The Nintendo 64 was a fantastic console, home to generation-defining games such as Super Mario 64 and GoldenEye 007. With its four built-in controller ports, it revolutionized multiplayer gaming in front of the TV, and it was the first mainstream console to introduce an analog stick, essential for navigating the burgeoning 3D worlds the medium was starting to deliver.
Unfortunately, the controller it did all that with was an abomination, an unholy three-pronged monstrosity that earned my lifelong disdain. Fast-forward roughly three decades, though, and third-party peripheral maker 8BitDo has improved on the original N64 pad in almost every way with its new 64 Bluetooth Controller.
Nostalgia Upgraded
Photograph: Matt Kamen
8BitDo’s pad is chiefly designed for the Analogue3D, an upcoming field programmable gate array (FPGA) console set to play original N64 cartridges, but it can be paired to practically any Bluetooth-enabled device, from PCs to smartphones to Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 consoles, where it can be used to play the digital N64 game library included for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers.
Aesthetically, traditionalists may lament the lack of the original N64 pad’s pops of color, but they have a sleek elegance to them. Intended to mirror the similarly monochrome Analogue3D, 8BitDo’s efforts match perfectly, while also looking like a fitting companion to Nintendo’s official Switch 2 Pro Controller. Functionally, this takes everything that made Nintendo’s original controller so groundbreaking and repackages it into a modern unit that, crucially, fits into the average human’s two hands. Every input is present and accounted for, accurate down to icons and fonts.
The 64 Bluetooth Controller massively improves the orientation, though. The original Z-Trigger, once on the underside of the official controller’s middle prong, is now two shoulder buttons, sitting where the L2/R2 triggers do on a PlayStation grip, while the analog stick is shunted to the left, comparable to an Xbox controller’s left stick. The result is that every input is within easy reach, eliminating the need to juggle your grip. It also introduces some welcome 21st-century upgrades, like making the thumbstick drift-proof thanks to Hall effect tech, and baking in haptic feedback, eliminating the need for a separate Rumble Pak.
Stick ’Em Up
Photograph: Matt Kamen
The thumbstick is the star, feeling incredibly precise thanks to both Hall effect sensors and retaining the eight-way “gate” at its base, the octagonal notches allowing it to snap satisfyingly into place. Expect effortless combos in 1080° Snowboarding, precise shots in Perfect Dark, and smooth flying in Starfox. The staff of the stick is also wider, shorter, and made of metal, making it feel far sturdier than that of the original pad. While the top of the stick reproduces the trio of raised concentric rings and subtle concave dip for your thumb to rest on, it’s rubberized now, rather than slippery plastic, making for a surer grip.