Today I was lucky enough to pickup the Classic Controller for the Wii. I wasn’t thinking about purchasing it yet, but since it was available (and much isn’t) I decided to get it alongside with a Wii Points Card. So as soon as I got home, I was off to grabbing a piece of gaming memorabilia.

So, what does it feel like? Well, it feels light, but not too light, it also feels very solid and extremely comfortable.

The D-Pad of this remote is by far one of those most comfortable ones I have ever felt, surpassing even the Wiimote’s which is thinner and smaller. It was definitely made for long gaming sessions.

The right side of the pad is more disappointing. The four buttons: y, x, b and a; are quite separated from each other. Just for you to have an idea of how far that placement is, I can place my thumb between the “y” and “a” buttons which are on opposing sides of the “cross”. Though this won’t be an issue for most games, like platformers and the like, fans of beat-em-ups might find it a bit harder to pull through those 16 button combos.

The analog buttons feel like heaven! If you’ve owned a Nintendo 64, like myself, and used to play it during long periods of time (specially when you had friends over), then you certainly remember how much your thumb, which used the analog stick, used to ache after such a session. Thankfully, the Classic Controller’s analog sticks are very soft, and allow you to make great use of it, even if your hands become sweaty. It’s definitely another improvement!

If you have ever played with a Dreamcast controller, the “L” and “R” buttons will feel very familiar to you, although in this particular case, they are more comfortable to press. Made from the same soft material that the D-Pad is, these two buttons are spring activated and act in a way that reminds me of the Dreamcast’s own L and R buttons, which were referred to as triggers back then. I’m not sure if these buttons are analog or not but they are least very comfortable and big.

Last, but not least, we have two Z buttons, however, unlike the Nintendo 64, they are not placed behind the controller, as triggers, but instead they are between the L and R buttons, which feels a bit weird at first (and made me miss a lot of jumps on Mario 64).

Conclusion

So, what can be said about the Classic controller? Well, on the positive side, you get a great, well-built and comfortable controller that will adapt itself to various other consoles.

But on the negative side, you will sometimes hit your thumbs, if you’re moving both analog sticks at the same time (they are a bit too close to each other), and you might not enjoy the Z button as much as you would if you were using the Nintendo 64 controller.

Another aspect about the controller, which can be positive or negative depending on your opinion, is that you need to plug the Classic controller in a Wiimote in order to use it.

In conclusion, although it has some slight flaws, this is one of the best controllers I’ve ever used, and once you pick one up I think that you’ll share the same opinion as me.

I give the Wii Classic Controller a 4.8 out of 5!