Over the last few years, I’ve been loving my wired GameCube controller: it’s served me well in intense rounds of Smash with friends and felt great to use with, say, Super Mario Sunshine. I also enjoyed being able to connect it with devices such as a PC and Steam Deck with relative ease. Nevertheless, I’ve never quite liked the dongle needed with it, which was practically a bulky piece of plastic which eventually broke on me for no reason and which prompted me to buy a third-party one since Nintendo stopped making theirs years ago.
Suffice to say, then, that I was thrilled to hear that, together with the Switch 2, the GameCube controller would be receiving the Nintendo Classics treatment, i.e. it would have full compatibility with the latest Nintendo console, and, more importantly for me, it would probably have Bluetooth functionality with little fuss and, of course, no dongle. Sadly though, especially for the price of 84.99 CAD (if you can even find it at this price to begin with), the end product is rather disappointing since the features lost in the process of modernizing the controller hardly make up for the convenience of having it work flawlessly with the Switch 2.
As you can probably tell from the images included, this new GameCube controller stays very faithful to the design of the old one. The only two components missing are the metal braces/brackets that were used with the shoulder buttons and the notches needed with them. This is likely to be one of the reasons that the new controller is slightly lighter than the original.
On the other hand, the new GameCube controller brings with it features and buttons which put it in line with the other pads, such as the Pro Controller 2, meant for dedicated use with the Switch 2. Namely, the sync, home, capture, C (meant for Game Chat) buttons, player indicator LED and USB-C port are all added to the top of the controller whereas an almost comically small ZL serves as a shoulder button on the left side.
“After actually using the GameCube controller—it’s definitely become my go-to pad for Smash and/or the three games included in the “GameCube Classics” catalogue: F-Zero GX, Soulcalibur II and Wind Waker.”
To my understanding, the ZL is tiny on purpose in order for users to avoid accidentally pressing it when playing GameCube-specific games, for which ZL is “pause”. But, when playing any other title native to the Switch family of systems with this controller, which, yes, for the record, you can absolutely do, despite Nintendo’s mixed messaging, the small size of the button is obviously an annoyance at best.
The only button found on the Pro Controller 2 but not here is the “-” button, which leads to complications when trying to open the map in Breath of the Wild, for example. Surprisingly, given that Nintendo seems to have had only GameCube games in mind when launching this controller, it actually supports motion controls thanks to a built-in gyroscope.
After actually using the GameCube controller—it’s definitely become my go-to pad for Smash and/or the three games included in the “GameCube Classics” catalogue: F-Zero GX, Soulcalibur II and Wind Waker. And…that’s about it. This is because, at least at the time of writing, this new GameCube controller is exclusively compatible with the Switch 2—it’s not even compatible with the first Switch! And, yes, before you ask, some sleuths online have already figured out how to kind of get it working on PC, but, and I can’t believe I’m writing this, for anything but the Switch 2, I have no choice but to keep my original wired controller and the dongle, warts and all.
Everything considered, save for enthusiasts, I don’t think there are a lot of people for whom this new GameCube controller would be my first recommendation: at 84.99 CAD, not to mention availability issues and needing an active NSO account to even be eligible for the purchase, most players would be better off with the Pro Controller 2 and/or an original wired GameCube controller paired with a dongle.
If/and when Bluetooth connectivity issues are resolved, this will be an easy buy. Until then, the new GameCube controller is unfortunately a missed opportunity.
