Retro Bit - Retrolink USB SEGA Saturn Classic Controller Mac/PC Compatible– Black

Looks and feels almost exactly like an original Sega Saturn controller (which I also own). Some people say it feels cheap but this is what the original Saturn controller felt like. It works perfectly and my ONLY concern (other than the noisy L/R buttons which is not a big deal for me) is durability, as many other reviewers have commented that theirs have broken after some use. I've had mine for about a month or so and have used it almost daily and it is holding up, but I have bought 3 more just in case (at $10 a pop, might as well). You really can't beat this for 2D gaming on emulators, whether you are playing a fighter, platformer, or even just an RPG. I also own 8bitdo's NES and SNES replicas and the NES one is actually less responsive than this controller (even when wired). Final note: You can separate the circuit board/chord from the shell and place them into an original Saturn pad, apprently (requires some "padding" under the L/R buttons but otherwise apparently works perfectly or so I've heard) but this pad is cheap and good enough you probably wont need to.

I just got this controller, and so far it's working fine, then again, i'm not a testosterone driven nut who MASHES on the buttons like many gamers are. It's holding up well, their is a chance that the ones ordered before were just ones that came off the assembly line wrong, these things happen. I will update again later with another review if anything changes, but so far i am loving it. When i first got it, the buttons were a little stiff, but after pressing them enough, they have loosened up, and the thing works great, i am a bit worried about the C button though, it does not have the same .. push and click the other buttons do, i am gonna take it easy on it, i suggest anyone else who buys this do the same, be gentle with it.

I didn't expect much from a cheap controller, but I had heard from various places that the d-pads on these things are close to the original Saturn controllers. The reality is that this thing has the spottiest, most unreliable d-pad I've ever used. I noticed that the actuation points for the left and right directions were well past the tactile "bump" you feel when you press the button, and I needed to apply a little extra pressure on top of that for the controller to register a press. For fighting games and shmups which require very precise and quick movements, it feels like rolling the dice every time I try to quickly tap in one direction or another. Also if you have anger issues like me, you should know that this controller is made of brittle plastic which can't withstand impacts at all. I threw it exactly once and it broke into many pieces. Even in this bottom-shelf price range, there are plenty of controllers which have consistent d-pads and can withstand lots of abuse. I would only recommend this if you are desperate for a USB controller with the Saturn layout and don't care about performance.

Arrived in good quality, and works perfectly. However, the buttons are quite a bit stiffer than on an original SEGA controller. Particularly the shoulder buttons and the D-pad. Would only recommend if you can't reasonably get your hands on an actual SEGA controller.

I was pleasantly surprised by this. Retrolink has kind of a bum reputation for their clone controllers, and while this isn't a perfect reproduction, it's more than good enough for my purposes, and better than any other saturn knockoff I've used. The D-Pad is either a little smaller or a little higher set than the original, but it's still very nice, and the L and R buttons are much louder than their Saturn originals. This would certainly be suitable for a donor board for restoring a broken OG saturn controller, but honestly, I find it nice enough to use on its own.

This review is based on a Retrolink that got quality checked in 2018. I've attached an image of the QC sticker. I bought originally bought this product to gut it's circuit board to turn a normal Sega Saturn controller into a USB controller. However, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of this one so I used it while waiting for the Saturn controller to be delivered. The d-pad is near identical in quality, the buttons are crisp & snappy and it has the same plastic toy weight as the real thing. The only major difference with the real thing is the shoulder buttons are a bit squishier. There is one major flaw, it uses the old standard of Dinput rather than Xinput. This won't be an issue if you only use this controller for emulation but if you're like myself and use it for modern fighting games you're going to have to go through some headache to get the game to read the controller. If you're going to a local or tournament you're going to need an adapter to play on consoles, an issue you won't necessarily have with other fighting game controllers such as the Fighting Commander. Overall, this is a great controller and I'll continue to use it until wear shows the flaws in it's build quality. I'll update this review if/when the controller fails so you'll have a good idea of how long it'll last. If any of you also have a 2018 controller please leave a comment because I'm curious if the quality is high on all of them or if I just got lucky. EDIT: The dpad stopped working on 3/30/18 so it lasted about a month. Specifically, it stopped detecting right inputs

Well, I really want to like it, but I hate the way the d-pad works is awful. It's one of those eight-way tilt d-pads. Unfortunately, this results in horrible accuracy where it thinks you're pressing directions that you're not. It's also way too soft and easily pressed in the wrong direction. I tried to stiffen it up with a modification much like the one people say works so well on the 360 gamepad's horrible d-pad, but it helped very little. Other than the d-pad the rest of it seems great. You plug it in and it just works. It's a comfortable design and the buttons are all comfortable to use. Of course, that much is really SEGA's design. The plastic doesn't feel horrendously cheap, so it should hold up well over time too I think. Although if I had to nitpick about the buttons, the start button isn't a proper button like on most gamepads, but the whole thing is one big rubber piece going all the way through instead of plastic on top. That makes it very stiff and uncomfortable to press. Not that you have to press start a lot or very often, so that isn't too big of a deal I suppose. It's just a really strange design choice with no benefits I can see. In the end, my iBuffalo SFC (SNES) gamepad is still the best of my retro-style gamepads by far though. Much much better d-pad, great comfort, and all the buttons are great. I'll be sticking to it for retro gaming outside of the 3/6 button SEGA systems (the SFC/SNES style one still is better for the SMS.)

If you gave me an original controller that came with the console, and this controller, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. In my opinion, the only thing different about this controller is that it has a USB cable on the end of it's roughly 6 foot cable. If you need a longer cable, that's what USB extension cables are for.

This is by far the best controller for Sega games using a PC. I'm a huge retro video game fan and have used quite a few controllers but this one has the right amount of control and is very accurate on the most part compared to using a regular PC or video game controller via USB.

Ich hatte dieses Controller am 21. November bestellt, und hatte am 23. November bekommt. Es funktioniert sehr gut. Ich habe mit drei Fernspiel auf SEGA Genesis überprüft: Streets of Rage, Sonic and Knuckles, and Castlevania Bloodlines. In jemandes Fernspiel, war es perfekt. Aber ich habe eine Rede. Bitte machen Sie Antrag bei Hardware-Ecke-4You für dieses Controller. Ich bin sehr zufrieden mit meinem Controller.

orks great in bizhawk , perfect for sega saturn emulation , haven't tried it in a retro pi, but im confident it should work

Relación calidad/precio estupenda, lo uso en los emuladores de sega megadrive y estupendo. Lo probé en windows, mac y en una tablet samsung con el otg.

15,99 euro è forse un presso un pò eccessivo vista la qualità generale: il controller infatti ha un feeling abbastanza plasticoso con tasti leggermente "ballerini", mentre la croce direzionale (D-pad) ricorda un pò quella non eccelsa del controller dell'X-box 360, ma è ancora più "molliccia"; di positivo (almeno a mio giudizio) c'è il fatto che il joypad è bello esteticamente e molto compatto e leggero (forse anche troppo) così non c'è assolutamente alcun rischio di affaticamento dopo eventuali ore ed ore di gioco. In fin dei conti un gamepad onesto, senza infamia nè lode, se non fosse che, almeno nel modello che mi è stato consegnato,il tasto L sulla spalla sinistra era "difettoso", nel senso che ballava ancora più di quello di destra e quindi ogni tanto si incastrava nel telaio cessando di funzionare finchè non fosse stato "sbloccato" manualmente. Ero tentato di restituire il joypad, ma alla fine ho deciso di aprirlo (invalidando così la garanzia) ed ho notato che i gommini utilizzati per i tasti L ed R sono un pò troppo molli e quindi si crea facilmente una sorta di buco nella parte dove vanno a schiacciare il trigger interno...ho cercato di "lisciare" il più possibile quello sinistro e così ho migliorato un pò la situazione, ma per risolverla del tutto credo che dovrei sostituire il gommino con uno molto più rigido.