ಠ_ಠ nathandemick.com

Review: Classic Controller (Wii)

Gosh, it's been a while since I've written anything here. I just haven't had much time to play games recently. I've gotten lots of games, but what with the holidays and Aikido (I'm trying to train for my second rank test), not a lot of play has happened. I did get Phantom Hourglass, which is excellent; a review will follow shortly. I also received some Classic Controllers from my girlfriend, and after messing around with them for a while, thought I'd post my thoughts (albeit a year late for anyone who actually cares). To test out the controller for different systems, I downloaded Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA), Super Metroid, Sin & Punishment (Sad fact: I actually own a physical copy of Sin & Punishment, but had never played it).

To sum up: the controller seems OK for N64 games.

To elaborate: the controller is set up like the bastard child of a SNES and PS2 controller. It's too thick and too small; when playing SNES games, the ring fingers of both hands have nowhere to go, except get pushed awkwardly along the bottom rim of the controller. Hold a SNES controller and you'll see what I mean. The top two fingers go along the back of the controller, while the bottom two go along the bottom edge. The Classic Controller makes this position feel unnatural. Playing NES games evokes similar feelings. The buttons on the controller are set up in (YX)(BA) formation, exactly the same as the SNES controller. Remember in Super Mario World, though, how you ran with Y and jumped with B? The shape of the SNES controller made that feel more natural. The Classic Controller makes you use B and A in their original positions, which is ungainly for anyone who has actually played any of the old games the Virtual Console touts.

Annoyance: the shoulder buttons have way too much give. You have to depress them all the way for the button to register; they feel like the Gamecube's analog buttons. Strange, since you can't use the Classic Controller for Gamecube games. Makes shooting diagonally in Super Metroid harder to do.

Annoyance: the controller is made out of some weird matte plastic, which seems hard to grip. This problem is exacerbated by the small controller size.

For Nintendo 64 games, the controller seems OK, though. With your thumb on the left analog stick, your hands are in a less awkward position than with the D-pad. It's tough to compare with Sin & Punishment, though... I should have gotten Mario 64, a game that I've put way, way too much time into. Playing that would have been more of an indicator of how the Classic Controller functions with N64 games.

I really kinda wonder how the design process for this controller came about... it seems like some bad choices were made. Did they do any sort of focus group testing? Probably with Japanese gamers, which might explain a lot. Sadly, I would recommend using the Wiimote turned sideways for NES games, and say to give SNES Virtual Console games a miss.

1199468386 · 2 comments