PS4 controller ergonomically, where as I find it to be the most ergonomic in my hands this gen.

For me, best controllers in my hands over the years:

Genesis 6-button pad (originally the 3-button pad, but now just feels like a brick)
Dreamcast
Original Xbox
Xbox 360
PS4
Wii U Game Pad
Wiimote + Nunchuck combo (that's right. Playing games without motion controls this way is sooo relaxed. Try A Boy and His Blob this way).
PS1/PS2/PS3 (Weird I feel this way now. I used to hate this controller during the PS1 era. But it grew on me so much, I've actually played most games in my lifetime with the dual shock)

Worst:
Jaguar
5200
Gamecube

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SegataS

Atari 5200. This thing is so bad it has too many buttons for games simpler than NES and it breaks right out of the box.

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A lot of consoles from that era were doing this and every single time it ended up awkward. I think the idea was that games would come with overlays for the controller indicating which buttons were used and with which function. In practice they were just a pain to use, period (and those keypads weren't exactly the most suitable for twitch action either).

It depends on the period and game genres that were popular during the said period.

For 16-bit era Genesis 6-button is absolutely the best, especially for fighting games that require hadouken d-pad motions. SNES controller sucks, unless a game really needs shoulder buttons, which was a rarity. IMO block and run for Mortal Kombat games are much more comfortable as face buttons.

For 32-bit era, Saturn controller is on par with PS1 controller. Saturn gamepad is once again more comfortable for fighters and has better d-pad, while PS1 controller is overall nice design (basically it's SNES pad but improved in every way) that's jack of all trades and has additional shoulder buttons which PS1 games used nicely. D-pad is not so good though and I still have hard time pressing upper right and lower left diagonals on it. Dualshock is an excellent evolution and at the time neither Nintendo nor Sega could offer as good analog controller. N64 pad and Saturn 3D pad sucked although the latter pionered analog triggers which were excellent for racing games.

Dreamcast controller is basically Saturn 3D pad in slightly more ergonomic shell and I don't like it. Back then I really wished they used standard Saturn pad design instead but with 1 or 2 analog sticks and analog triggers. With so many good Capcom ports on Dreamcast, not having 6 face buttons was a big deal for me.

Xbox controllers were later evolutions of Saturn 3D pad design. Second stick, more comfortable. By that time I stopped caring about 6 face buttons as I discovered MAME and Saturn pad to PC converters lol. FPS games got big and Xbox and Xbox 360 pads were especially good for them. When PS3 was released, Dualshock design was very outdated and its variant of analog triggers just sucked. 360 pad was the best up until Dualshock 4 finally brought DS back into the game. Right now both DS4 and XB1 pads are equally good, depending on which left stick position do you prefer. Switch pro controller looks like XB1 pad, but I've yet to try it.

The Atari 7800 joystick isn't much better than the 5200 one. The 2600 stick is one of the best joystick controllers of the 8-bit era, as far as official ones go, anyway.

BEST

Sega Saturn Pad
Mega Drive 6 button pad
XBox S Controller
XBox One Elite

Worst
Jaguar
PS
PS2
Wii

There isn't a single controller that I don't have a gripe or two about, but I suppose I like the U and Switch Pro controllers the most... I might even like the U Pro the best, but I hate that glossy finish. I haven't used an XBone controller.

My least favorite is perhaps the N64. I actually appreciate what they were going for with the layout...but that stick kills it. The PS1-3 controller also gets low marks. People only like it because they're more institutionalized than Morgan Freeman.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by QuickSciFi

Yes, the GameCube controller to me is actually the worst controller I've used in the modern era. Worst D-Pad

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Not even possible. The 360 d-pad is putrid. The GC is guilty of literally having a GB d-pad used for playing GB games on the GC.

from the top of my head now:

best:

saturn 6 button
megadrive 6 button
saturn 3d controller
ps4 controller
wii u pro controller

worst:

n64 controller
snes controller
wii nun chuck pieces of shit

The Wiimote isn't too bad I reckon. Sin And Punishment: Successor Of The skies plays brilliantly with the nunchuck setup. Also, my dad plays golf in real life and can pull off the same shots on the Wii using the wand very well, so it has its good points.

I've also liked the DualShock series (I haven't used a 4) finding them sturdy and responsive. D Pads a little crap mind.

The Nomad is just, despite its boxy look, a pleasure to use.

Saturn: It's the best for its type, and the European slightly more angular version was a fave in our house as it goes. The IR six button MD pads are superb.

Logitech make some nice OXBox wireless controllers, and, having tried many, Fountech did a great PS2 wireless pad, very nice indeed.

I actually like the Wiimote, and motion controls when they serve a decent role in the game. Like for FPS games, it's actually kinda cool. You get a similar accuracy of aiming that you would with a mouse, at least with motion plus you do. None of that dual analog with aim assist bullshit. Wiimote was the spiritual successor to the light-gun for the LCD generation. There was even a re-release of the classic Mad Dog McCree for the Wii. Too bad interest in the genre was mostly dead and gone by the time the Wii came around.

Without a doubt, my favorite controller to this day is still the Sega Saturn controller. The revised one, not that crap OG one that was originally released in the USA.

Other notable mentions:

The SN Programpad for the SNES: This thing is so good that I completely stopped using the OG SNES pad. Everything about this 3rd party pad was better, especially the Dpad. The fact that you can program button combinations is even better.

The OG Microsoft Sidewinder: Microsoft basically took the best parts of the Saturn and PS1 pads and combined it into a great controller that played well and felt good in the hand. I'm referring to the serial port version. The USB versions were laggy and sucked.

Out of the current consoles, I like the DS4 although the Xbone controller is decent as well.

Worst:

Oh boy...

N64 controller: I had to mod it with a Gamecube style joystick just to make it somewhat usable. Generally this controller just feels like 3rd party crap.

Switch Joycons: Even with what I've said about the N64, the Switch controllers make the console borderline unplayable. The "dpad" buttons are terrible. They suffer interference that other console controllers don't. They are just bad.

Wii Classic Pad: An excellent controller with a stupid drawback of needing to be plugged into a Wiimote in order to work instead of being its own controller.

Colecovision: Who the hell thought that a phone handset would make an excellent controller?