8BitDo 64 Controller review

Housed inside the 8BitDo Ultimate form factor (derived from that 360 perfection), the two-prong controller rearranges the N64’s complement of buttons to a more standard form employed by even Nintendo themselves in their Pro Controller designs. The once separate D-pad sits below and to the right of the analogue stick, and there’s nary a second analogue in sight in favour of its digital ancestor: the C-buttons. There are now a pair of Z buttons, taking up the trigger slots of today, and some extra hot keys are included – great for using emulation functions not required by original pads, and kept accessible yet nicely out of the way so you don’t accidentally press them.

Controlling stick

The weight and form factor make it a very comfortable controller to hold. While N64 games usually weren’t designed for you to be able to use the D-pad and the stick at the same time, the layout of this controller makes it no problem to access them both if needed – useful for menu navigation or even just using it for non-N64 games.

It still does feel very familiar, though. Great lengths have been made to replicate the look of the buttons on an N64 controller, with that offset A button very well known from the thumb imprints it caused after particularly intensive Mario Kart 64 sessions.

The stick has the correct, and very firm, ridges of the original. The original controller’s analogue had a lot of throw in it: due to the length of the stick, it did move quite far from neutral to the edge. We had some slight concerns that the Hall effect, lower-profile joystick might rob some of that nostalgic feel, but either 25 years of lower-profile sticks or some great tweaking to its resistance meant it had absolutely no effect on the games we played. And the Hall effect stick won’t have the same drifting or breaking issues as the original, either. It even has the little octagonal impression around the edge, perfect for specific Super Mario 64 speed run setups.

The only thing we had a slight issue with was the raised C-buttons. Initially our thumbs were fumbling with them; however, by the end of our Lylat Wars testing (three medals and the good ending), we were looping and U-turning with ease.

Hook it up

The controller connects via Bluetooth and cable – not only to Raspberry Pi, but computers and consoles too. Connecting to Raspberry Pi is extremely easy via dedicated emulator operating system installs such as Recalbox, although it took us some tweaking to understand how to configure each button for optimal play. The version we reviewed was the Classic Grey, but alternate versions with a more modern, sleek colour scheme are available (and a few bob cheaper too).

After much laborious testing, we came away forgetting the purpose of why we were playing in the first place. Making the tricky Super Mario 64 jumps and barrel-rolling our way through Lylat Wars felt no different, albeit with slightly more comfort than in the last 30 years of playing them. Honestly, that’s probably the highest praise it can get.

Verdict

10/10

A near perfect replica of the original N64 controller, but laid out for modern sensibilities and comfort. A must-buy for anyone misty-eyed over GoldenEye 007.

Specs

Dimensions: 147 × 103 × 61.4mm

Weight: 344g

Inputs: 10× face buttons, Hall effect analogue stick with digital click, four-way directional pad, 4× shoulder buttons