Who Makes Good Controllers?

[madhatter667]

For Sega Genesis/Mega Drive? I know first party will be solid of course. I have one official controller, and a pair of SG6 Fight Sticks. What I am looking for are either good vintage recommendations, or modern production. As far as vintage goes, I am used to Propad 6s. Mostly though, I am curious about the new made stuff. Is any of it any good? There are mixed reviews on Amazon, which is kind of something I always expect. There's some very affordable cloned controllers on there though. Haven't read much good about Tomee, so I am likely to stay away from those. What about Hyperkin's offerings, or Retrobit's? Either of those worth anything? I may have just gotten lucky with a good controller, but I bought a Cirka S91 Premium SNES controller, and I really like the stupid thing. Lol.

Any thoughts? I don't have anything currently that pushes the 6 button envelope, but that will change. I like options. While I have 6 button fight sticks, and they are decently comfortable, I still hold gamepads more comfortably.

[madhatter667]

I'm guessing that most don't have hands on time with the currently manufactured 3rd party offerings?

 

Did some YouTube watching, and I'm starting away from the Retro Bit controllers. They just didn't look well done. The Hyperkin ones do get good reviews, and I'm tempted to grab a set, as they are very affordable. And if no one has reviewed them on here yet, I would happily add my impressions on them.

 

That's at least a paycheck or two away. Lol.

[keepdreamin]

I've got one of Hyperkin's 6 button controllers. The d-pad is a bit stiff, other than that it's alright.

Edited November 25, 2016 by keepdreamin

[madhatter667]

If Cirka made a Genny controller, that would be first pick given my experience with their SNES product (surprisingly good). From what I can tell, they don't make one though.

 

How long have you had the Hyperkin? Wondering if the stiffness will play out with use?

[keepdreamin]

If Cirka made a Genny controller, that would be first pick given my experience with their SNES product (surprisingly good). From what I can tell, they don't make one though.

 

How long have you had the Hyperkin? Wondering if the stiffness will play out with use?

 

FYI, Cirka is Hyperkin

 

http://www.hyperkin.com/snes-s91-controller-cirka.html

 

Sorry I can't give you a "break-in" estimate on the Hyperkin pad. I have a stockpile of OEM controllers for the Genny. It does feel solid though, more so than the other 3rd party cheap stuff.

Edited November 25, 2016 by keepdreamin

[madhatter667]

I did not know that. Interesting. I do like the premium S91 controller a lot. For an inexpensive 3rd party, it feels and responds really well.

[undeadbobop]

Out of the third party controllers, there are few you can even order from in the "new" category back in the day there was plenty of options but hyperkins is "Mmmk" as in acceptable but not really good, it's dpad is lacking, like in most of the controllers but is a bit better than most cheap third party. I really have yet to find one that is on par or better than the 1st party options.

Edited November 28, 2016 by undeadbobop

[keepdreamin]

I'm hoping 8bitdo does their own wireless controller and receiver. Hopefully they don't team up with retrobit and simply add their electronics to their generic genesis controller like they did for the recent N64 one. That controller is junk.

 

Needs to be their own design like their SNES30 and NES controllers, which are really good.

[undeadbobop]

Retrobit only good at making their consoles with compatibility solutions, What they are bad at : EVERYTHING ELSE except in their handhelds, and then it is battery issues and stacking issues. IE, Retroduo portable with retrogen attachment with gamegenie with sonic & knuckles With sonic 3. It looks like a marker lightsaber and is more fragile. Also the sound ALWAYS sucks because it is ALWAYS mono on their handhelds.

But yeah their controllers out side of their handheld units tend to blow chunks everywhere like after thoughts even though they are not commonly after thoughts as they sell them separately commonly.

Retrobit should stick to what they know and improve on what they lack, and STAY AWAY FROM controllers.

That Snes30 looks nice but I have never used it. But if they make a genesis one which one would they make it based off of? 3 button or 6 button controllers?

Edited November 30, 2016 by undeadbobop

[keepdreamin]

. But if they make a genesis one which one would they make it based off of? 3 button or 6 button controllers?

 

Why would anyone bother with a 3 button?

[madhatter667]

No, all the 3rd party options I am looking at are 6 button models. I have a single 3 button first party controller, and it's fine for a 3 button. I have a pair of fight sticks that are 6 buttons. I wouldn't consider a 3 button controller unless it was first party, and practically free at this point. Lol.

[Silverfleet]

Back in the day, my favorite 3rd party controllers were the InterAct SG ProPads. They made a few different versions: There was a 3 button model that looked a lot like a SNES controller:

 

 

They also made a 6 button version of that one (I have one and I still use it):

 

 

Then, there was the SG ProPad 6, which had the 6 buttons on the face of the controller, as well as shoulder buttons. This one was also programmable, which kicked ass for fighting games! (I have this version and the Saturn version as well):

 

They also made the Propad in a programmable version with a small LCD screen (called the ProgramPad) in both 3 and 6 button varieties:

 

 

Another good brand to look for are the Quickshot controllers. They made them for various consoles, and they are pretty solid and feel great in the hand. They also made these in 3 and 6 button varieties.

 

[bradhig1]

I had two third party Playstation 2 controllers at different times. One had autofire and one had a fan in it to cool your hands while you play. Both broke one direction within a month. The third party controllers made during the atari 2600 - genesis era were much better.

[TemplarXB]

My favorite controller is the ASCII Pad SG-6. It's more of a SNES type design though with shoulder buttons.

 

I bought one of the Hyperkin GN6 controllers. The up direction felt a little off at first in the Everdrive menus, but it played fine, really smooth and easy to pull off the Street Fighter 2 moves with. I haven't used it enough to say how reliable it will be long term, but I like it, definitely worth trying for under $10.