I stumbled upon the Retrolink USB NES Controller online awhile ago. On a whim, I decided to pick it up.
The controller arrived a few days ago.
Here it is:
Retrolink's USB Nintendo Entertainment System Control Pad
Here’s a shot of the original NES Controller for comparison:
The original Nintendo Entertainment System Control Pad
The Retrolink controller closely resembles the original NES Gamepad, no doubt a large part of the peripheral’s appeal. To the designers’ credit, the only noticeable difference between the two controllers is the logo in the upper righthand corner. Even the back of the controller (not pictured here) looks the same, screws and all.
Of equal importance to the avid retro gamer, the Retrolink NES Controller feels almost exactly the same as the classic NES gamepad, sporting the same dimensions, boxy design, and “clicky” buttons, albeit noticeably lighter, feeling practically hollow inside.
The controller is easy to set up and use. Simply attach the controller to your computer, PC or Mac, via the 6-foot-long USB cord, and you’re ready to play, no fussing with adapters and complicated software installations.
The controller performs exactly as advertised. The D-pad and buttons are all responsive and seem able to withstand many long hours of frantic, button mashing-type abuse. The USB cord is long enough so that there’s little risk of accidentally pulling the controller loose in the heat of the moment and actually helps to recreate the feeling of sitting in front of the TV in the family room with the lights off, stomping Goombas, and collecting coins into the wee hours of the night.
For retro gamers like myself who grew up playing 8-bit classics like the original Super Mario Bros. and The Legend Of Zelda on the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Retrolink USB NES Controller just feels right, and that’s the most important thing.
Tags: Classic NES Controller, NES Controller, NES Gamepad, Retrolink Controller, Retrolink NES Control Pad, Retrolink USB NES Controller, Retrolink USB NES Controller Review, USB NES Controller
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can’t forget duck hunt…when are they going to make a retro gun and what was that robot that they released as well?
You know, I was actually going to say Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt at first, just because I never actually owned/played through the entirety of the original Legend Of Zelda for NES. That, and the copy of SMB I owned was one of the later editions that came bundled with Duck Hunt. (Of course, right then it occurred to me that you can’t play Duck Hunt, at least in the traditional sense, with the classic control pad anyway. More on that below…)
No Zelda? Travesty, I know, but I was one of those poor, lamentable souls who didn’t get a NES until five years after all the other kids got one. I wasn’t the last kid on the block, more like the last kid on the island! And by then, of course, the first Zelda was old news.
Oddly enough, I actually “played” with R.O.B., the name of the robot-like NES peripheral you mention, at my childhood friend Travis’ house back in the day. (Travis was in the exact opposite situation as me and got every system and every game right when it came out. Hence, actually owning Gyromite and R.O.B.)
A working USB NES Zapper Light Gun would be fun to have lying around the house as a conversation piece but given the limited software support the peripheral received in its day (two games, I believe), I doubt we’ll see a readymade, plug and play replica anytime soon.
As a reward for reading through this ridiculously long comment, a little known piece of trivia related to Duck Hunt: if you plug in the second controller, you can “play” as the Duck. The controls are a bit dodgy, as the Duck will do whatever it pleases when you’re not pressing down a direction on the D-pad, but it does work. My brother and I would sometimes take turns being the Duck. HA!
The “2 Player mode” of Duck Hunt is actually included in the instruction manual, but very few kids actually took the time to read through the entire manual for Duck Hunt cover-to-cover as I did.