Is this the perfect retro controller? The Ultimate emulation controller?

[Calavera]

When it comes to emulation some people complain that it doesn't use the original controller for whatever system they are emulating. Of course nowadays you can get a USB version of just about every system's controller. But is there one controller that rules them all? A controller that can be used for all retro systems and performs just as well if not better than the original controller for that system?

I say yes and I say that controller is the Sega Saturn Model 2 controller.



It really is perfect for pretty much every retro system. It has a great d-pad, the buttons are laid out good and it is just a comfortable controller to hold. It seems that lots of people consider the Genesis 6-button controller to be the best but I disagree. The Genesis 6-button and Saturn Model 2 controller are similar but I don't see why someone would prefer the Genesis 6-button. The Saturn takes the Genesis 6-button and improves on it in every way and adds the much needed L and R buttons.

In my experience they are extremely reliable. For new games and post 16-bit emulation my preferred controller is the Xbox 360/Xbox One wired USB controller. It is a good controller but I've had the USB cable on so many of them go bad. The controller will randomly disconnect and you'd have to wiggle it or tape it down to the back of the controller to get it to stay connected. Not only has this been a problem on several used ones I've bought but even the one I bought brand new ended up with this problem after just a year or two of use. The Saturn controller on the other hand was manufactured somewhere around 1996. It is 26 years old and I have been using it for the past 20 or so and haven't had one issue with it.

Back in the early 2000s I bought a device called PC Magicbox that allows you to use Playstation,Dreamcast and Sega Saturn controllers on the PC and I'm still using it all these years later.

I kind of want to get one of the white Japanese models because they look pretty nice.



However I am not willing to pay $30 for one. They are pretty cool though. Very Dreamcast like.

This has been one of those long ass Calavera posts. Haven't done one in awhile and felt like talking about the awesome Saturn pad. I hope you enjoyed it!

[Dr. Zoidberg]

Pretty cool.

The 8Bitdo SNES style controller with analogue sticks is pretty awesome. So's the one without the sticks. Nice dpads on them.

[pixel]

The biggest thing for me is the d-pad, so I switch between SNES and Saturn style controllers depending on what I'm playing. I like having the six-button layout available to use, too.

[ian]

It's an interesting question, but gun to my head and force me to have only ONE controller for every old game. A game over 10 years old is old to me.

Ultimate would be a Dual shock 4, I could play pretty much any game with a dual shock 4. Pretty much every control is let down by shit dpads, including the Saturn. But if Microsoft made a controller identical to the Xbox 360 pad in every single way but gave it a perfect SNES dpad it would be the perfect control for all of History... And a lot of the future.
But the dual shock 4 has good enough D pad, good enough triggers, good enough build quality, good enough comfort level, good enough functionality. (Did you know you can plug a Dual shock 4 into Windows 98 SE and it will natively work)

It wouldn't be the best for 3D era games, and it wouldn't be the best for 2D era games, but I could play pretty much any game with it to a good level, which would make it my 'Stuck on a desert island with every single game ever made but only one control' control
I'm not too fussed by using shoulder bumpers for Y and Z if I need to, and there are many Better controllers out there for specific games, but that's not what we're after.

3D only? 360. Then Xbox One/Series. 360 still wins because trigger rubbers don't perish even if the one has a slightly better dpad.
2D only? SNES. Not SNES inspired but bluetooth, not SNES clone, Not SNES remake with shittier plastic, not SNES rip off with tumour joysticks and extra buttons and triggers growing off it. ONLY SNES.

But you want the ultimate pad for ALL old games. Dual Shock 4.
It's like a Toyota Hilux. The Toyota Hilux isn't the best in ANY category... There's cheaper work cars, more comfortable, and more powerful work cars, work cars that have better transmissions, more carrying and towing capacity... ETC ETC.
In every way the Hilux never wins any single thing, but critically, it's not the WORST at any single thing.
It does absolutely everything to a competent level where it's competitors always have at least one fatal flaw that keeps them from greatness.
That's why, currently, the ultimate control for retro games is a Dual Shock 4.

[pixel]

I grew up with the Xbox controller, but switched to the DS4 because it's so versatile. But now I'm back to using generation-specific controllers depending on the game. Buying the Genesis and SNES classic systems really changed my mind on that. Unlike ian, I'm a cretin that buys those cheap-o knockoffs from China. And after at least a decade of sadness, I can report that some of these knockoffs are actually good!

The Steam Deck has really good analog sticks too, but that homunculus doesn't really matter in this conversation

[ian]

I grew up with the Xbox controller, but switched to the DS4 because it's so versatile. But now I'm back to using generation-specific controllers depending on the game. Buying the Genesis and SNES classic systems really changed my mind on that. Unlike ian, I'm a cretin that buys those cheap-o knockoffs from China. And after at least a decade of sadness, I can report that some of these knockoffs are actually good!

The Steam Deck has really good analog sticks too, but that homunculus doesn't really matter in this conversation

If they sold the steam deck here I would get one. But Since I can't just go down the local shopping centre and buy a Deck it's irrelevant.
I can drive half an hour in any direction and have a dual shock 4 though, and since it works on basically any computer since Windows 98. I could use my Celeron 750 running Win 98 SE to emulate NES games, and use a dual shock 4.

I didn't say people who use knockoff pads are cretins, you did
While it is true I do prefer to play real copies of games on real hardware, and I've often paid a bit too much to do so, I do entirely understand that this won't be possible forever and people (including myself) will soon have to look for alternatives. As a matter of fact I've had 2 old failures this year alone. One of my PS1's has had a laser die, and one of my saturns PSU's is on the way out.
I'm not paying the 8 million dollars to get another saturn, so if my model 2 dies before I finish all the games I still want to play, I'll be emulating and using a WRONG pad like a cretin too.
Emulating is the way of the future for old games, and people who don't want to emulate things will eventually simply miss out.

There's a line everyone has to make for what is acceptable, and for me I am happy to house and lift 50KG CRT's to simply play light gun games. But I don't want the expense and space needed for a cabinet dedicated to Point Blank 2 which I may play for half an hour every 7 years... for everyone else, I can understand them buying house of the dead remake on switch. The dual shock 4 is just a great compromise between having 60 million controllers for each system.

I am pedantic enough to have multiple pads for each game in the same series on the same console I prefer.
Need for Speed 3 Hot Pursuit on PS1 needs a Dual Analog, but Need for Speed High Stakes on PS1 needs a Dual Shock. And playing with anything else makes me feel physically sick.

My line is usually cost. But if the REAL thing is $350, the worst it can be is $20 and a decent experience is $100, well I'll pay the $100.
EG: when I wanted to replay Conkers Bad Fur Day. I could get an N64 again for $150, Get a new joystick module for the 64 pad for $25 (because literally every single n64 stick was fucked the second Mario Party came out), get the game for $200.
so for just $375 I could play it again, as it was intended.
Or I could go out and get an original Xbox again for $100, Live and Reloaded for $70 so I could pay $170 to play a worse version of the game (censored but looking better)
Or go with the most sensible choice. I could get Rare Replay for $10 and use it on my existing console. the game is the 64 one but less foggy and blurry... So the best version and closest to as intended, but on the 'wrong' type of display and with a 'wrong' controller but only $10 instead of $350.
It was the easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to play it. Any 2 of those and I still would have done that, but all 3... Why do people pay so much for that game again?

Where was I? Oh yeah, Stay outta my booze.

[pixel]

I didn't say people who use knockoff pads are cretins, you did

I definitely feel some shame

[Calavera]

But if Microsoft made a controller identical to the Xbox 360 pad in every single way but gave it a perfect SNES dpad it would be the perfect control for all of History... And a lot of the future.

I totally agree with that. That is the reason I still have to use the Saturn pad for older consoles. The d-pad on the Xbox One controller makes many older games nearly unplayable! I don't recall the 360 d-pad being nearly as bad as the Xbox One d-pad. It wasn't good but it wasn't unusable.