The best of : Controllers for dreamcast

I really don't care for the original Dreamcast controller. The grip/"feel" is nice, but just about everything else annoys me. The buttons are spongy, as someone noted, and the analog stick isn't so great, either. I have no problems with either of the triggers, though.

Just for the record, the Dreamcast controller is the only one I've ever used for the system, so my opinion probably doesn't matter much .

 

I really like the original Dreamcast controller, even if it does need some improvement in terms of buttons (both the cross-pad and the XABY deal) - but the triggers are awesome, I think.

I've tried a transparent - purplish pad by, I think, Nyko, and it wasn't very good. That Ascii pad does look insanely sweet. Can it be obtained in America?

 

I don't like the stock Dreamcast controller too much myself. My main problem with it is that the "handles" come down to too much of an acute angle which means I have to decided between a firm grip and sore wrists after about an hour or else a really loose grip (I generally go with the latter, in fact my grip is so loose that I'm resting the controller on my belly as much as actually holding it). The dpad, in my opinion, has good response, but it's shape is horrible and it's much too raised above the surface of the controller, these things lead to slippage and sore thumbs in dpad intensive game; Sega really should have stuck with the round dpads they used in the Genesis 6-button controller and the better Saturn controllers. Of course, the best "dpad" is a clicky stick like the Neo Geo CD or Neo Pocket have. I have no real beef with the analog stick, I think it has the best feel and response of any analog pad I've used, but the hard plastic nubs on the top are pretty irritating; I prefer the physical design of the Dual Shock's sticks, or even better, the Saturn NiGHTS controller's analog pad. Four action buttons was a big mistake, too, in my opinion; six is just better for any and all purposes. The shoulder triggers, I have no complaint with, even though they could get very irritating in some games like Crazy Taxi I think the problem actually comes down the controller's overall shape.

Despite my all complaints, I use the stock pad for most gaming on my Dreamcast because even though other controllers fix many of its problems, they have problems of their own. In my opinion, the best third party controller that has all the functionality of the stock pad is the MadCatz DreamPad. The DreamPad fixes the angle of the "handles," though it actually makes them slightly too wide...once again, the NiGHTS controller is the one that hits the sweet spot. It fixes the shape of the dpad, making it more or less like the circular dpads of older Sega controllers, but unfortunately it's far too "digital" feeling for my likes...each direction sort of clacks into place, I like a more spongy dpad (I have tried taking the controller apart and altering the rubber pad under the dpad to make it less digital feeling, but I can't get it soft enough for my likes. It fixes the irritation caused by the stock controllers all-plastic analog stick, but its analog is really way too loose, though it very responsive. It has six buttons and they can be fully remapped and they can act either as digital versions of the L and R triggers or they can act like Z and C (like on the Arcade Stick) and there's really no downside to the buttons; they feel good, they're spaced well and they're responsive...maybe they're a tiny bit too small. The shoulder triggers are good, though they're not quite as smooth as the stock pad's triggers.

So yeah, the DreamPad is a very good alternative if there's things about the stock bad that bother you, but it has faults of its own unfortunately. I used it as my primary Dreamcast controller for years and was pretty happy with it, I went back to using the stock pad a couple years ago, though.

I really wish Sega had just added a VMU slot to the NiGHTS controller. That was the best analog controller ever, in my opinion, just as the Saturn's digital controller was the best digital controller ever. Then I wouldn't have to decide between which controller's problems bother me less. Most unfortunate of all is the fact that none of the Saturn-to-Dreamcast adapters out there work with the NiGHTS controller (I have one that almost works, but only the X-axis of the analog pad is supported, but not the Y-axis).

As for digital-only controllers, I'd much rather use a real Saturn pad with an adapter than the ASCII fighting pad. The the buttons and especially the dpad on the ASCII pad don't feel nearly as tight and responsive as the ones on the Saturn controller and I prefer having the upper row of bottons smally for a variety of reasons.

For arcade sticks, I haven't used the ASCII Stick FT, but it has an optical stick instead of the microswitch one in the normal ASCII Arcade Stick (the one with green buttons and that was sold in the U.S. by Agetec), so I imagine that I would like it more for that reason. It looks like it has slightly less space under the buttons and stick than the Agetec one, though, and it also slopes down, both of those things might be problematic. The Agetec stick is great anyway, so I'm not too concerned with any improvements the FT version might have made. The stick can be a little tight or uneven at first, but I find that it wears in after a while and feels just perfect. My only real complaint with it is that it has a bit of a hollow sound...I guess there should have been a layer of plywood under the surface just like a real arcade console.


...word is bondage...

 

Personally I love the original DC arcade stick ( I have 4). Solid and responsive and it has the same feel (as its essentially the same) as the Naomi cabs. I found that the Ascii Stick was a bit second rate and not very responsive compared to it.

I use an X-arcade stick quite alot as its good to have one stick for many systems.. But i do really like the DC stick (Plus When playing Gigawing 2 and powerstone 2 I need four sticks)