The Retro NES USB Controller From ThinkGeek Reviewed

A week or two ago I wrote about this item, and those great guys over at ThinkGeek were more than happy to put one in my hot little hands, so I could tell you all about it. This is one of those items with the wisdom of the internet, just seemed like a no brainer to me. I mean who hasn’t installed an emulator on their computer? Not only that but when you play an emulator on your computer it’s just not the same you either use a keyboard or a usb controller to play. Which most of these usb computer “game pads” seem like Playstation design concept rejects or they made it as close as possible to the Playstation controller but different enough so they wouldn’t be sued. The problem with that is most people I know playing emulators are retro fans and they are playing the old school games and they want that old school feel.

The retro usb NES controller ThinkGeek is selling is a very faithful replica of the original controllers that came with the original Nintendo Entertainment System. The only thing that really sets it apart when you first see it is the Nintendo logo is replaced by the Retrolink one. There is another smaller difference I noticed right away when I held it, the plastic felt slightly different compared to the original. It just feels a little off to those of us that spent hours with that controller in our hands trying to beat Battletoads or Double Dragon. More retro goodness after the jump.

The shape on the other hand is perfect, they kept all the little indentations of the original. So when you hold it, it all pretty much comes back. As soon as I received it I fired up some of my favorite games(all of which I also own legally on the Wii virtual console) and ran through Super Mario the original, and 2 and the action on the buttons was really good. I was intentionally hard on it and it’s very solidly constructed. One thing I forgot to mention was the usb cord, it’s about 7 feet long this comes in real handy if you want to sit your laptop down and play a few feet away which is a nice plus this will definitely be coming with me to conventions or business trips. It does involve some setup on your end to map the buttons with your emulator of choice.  But my Macbook recognized it without any drivers, unlike the X-box 360 controller.

I couldn’t have gotten this controller and not tried it with my Playstation 3 or my Wii both of which have USB ports. The Playstation 3 recognized it right away and I decided to try Mega Man 9. Now for some reason either the jump worked or the fire depending on how you set it up, but I am sure at least with the PS3 if you spent some time you might be able to get it to work. When I plugged it up to my Wii, nothing. After some research I found Nintendo is not open to the idea of letting someone simply plug a usb controller up to their system and play. They would like it better if you purchased one of their proprietary ones. Which is a real shame. I heard if you do some serious work it is possible but honestly I have never been impressed with the feel of the emulated games on the Wii virtual console. I have always found the homebrew ones felt better because how can my well honed jump timing on Mega Man 2 be off?

In a nutshell for $29.99 I say buy it. The controller is solid, the button action is good and you get that retro feel that you can only get from holding that little gray rectangle. I am actually thinking about picking up another so I can do 2 player in Super Mario Brothers. So if your a old school retro junkie or just getting into the retro scene and want to play these games the way they were meant to be played I can’t suggest this enough. Pick it up here at ThinkGeek.