{"id":1549,"date":"2017-10-05T11:45:00","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T11:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals"},"modified":"2017-10-05T11:45:00","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T11:45:00","slug":"hardware-review-retro-bits-snes-and-mega-drive-pads-will-relieve-your-battered-originals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2017\/10\/05\/hardware-review-retro-bits-snes-and-mega-drive-pads-will-relieve-your-battered-originals\/","title":{"rendered":"Hardware Review: Retro-Bit&#8217;s SNES And Mega Drive Pads Will Relieve Your Battered Originals"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"picture strip\">\n<div class=\"img\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/0\/original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/0\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_6753.JPG\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p><a class=\"external\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RetroBitGaming?lang=en\">Retro-Bit&#8217;s<\/a> no stranger to creating serviceable controllers for old-school systems &#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/05\/video_take_a_look_at_retro-bits_capcom-themed_nes_controllers\">we covered its excellent NES pads not so long ago<\/a> &#8211; but the company is moving up a generation with its next products, aiming for SNES and Mega Drive \/ Genesis owners.<\/p>\n<p>The new <a class=\"external\" href=\"http:\/\/retro-bit.com\/capcom-controllers.html\">&#8220;Dual Link&#8221; pads<\/a> are, as the name suggests, able to interface not only with the original hardware, but also with PCs, Macs and other devices which accept USB controllers &#8211; which makes them the ideal purchase for players who want control options across more than one platform.<\/p>\n<p>Available in <strong>Street Fighter<\/strong> and <strong>Mega Man<\/strong> flavours, the pads themselves are a close match to the original designs. The SNES variant feels just like the real thing, although the plastic is noticeably cheaper and has a slightly different texture. The buttons are a little more spongy, but not by much &#8211; and after a few hours of play we had no complaints.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/1\/original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/1\/292x245.jpg\" width=\"292\" height=\"245\" alt=\"IMG_6747.JPG\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/2\/original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/2\/292x245.jpg\" width=\"292\" height=\"245\" alt=\"IMG_6749.JPG\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/3\/original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/3\/603x495.jpg\" width=\"603\" height=\"495\" alt=\"IMG_6748.JPG\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The Mega Drive pad is modelled not on the original three-button controller which shipped with the console at launch, but the fancy six-button variant released alongside <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/megadrive\/street_fighter_ii_special_champion_edition\">Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition<\/a><\/strong>. It&#8217;s arguably one of the best controllers ever made, with a lovely rolling D-pad and all six buttons on the face of the pad itself, making it absolutely <em>perfect<\/em> for Street Fighter matches. It even comes with the &#8220;Mode&#8221; button on the top edge, which was included on the original controller to avoid compatibility issues with certain titles. Again, the quality is very, <em>very<\/em> close to the real deal.<\/p>\n<p>While the Dual Link functionality means you have to put up with two plugs on the end of the lead instead of just one (and, believe us, it looks <em>awful<\/em> messy when plugged in), it&#8217;s more than worth it; being able to use the pad on other systems is a real boon &#8211; the Mega Drive controller in particular is now our go-to choice when it comes to playing Capcom&#8217;s amazing catalogue of arcade one-on-one fighters via MAME.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"col\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/4\/original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/4\/292x245.jpg\" width=\"292\" height=\"245\" alt=\"IMG_6750.JPG\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/5\/original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/5\/292x245.jpg\" width=\"292\" height=\"245\" alt=\"IMG_6751.JPG\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"col\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/6\/original.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/news\/2017\/10\/hardware_review_retro-bits_snes_and_mega_drive_pads_will_relieve_your_battered_originals\/attachment\/6\/603x495.jpg\" width=\"603\" height=\"495\" alt=\"IMG_6752.JPG\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>These pads certainly represent a solid purchase, especially if you&#8217;re keen on keeping your retro systems alive but can&#8217;t find decent quality versions of the original pads. We have to admit that our SNES and Mega Drive originals have seen better days, and the fact that these Retro-Bit offerings double as fine USB pads is a bonus. The Street Fighter and Mega Man designs are perhaps more of an acquired taste, but that&#8217;s all down to personal preference. If you need some new pads, then these are worth a look.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Retro-Bit&#8217;s no stranger to creating serviceable controllers for old-school systems &#8211; we covered its excellent NES pads not so long ago &#8211; but the company is moving up a generation with its next products, aiming for SNES and Mega Drive \/ Genesis owners. The new &#8220;Dual Link&#8221; pads are, as the name suggests, able to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1549\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}