Best Sega Style 6 Button Bluetooth Controller

[Misly]

Sharing my experiences of Sega style Bluetooth controllers here at the Ranch - with the experts - to identify the best way forward.

I have spent way too much money on 6 button Sega style Bluetooth controllers. Trying to equal the experience of the Sega original 6 button controllers.

For many many years I used a Saturn to USB converter and retro gamed on my PC with original old school Sega Saturn Controllers. No Dpad broke in decades.

Then November 2019 I switched from Windows to Linux as my home PC and continued to retrogame. I purchased the Retro Bit official Sega 8 button Megadrive controllers (With L and R) . These are fantastic for how they control and responsiveness. But after 2 - 3 months worth of use, the Dpad breaks. Everytime. The Right DPad broke for 3 Retro Bit official Sega Megadrive, and 1 Retrobit official Sega Saturn pad.

The Sega Saturn Retro Bit is working flawlessly after repairs. I got creative with a dremel and fixed the Sega Saturn bluetooth. The Sega Saturn Retro Bit had a screw holding the dPad to the backing plastic, so to fix the broken Dpad, I ground down the raised plastic to make it flush and superglued the plastic from a bread tie cut to shape. I have done this twice now as the Dpad broke again (in a new direction). This controller is working flawlessly.

For the lols. My repairs:



The white in the photo is paper towel - cleaning up the superglue!

I only had one Sega Satrun bluetooth controller, and I was sick of fixing it. You cant repair the Retro Bit Bluetooth Megadrive Dpad the same way because the Dpad isnt screwed into the backing plastic.

So a few weeks ago I tried the 8BitDo M30 Sega style 8 button bluetooth gamepad. I purchased 2. I was disappointed. I noticed straight away with different games that the Dpad wasnt up to Sega's high standard. Both 8BitDo's have floaty Dpads that do not respond as tight as the official original, or Retro Bit Official Sega Dpads. It is subtle, but enough to piss me off, An example is when doing Adams dash in Streets of Rage 4 - I can do unlimited dashes in a row with both the original, and official Retro Bit Sega Controllers, but subsequent dashes on both 8BitDo controllers fail. Which is in strong contrast to the reliability of the Dpad of the officials.

So I can continue to use the Sega originals, that have decades of abuse and are still working strong. But the big screen is in another room to the PC, so I dont want to be wired.

I can buy a second Sega Saturn Bluetooth and keep repairing it as the 4 directions of the Dpad break.

Or does any Rancher know of a 6 face button bluetooth controller with a Sega standard Dpad that wont break, and has the responsiveness of the Sega originals?

Thoughts?

[BOOMY]

Yep can confirm. Avoid retrobit. They break.

Over last years lockdown, NHL 94 covid bubble shenanigans were rampant. within a few months the retrobit megadrive reissue controller we were using started malfunctioning; the controller would be permanently holding right even when the player pressed nothing. On inspection, the rubber suction cup thingies that are depressed under the dpad piece had ruptured. Not sure where I can get a replacement piece for this that will fit.
Meanwhile, the official controllers we were using, some 30 years old, some with screws so rusted you cant even open them, work absolutely fine. The retrobit one didn't even last 6 months.

So yes, I would also like an option for some quality controller reissues. For me, ones that work with a Megadrive not USB. It is important that it has the original form factor, as sliding from B button to C button with a flick of the thumb for a one timer in NHL is important and when we use controllers that arent shaped like the official 6 button pad, someone is always at a disadvantage. I have an official sega turbo pad where the buttons are leveled slightly differently and you cant do this sliding B to C manouvre.

I also want to get my fighting arcade stick modified so I can use it with a megadrive, but all the info I find isn't specific enough and its all too overwhelming. But this is off topic I suppose.

[unfnknblvbl]

You can buy a Bluetooth conversion kit for the original 6B Megadrive controllers. The downside though is you have to use the cable the include with it to charge, since the micro USB port is embedded a little further back than will allow a standard cable to fit.

I have a pair of the M30 pads. They're mostly ok, but the dpad is feeling kinda crunchy the more I play it. And it REALLY annoys me that the Mode button is mapped to one of the centre buttons when you use it on real hardware instead of the shoulder buttons.

[unfnknblvbl]

While we're at it, how in the name of all that is holy has nobody managed to create a better controller for 2D games than the Megadrive/Saturn pads? That shit is perfection, right there.

I bought the Japanese Megadrive Mini, and can confirm that the USB pads it comes with are perfection as well.