30 Years On, I’ve Lastly Come Round On The N64 Pad

The N64 turns 30 on twenty third June 2026. To have a good time, we’ll be working a sequence of articles celebrating the 64-bit machine and its industry-shaping software program over the subsequent week or so.

In the present day, it might need taken one of the best a part of 30 years, however Ollie has lastly seen the sunshine in the case of the system’s revolutionary but undeniably odd controller…

After I was a child, I’m sorry to say that I utterly missed the N64. This wasn’t via selection, thoughts you – I obtained the Mega Drive from my older brother when he upgraded to PS1, then later the PS1 when he upgraded to PS2. It wasn’t till the GameCube that I used to be in a position to purchase a house console for myself.

So, I didn’t play the N64 in any respect till most likely the mid ‘00s, although I’d quickly expertise lots of the system’s largest hits via the Digital Console and 3DS ports.

Most notably, my first time taking part in Zelda: Ocarina of Time was through the Wind Waker promotional disc launch in 2003. I distinctly keep in mind feeling like I used to be so late to the occasion, although in hindsight, experiencing it simply 5 years after its N64 launch isn’t too unhealthy.

The uncommon moments I did get to play the N64 got here completely via visiting my pals’ homes. We’d boot up GoldenEye 007 and Mario Kart 64 and play for a short time, however it was by no means too lengthy till I’d yearn to do one thing else totally. The rationale? I simply didn’t just like the N64 pad.

Going from Mega Drive to PS1 to GameCube, every controller felt like a reasonably pure evolution of the earlier one. Regardless of the addition of the analogue sticks on the DualShock and the distinct rearrangement of inputs on the GameCube pad, the general form and format felt related and intuitive, so transferring from one to the subsequent was a breeze.

So throughout these quick multiplayer periods with an N64 pad, I couldn’t stand it. Why was the analogue stick within the center? What the heck are these bizarre ‘C’ buttons? Why are there three handles?!

I couldn’t fairly wrap my thoughts round Nintendo’s ‘M-shaped’ design, which shortly led to frustration when taking part in aggressive titles. Being a younger teenager on the time, a few heavy losses in ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ was fairly sufficient for me, so I would promptly recommend stepping exterior to do anything.

I could not think about ever wanting to make use of that pad once more, however when Nintendo launched the N64 app for Change On-line and launched an accompanying wi-fi controller, I assumed I would lastly give it a correct probability. And boy, am I glad I did! My opinion on the N64 pad has just about utterly reversed. I like this factor.

The primary sport I attempted on NSO was Tremendous Mario 64, adopted swiftly by Star Fox 64 and Ocarina of Time. I do not know if it is as a result of I used to be lastly in a position to take my time to get used to the controller alone phrases, however instantly the whole lot felt proper.

That is to not say it was an instantaneous eureka second – there was nonetheless an adjustment interval to rewire my decades-long muscle reminiscence. However as soon as I realised that I did not want to fret concerning the D-pad and ‘L’ enter fairly a lot, the whole lot else simply fell into place.

Certainly, I am virtually embarrassed at how shortly I acquired to grips with it after falling by the wayside as an adolescent. Transferring Mario with the analogue stick, utilizing the C-buttons to swing the digital camera round… All of it feels fairly pure to me now.

My earlier expertise with Ocarina additionally taught me that the sport actually has no digital camera controls, bar a fast re-centre with ‘Z’ and a few minor first-person shenanigans. So the place I would beforehand used the C-stick on the GameCube pad to make use of objects, I now simply needed to switch that data to the C-buttons. Straightforward.

Is the N64 pad an objectively good controller? [Yes. – Ed.] Effectively… truthfully, that is a tough query to reply. There’s clearly a cause Nintendo by no means returned to its distinctive, weird design, whereas the overwhelming majority of contemporary controllers settled right into a tried-and-tested dual-analogue method wherein the one differentiating issue is whether or not the analogue sticks are offset or not.

I am unable to deny, nevertheless, that it really works splendidly for the system it was designed for, and I’ve performed virtually each N64 sport on NSO (I’ve nonetheless but to the touch Donkey Kong 64, however I will get there). I’ve additionally acquired the 8BitDo 64 Controller, and nearly as good as it’s, I would nonetheless a lot reasonably use the right, official pad from Nintendo. The bizarre design is essential to its attraction, and an enormous a part of why I like it now.

There’s actually nothing else prefer it.