Retro-Bit Controller review:
Sega Saturn Controller:
I’m a big fan of the Sega Saturn pads, having used them pretty much solidly for almost a quarter of a century.
That mouse-like shoulder button click and the way they feel so perfectly designed for your hands combined with how snugly they fit in the system itself makes them stand out as one of the best of the retro gamepads for me. Retro-Bit has gone with a straight-up clone of the original design here, with the added bonus of that classic Sega ‘creak’ being removed from the D-pad.
The cable is a hearty 10-footer and slightly longer than my original Saturn pad, but only by a few inches. I played a few different games to get a feel of it (Sega Rally, The Last Bronx, Valora Valley Golf and Shining Force 3) and, to be honest, I forgot I was supposed to be reviewing the controller and just basically played the games, it felt so responsive and natural.
The retail price of these controllers are £19.99 which is around £5 / £10 less than the loose original Saturn controller (which was scuffed) that I purchased a few weeks ago at Play EXPO Manchester for a second player.
The only difference that stood out for me with this controller was the shoulder buttons didn’t have that ‘mousey click’, which really wasn’t an issue for me.
The upshot is, if one of my controllers stopped working, I’d go for the Retro-Bit straight away, at one point, whilst comparing them I mixed them up and could only tell them apart by pressing the shoulder buttons on each and comparing the pitch of the click.
This one differentiates itself from the Saturn controller by not being based on the original design but instead the shape and style of the Hori Mini controller.
I must admit that I was never a fan of the ‘Trident’ style, feeling it was only really fit for FPS games of the time.
This new design is not only pretty much a quarter of the price of the Hori controllers but, in my opinion, completely improves upon the original Trident shape.
The build quality is really solid and it comes in a variety of colours (mine was Ocean Blue). I played a LOAD of games with this controller as the more standardised shape reinvigorated the N64 for me.
I smashed into most of my collection from San Francisco Rush and Cruis’n World to Zelda and WCW Vs NWO. The only issues I had was with the latter title, in the wrestling games on the N64, you tend to control your wrestler with the D-pad and the analogue stick is a ‘taunt’ button.
Due to the central placement of the D-pad on this controller, my fingers were getting in the way of themselves when I was playing which felt slightly finicky but, the pros massively outweighed the cons for me with this.
Right, that’s enough typing…back to Cruis’n World.
For our video review of these controllers, please visit: www.gamesfreezer.co.uk/Retro-Bit Controller Review
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