Retro-Bit SEGA Saturn Pro Wireless 2.4G Controller - Black

Rating 4 Stars I pre-ordered this controller and I have no regrets. Maybe because it was pricer than now but lets continue with the review... Review made based on my Sega Saturn (Firmware 1.10 update) experience (not PC one): #Positive impressions: 1) All face buttons are precise and soft, they feel great, no clicking, just perfect! This D-PAD is way better than my Retrobit 6 button Mega Drive wireless V1, it is smoother and more precise. I don't have problems with diagonal inputs. I would love to buy this D-pad part and install in my Mega Drive V1 though. 2) The best thing of this controller are not the analog joysticks, I'm not saying that they are bad, they are good but what I will highlight are the Shoulder and Trigger buttons. Shoulder and trigger buttons are the smoothest you will ever experience in video games. They don't have the click noise because they don't use microswitches :( but they feel great when you press them, whereas the original design didn't feel right when the user pressed the buttons, it felt hollow. I really want to press them all the time because they feel really good! I can imagine playing Death Tank multiplayer with it, it will be a blast I guarantee. One thing to add, the Z and C buttons are duplicated as shoulder buttons, a nice feature for small hands that prefer the "Sony/Microsoft/Snes Layout". 3) Contrary of what people say, the analog sticks are great and fit well and they are Hall-effect, so no drifting! I can easily use them while pressing the other face buttons and shoulder/trigger buttons. There are three modes: The default one which the joystick mimics the d-pad for those that dislike using the D-PAD in some games. The second mode turns you pad in a 3D one - activated by holding Start + B - so you can play games like NiGHTs (worked like a charm!). The third mode is the dual sticks that will have benefits for those who play Virtual On and Bulk Slash (English Fan Translation with Dual Stick support) - activated by holding Start + X for 5 seconds. 4) Easy to update by downloading firmware from Retrobit website, running the setup and inserting USB dongle into PC USB port. 5) The Saturn Input Dongle looks like an official one just like the wired controllers. This isn't what happened with the Retrobit Mega Drive 6 button Wireless Crystal Clear V1, which looks generic and fake. #Negative impressions: 1) The triggers aren't analog. So games that use this feature won't work as intended (racing games like Daytona or Sega Rally) when in the second mode - 3D. The shoulder / trigger buttons can't be remapped, this could be easily fixed if Retrobit had a App or a firmware that could map them to any other face button of the user preference. 2) The dual joysticks dual-stick mode doesn't come in the factory firmware, you have to update it, this isn't a bummer but... The thing is the right stick has a weird mapping. R-Joystick-Up is mapped as Y, R-Joystick-Down as X, R-Joystick-Left as A and R-Joystick-Right as B. Because of this I can't control the Virtual On robot - if I use the R-Joystick-Down it turns left, because of this if I use the R-Joystick-Left it won't turn left, I think maybe it jumps, as I got confused I can't remember. Or they should fix it to follow the In-Game options (a control scheme that mimics the dual-stick but with a pad and Y, X, A, B as a cross shape) which would be X to turn Left and B to turn Right and because of that the R-Joystick-Left needed to be mapped to X and R-Joystick-Right to B, following the cross shape of these face buttons. Maybe I understood wrong and I should set up the game in a different control scheme? How I should now if there isn't more instructions about it? I thought that it would be automatic if I set it before the game booted. 3) The USB dongle isn't USB C, its the old Micro USB. It's kind of strange because the controller is USB C and could had benefit from the same included cable. 4) I couldn't find a pdf manual online. What will happen if I miss my printed one? It would be nice to have one digital manual with the default firmware and a second that is updated with newer instructions. #Conclusion A great controller that feels solid and probably will last forever, with great features and more confortable than the original one. Not perfect as noted in the Negative impressions, but I believe its a must buy if you love your Sega Saturn.

It's an easy-to-use controller. The keys are very responsive, the analogue buttons are tight, and the materials are of good quality. I recommend this

It's a really good controller, but it's also very flat, I wish it had the design of the beautiful European Saturn controller. The controller wasn't recognized by steam or emulators at the beginning, I managed to use it later but I don't remember what I did for that ^^ Other than that, the DPad seems okay (I think I had one bad input once, but I'm not sure, it could be me or the emulator), the Joysticks seems good even though they are tiny, they kinda have the same feeling as a PSVita imo. Overall I think that's probably the best third party Saturn Controller.