Talking Point: Is The N64 Pad Actually The Best Controller Ever?

It's sublime the first few weeks, Then as the stick gradually grinds itself into a fine powder, it becomes awful. Finding a mint N64 pad is like finding the holy Grail. Mario 64 etc feel gorgeous.

The fact every controller made after the 64 fears the third prong shows they can never attain true perfection. These Mario Party scars were earned, and I wear them with pride.

The GameCube controller exists, so no.

No, SNES still the best.

It's werid to go back to any old controller past 16 bit to now for a bit.
But I loved the n64 one at the time. That Z trigger in a shooting or flying game feels so good.
D pad used for some 2d games and liked of mortal kombat.
Like OK point that Nintendo didn't consider two sticks but remember ps1 launched stickless

In terms of button mapping it is a the best way to play games like ocarina or Mario (obviously nowadays you need the second analogue)

@RupeeClock Aight, time and place, you name it.

No. THe d-pad was redundant for 99% of titles making one third of the controller utterly pointless. This is not great engineering.

The top 5 controllers of all time, at their time are:

1. Xbox 360 controller
2. Wavebird
3. The DualSense
4. Wii Remote
5. SNES Pad

It’s definitely my favorite Nintendo control pad. Wielding dual pads in some games was incredible.

I still choose PS1 / PS2 controller over than N64 controller.
PS1 / PS2 controller are the right choice to play DDR without DDR pad.
My thumbs are dancing on the 8 buttons of PS1 / PS2 controller when playing DDR.

Great April Fool's.

😀😀April fools ends at 12 guys

Fun fact: The N64 gamepad actually has an L button! You may hear a distinct -click- as you remove your perfectly preserved controller from it's glass case and depress this marvel of a button. That's the sound of your controller's potential realized.

My favorite part: the dust that collects around the base of the analog stick. Collect it, save it, mix it into smoothies

Its interesting how the Sega Saturn 3D controller could make for a great replacement for the N64 controller, with the exception of being only one button (Z) short of being able to match every button 1:1. Thing is though, I don't believe there is an N64 game that makes use of L, Z, and R all at the same time, perhaps different control schemes makes for all 3 buttons to be usable in the same game, but as far as I'm aware, you typically used Z and R, and maybe L and R, though I'm unaware of games that controlled where you used L and Z. Point is, the Saturn 3D controller could have made for an excellent substitute for the N64 controller where the third trigger could have been axed entirely.

There are some ideas and there are some bad ideas. I always think having different sized (or shape!) face buttons is the worst - also looking at you GameCube.

Even Nintendo seems to have realized that some features should be standardized at this point. Both the WiiU and Switch have had very conventional control layouts.

With that said the Z-trigger was a great feature, but something that only works due to the unique grip.

No. Nope. Not a chance. Deary me no. Lordy Lordy not at all.

No.

It's obviously not the bestest ever, but I love it so much. It's so comfortable to hold and the AB+C design is great. I loved playing FPS games on it because you could use the C-buttons like WASD-keys and look with the analogue stick.

The only ergonomical fault with it is the hard plastic top of the analogue stick. It gets uncomfortable after an extended play and it can get slippery with sweaty hands. The other obvious shortcomings are that it renders the d-pad and L-button practically useless in most situations, and from a modern perspective the lack of a second stick.

Gamecube is obviously the best Nintendo controller ever

Analog stick was just awful after few months of use.

Best April fools joke ever

What does a mint N64 pad go for these days? I have a blue one in a box somewhere that I never used. Hopefully it still works 20+ years later. Loved the controller although never really understood the design but it felt very good to use.

I'm guessing this is our April Fool's Day prank for the year. Considering the rest of the lacklustre content we've gotten this year from these "original" articles, can't say I'm surprised this is the best they could do.

One of my favorite controllers, especially if you put in a gamecube stick. Mario party wrecked the analogue stick in those things.

One of the only controllers that was comfortable both as a child and an adult. I like it better than the gcn controller actually.

I still have my OG controllers in mint condition.

At the time, I didn't have any problems with it and if anything I still find it more ergonomic, for my hands anyway, than the PS1 controller. I was never a fan of the latter, or of the joystick placement on dual shock controllers. Sticks at the top like on the Wii U Pro is what I enjoy the most, especially for the left joystick.

These days, I still think the N64 controller is more than useable, but admittedly the radically different kind of joystick compared to what we use today means it takes me some time to re-adapt to it when I whip it out again.

Owning an N64 as a teen in the early 2000s, I don't recall using the d-pad on the controller like, ever for any game I can think of. There always was a suspicious lack of fighting games on the 64. Made me envious of the kids with PS1s.

Can we also stop for a moment to appreciate that the joystick on these controllers never drifted? Unlike JoyCon/Pro Controller/DualSense sticks? It wore out eventually but at least it didn't start malfunctioning within weeks of purchase (and N64 controllers didn't cost as much either)

It's a great controller, but the gamecube is my fave

@GrailUK you’re right - I have a few new ones. If you take a new one apart & apply ceramic grease to the gears & it’ll last for years. It’s a fantastic controller.

I like it the best for Mario 64 but I’m using the brawler 64 as it’s a wireless.

confirmed. this man did not play mischief makers.

It’s an amazing controller - yes, the D-pad was in an awkward place but most games used the analogue stick anyway. The left hand rests on the stick & trigger more naturally than any controller before or since.

The N64 controller and Joy Con controllers are the only ones I’ve ever had to replace (several times) due to their low durability. The layout of the controller is fine, I like that aspect a lot. But what use is it if the stick is going to malfunction after such a short amount of time? I’ve never had an N64 controller last more than a couple years, due to the stick. And I’m not heavy handed when I play. Meanwhile, I have owned PlayStation and Xbox controllers for just over a decade without needing any repairs. 30 years of gaming has taught me that durability is the most important factor to the hardware, and form factor comes second. If either of those are compromised, you have something useless.

For N64, I use RetroFighters Brawler 64. Much, much better quality.

One of my favourite controllers, the analogue stick was amazing and mine lasted for quite some time. Plus games like Goldeneye were so perfectly tuned to its design, they're a lot better then the joy cons that's for sure

No. It was great at the time but is outclassed by the GameCube controller and Xbox one controller.

Just not a big fan of the N64 controller. It worked alright, but just always felt odd in my hands.

Almost every controller that came after it is better.

It was kinda hard to play First Person Shooters with it (D-pad to move - analog stick to turn/aim - Z button to shoot - AND then the yellow/green/blue buttons to change weapon/activate doors, elevators etc. -that was NOT easy).

It's a fine controller with 2 problems: the stick starts to get loose after many hours of play, even if you are careful and don't play Mario Party. The second problem is a design one: you cannot use 3 grips with 2 hands, so if the game used the stick for character movement, it was not practical to use the d-pad for other function, and vice-versa, so either the stick or the d-pad was not used, depending on the game.

There's nothing wrong with the button layout not counting the useless d-pad, but the control stick goes loose too easily. The same is true with the GameCube controller as well, although it lasts a bit longer. I never had these problems with the modern controllers or PlayStation controllers. The Switch Pro Controller is the best IMO.

GameCube, Wii U Classic Controller, and Switch Pro Controller are all better than it. I'd argue that the Wii Classic Controller is about equal to it and and NES/SNES controllers are slightly lesser than the N64 controller. Wii U Gamepad and Switch JoyCon controllers are the most versatile, interesting controllers, though GamePad is painful to use for long periods of time (as is the Switch in handheld, honestly). Joy Cons are the best - WHEN they work properly. I prefer the button layout on the Switch pro to the Wii U Classic. N64 is ultimately held back by the 3-prong format.

I'm probably not the most qualified to say anything about it but I'll share my point of view. I skipped the N64 (pretty much skipped 4th gen home consoles only playing a Saturn/PS1 game here and there at friend's places) and got back into gaming with the GameCube. While I did initially feel the GCN controller to be weird, it grew on me. That said, it wasn't until 2004 until I picked up/held an N64 controller and it too felt weird, but familiar. That I said, I think Nintendo had a good idea of what they wanted out of a controller, but wanted to keep manufacturing costs down, hence a slot for the rumble pack vs built in rumble, one analog stick vs 2, etc. N64 controller was an R&D experiment that was released to the masses, GCN was the end result of feedback from said masses. That said, N64 was alright, but definitely could use some improvement when compared to Nintendo's home console controllers before and after it.

In my opinion, wear has to be a consideration when grading a controller, so the fact that the analogue stick loosened so much and so quickly counts against the N64 pad a good deal in my book. The best first-party Nintendo controller I've ever used remains the Wii U Pro controller. So light, no button- or stick-placement issues for me, 80 hours on a charge. I'm going into battle with it.

That button layout isn’t at all strange, it’s perfectly sensible.

You want strange button layouts, look at the GameCube, which goes out of its way to make each button as random as possible.

It's awful, it's cumbersome to hold and the control sticks wear down so easily. I don't have a very high opinion of the N64 as a console and the controller is one of the reasons why.

I know this is AF but the odd fact is that the N64 controller is the only controller in Nintendo's history where they B and A buttons were actually angle down (which most people like) rather than angle up which makes for tapping one while holding the other one difficult at times. It seems people didn't really care for that so the GameCube controller made them angle up again and it had remain that way since.

For me it was the worst controller I have used for a Nintendo console. Now I didn't grow up with the N64 and was a very late in buying one (as in 360/PS3 era). The big issue was there was no correct/wrong way in holding it and it was impossible to use all the buttons at once on which way you held it without having to shift your hand.

There have been other controllers that have been worst like the wii u but I still found the controller comfortable to use.

It wasn't an issue as a kid, but now looking back, I believe it was one of the worst designs nintendo had.

it’s was a mind blowing, revolutionary controller for Mario, Zelda, Star Fox and Racing games. It was meh for fighters. And over time there were issues with the stick grinding down and not setting. IMO, the SNES, wave bird, and gamepad pro are all better more refined. But none as revolutionary.

@shgamer Hehehe a lot of GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark players will disagree. It actually made fps more easily accessible. The Z trigger button act as an actual trigger (like a gun) so it being the shoot button will make players feel at home when playing fps plus you get the C-buttons which controls the directions of where to look around using the camera then you get the B and A for interaction like jumping, scanning, opening, and the L and R for cycling through weapons. All which are easily accessible. Then you get the d-pad for assigning shortcuts which adds even more accessibility.

No, next question?

Yes.
Oh really, I can't just answer the question of the headline, "Is the N64 pad actually the best controller ever?"

From a design perspective, I've enjoyed the controller. It's odd but usable for sure.

From a reliability standpoint, major yikes. Those joysticks get worn in the worst ways. Most of the used controllers I've found have been near or completely toast.

@Ghost_of_Hasashi I did play Goldeneye and Perfect Dark, but I actually enjoyed Duke Nukem (64?) and Doom 64 more.
Especially Duke Nukem was good on the N64 as you could actually aim up and down (which you couldn't in the PS1 version). But you had keep holding the stick in position or the aim would return to neutral vertical position.
It actually made the game more challenging IMO and I personally had a really good time with it (the graphics were also better than in the PS1 version).

Unique and interesting. Loved the Z trigger. The thing felt great to play with when it came to the right games, but that analog stick was terrible. I don't think the controller was necessarily bad and it led to many of the innovations that are standard today, but it belongs in the past.

...I disagree. It's one of the worst.

It was horrible to use at times, but I still loved it.

Let’s be honest though, the best controller Nintendo have ever put out is the Pro Controller for the Switch. You can disagree, but you’re wrong if you do.

Yeah it’s more of a traditional controller compared to the others that felt different, but it is a gamechanger on the Switch.

I liked the N64 controller. People who are introduced to it after the system was already dead seem to be confused about how to hold it, but it's simple and no one had any problems with it at the time. I also had no problems with the control stick's reliability, although to be fair, I never played Mario Party.

That analogue stick was almost as bad as Joy Con drift and you always had to hold it in a slightly angled way because of the trident design, which was a little awkward imo. Especially when you had to switch handles. Second to last on the Nintendo pile for me, narrowly defeated by the filth that is the Joy Con.

I have always thought the N64 pad was near perfect. Middle stick was for 3D while holding the pad proper (Left thumb on d-pad) left you with a 6-button controller perfect for fighting games and 2D platformers. Also, using the c-buttons to move and analog stick to look around in TUROK gave me the feel of a keyboard and mouse at that time. Sadly, companies like Capcom and Konami pretty much jumped to Sony when Nintendo scoffed at CDs. I think we would have seen some awesome uses for that pad if 3rd parties hadn't jumped ship. STREET FIGHTER and MARVEL VS. CAPCOM would have been perfect....

Would love to see how strongly this vote correlates with age / age at time one first encountered an N64.

@Yorumi
Exactly!

Still my favorite controller, sure the stick could wear out quickly if you're not careful. But I've always felt the amount of precision it had + almost no dead-zone is unmatched. Like Yorumi above me mentioned it's nice to play 2D titles without the sacrifice of an awkwardly placed D-Pad. Namco Museum and Pokémon Stadium also benefited from this.

The only thing bad about the controller was the D-pad, way to stiff.

I gained new appreciation for the N64 controller after playing games like Starfox 64, F-Zero X, and Mario 64 on other controllers, such as pro controllers, Wii U gamepad, Switch, etc.

Some games that feel & play AMAZING on the N64 just don't feel that great on any other controller.

It was too odd, mostly forcing the sacrifice of the D-pad as an option.

Also the joystick really wasn't that durable. Too many of them ended up a bit 'wobbly' before they gave up the ghost, leaving you with a bit of a dead zone before it registered an input.

Love the trigger button placement though. Funny that this skipped the Gamecube and then came back in earnest with the Wii's 'B' button.

It's versatile. Three triggers, good dpad, precise control stick and six face buttons and an expansion port. I forget which game let you use one in each hand. Maybe Goldeneye. Great controller.

The only problem was the control stick went loose after a while.

@Fiyaball Agreed! The GameCube Controller and by extension, the GameCube styled Nintendo Switch controllers are the best. I use GameCube styled controllers for everything minus Wii motion games and N64 (I play on real hardware).

I think it was a controller that packed some great ideas but wasn't quite clear on how to execute. The Analog stick was revolutionary, and the Z trigger was a very useful addition. Both of them I think quite evolved and now you couldn't imagine modern gaming without the sticks and triggers. However the first implementation was confusing, the stick would not last long, and overall the shape was far from optimal. This was greatly optimized in later console generations.

Playing Goldeneye with a 64 controller in each hand is unbeatable.

The stick wore out too soon and became crap, and most games ignored the d-pad.

I know that playing almost any other N64 game with any other controller is damn near impossible.... especially the wii u gamepad.

bro what...no...

in this house we believe in GameCube controller supremacy <3

Thats an easy answer...hell no.

It's perfect for its purpose: Playing N64 games.

Yeah, april fools, hehe.

@RadioHedgeFund I second your#1. XBOX 360 controller is wonderful.

For its time? Definitely the best ever. Still a solid controller to play on today, provided the stick hasn't gone to mush.

It he D Pad was unused and the third party controller I had actually performed better. The shark pad pro. It was see through plastic, very cool in the 90s and the stick was much more reliable. I actually had a look at it recently before selling all my retro gaming bits and the stick is still good. There is something about the N64 controller that is so weird, confusing and awkward looking that makes it so Iconic vs any xbox controller

That question is super subjective. I think for the time, the N64 controller was good. Not great, but good. Sony had them beat in my opinion, the PS1 controler was just so much more comfortable. Going back to it now, it just feels wonky and awkward. Very strange design choice but like I said, it worked at the time.

The worst Nintendo controller ever designed is a battle between the N64 controller and joy-cons.

I'm okay with the layout, but the control stick itself is awkward to use.

I unironically much prefer the Saturn 3D controller.

Absolutely an awful controller, one of the worst all-time and easily the worst on a mainstream machine from the modern era. My dislike for awful Wii Motion controls is the only thing close to it.

I liked the controller at the time, but I dont think it’s aged well from a design perspective and the fact the joystick wears so poorly doesn’t help it’s case. Having a single expansion slot that needed to juggle both a rumble pack and memory card also made it awkward if you wanted to use both. At the time the controller was revolutionary, but today it feels like a prototype that was built in service of delivering the final product which is the designs closer to what we have today where we have dual sticks and all buttons within reach.

Nowadays my preferred controllers the Xbox family. I also personally liked the Wii U GamePad as a concept, but the system not embracing users having more than one was a missed opportunity.

I know some people feel very strongly for it, but as someone that’s not hugely into Smash Bros, I don’t find the GameCube controller all that appealing. The Z button only on one side seems a waste and I don’t like the face button placement particularly.

My favourite controller of all time was the Atari 2600 - back when one button was all you needed for games; a simpler time

And my favourite Nintendo controller is the N64 - it just felt right, and none of my controllers ever broke

I distinctly remember a little kid at the store kiosk struggling to figure out how to hold the stupid thing, proving it was unintuitive. At least, far as I know they respected designing around one position and stuck to it. Other M's "now point to use missiles" was a bad idea.

I have to say my bottom tier is the Joy-Cons. Mostly because I have large hands. Without a good controller grip they are so small they are literally uncomfortably to handle. The stock controller grip actually exaggerates the problem.

NES - pretty good
SNES - refined on NES into bliss
N64 - NO, this is being weird for the sake of being weird
GC - Similar to SNES, but still working the weird out the system
Wii - Not bad as a remote, but too round sideways
Wii Classic - bulbous backside makes it hard to hold
Wii U Gamepad - too heavy for what it wanted to do (never delivered either)
Joy Cons - too dang small
Switch Pro Controller - great, except the d-pad is tiny

It was really cool for it's time, that the analogue stick is not really nice compared to what we have today and the layout is weird.
I get that you have multiple hand positions to be used with different games but it was kind of confusing. especially in games that utilized all buttons. I thing the gamecube controller was far superior.

I have a hard time, no, make that I will never believe a controller based on the N64 design could ever be "the best ever." It was innovative for its time, but there's a reason no one, including Nintendo, made controllers like that again.

To this day I still think its an amazing controller. I have tried Mario 64, Starfox 64, Zelda 64, Fzero on various systems. Nothing comes close to using the original N64 pad with these titles, it just feels intuitive. Its obvious these games were designed around this great controller.

Best to-the-space-pass in a football game EVER.
The PlayStation controller felt absurdily unprecise and awkward then and Still hate it today thanks to my Nintendo background.
If you played the N64 or the GC controller at their time with their games, nothing can get close to them. Period.
A design masterpiece we will still discuss 30 years after it. Ops. It’s NOW.
OMG I’m so old.

Neither of these two arguments feel like arguments to me. "it feels good" and "the layout is just strange" aren't making any points for or against. That being said the "for" section feels genuine, if a bit subjective. The "against" section... I feel like they are just upset that some people really like it.

Let me tell you this: It's a lot better than many people these days give it credit for. And at the time it was far beyond anything seen before in any previous home console controller designs--calling it revolutionary and paradigm-shifting is not overstating things--and I guarantee it was also beyond anything anyone on this site ever thought up at the time, and likely since too, so credit where credit is due.

How many controllers have ever offered this level of versatility for playing so many different types of games both old and new:

https://i.imgur.com/QABlI9e.png (old school SNES style plus two totally unique configurations, including being both left and right handed friendly, and it introduced most of us to proper analog thumbstick control for the first time as well as rumble too)

And 99% of people don't even know you can hold one in each hand by the centre prong to play games like GoldenEye 64 and Perfect Dark dual analog, which means it was the first controller ever to be designed in such a way that it actually allowed for this (long before Sony ever nicked the idea):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDQ_ri2ZbY4

It's also still one of the most comfortable controllers to hold to date (for people who actually hold it correctly--some genuinely don't).

If you honestly don't see the genius in this controller then I think you're showing your ignorance and/or sheep-like thinking where you just spout the same old trash talk that a bunch of other tweens and weak minds like to spout these days.

@RadioHedgeFund @dartmonkey Nintendo Power described it in the prerelease hype: the point of the D-Pad on the left and the stick in the middle was to give game developers a choice between the digital or analog control (and also why it had three handles). They intended developers to use the left or the middle third with the left hand and the right third with the right hand.

As we know, most developers chose the analog control.

Nothing will ever beat the GC's Wavebird for ergonomics in my opinion.

I recently bought a USB one because I missed it so much

@GrailUK I have two OG controllers that I rotated out every month (looking back that was amazing foresight for an 11 year old, but that was the most difficult system for me to get so I remember treating it like gold). As such they are still in fantastic condition to this day. I did buy a used one and replaced the stick so I could retire my originals.

In retrospect, the N64 controller was actually the most left-handed friendly controller to ever exist even if it was ugly as sin.

@impurekind I think the dual stick using 2x controllers was a convenient work around implemented by Rare rather than it being something Nintendo necessarily set out to support in their design. Wouldn’t be the first hardware hack Rare had. They also famously had the cartridge swapping planned for Banjo Kazooie/Tooie to take advantage of how the console retained memory caches.

@Ryu_Niiyama Oh nice one! I have one still unused in it's box. Saving it for my retirement hahah!

The stick sucked there I said it.

@Smigit Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was some genius at Rare that thought to do it rather than something Nintendo intended/documented from the start, but that is precisely the thing about amazing hardware because it allows for such awesome creative uses. I mean, you certainly couldn't do dual analog control for an fps on the original PlayStation controllers, or any kind of analog control for that matter, hence why Sony outright copied Nintendo and then iterated on its unique N64 controller design to end up with the Dual Analog controller. The incredibly smart and talented people are Rare used it to do something no one had ever done previously on a home console, and that's partly because it simply wasn't possible on any home console previously. And that is the meat of my point: The N64 controller was absolutely revolutionary and paradigm-shifting, it allowed creative people to do some truly wonderful things that simply hadn't been done before, and it's more than earned its due.

I realised what an awesome controller that monstrosity was after many many years when i got Lylat wars for 3DS
To my surprise i couldn't get into 3DS controls with that game to a point that i got the cart out of 3DS and never played it again.

It was very forward thinking of Nintendo to make a controller for three-armed future-mutants.

Not enough love in the comments for the Wii U pro controller! That controller is super underrated

It isn't the worst controller I've used, but that isn't really a high bar to reach. I think it's the worst Nintendo one I've used, but I've never tried a PowerGlove.

I think we can all agree that reintroducing analogue stick control with the N64 was a good idea, but everyone else that followed did it better.

It was innovative. Nintendo Innovates, the rest Imitate. The controller was built pretty much specifically for Mario 64 and that pairing of game and controller are probably the best of all-time. The stick is STILL much more precise than modern controllers - IF you can find a controller without a loose one that as.

As far as the D-pad or the L button go...HELLO?! Did any of you ever play Killer Instinct Gold? Mortal Kombat Trilogy? Tetris? Kirby 64?

I have fond memories of my N64 as a kid. Recently, I was finally able to snag one of the NSO N64 controllers from Nintendo. I sold it less than a week after it arrived. Absolutely terrible unergonomic design, not designed for adult hands. I ended up buying the Retro Fighters Brawler 64 bluetooth controller to play NSO. 1000x better.