After quick measurements, the buttons themselves seem to be more or less accurate replications, so the problem must be on the rubbers, as tightening the screws at the back didn’t work. There are three possibilities why this happens the button itself is intended height, the contact rubber underneath allows the button to plunge too low, or the shells have just enough height difference that the button plunges too low. C-Button, the most rightmost button on the lower row on the controller, got constantly stuck. ![]() The up diagonals are slightly too touchy and easy to push. ![]() Whilst on the surface Retrobit’s controller looks like Sega’s original, the function is not there. Retrobit uses some kind of coloured rubbers, in my case blue, because blue case. Now the first one who tells me I should’ve put the rubber on its right spot above the face buttons rather than leave it off-center and crooked doesn’t get any cookies. Instead, you’ve been looking at a slight hybrid. I have to confess something though you haven’t been looking at pure Retrobit Saturn Controller here. It doesn’t feel expensive or deluxe grade, it feels like something that’s made to fulfill its task.Įven the info labels are at the same spot. Even the face buttons moving about and making that rattly noise is part of the design. It’s weird to call this controller feeling like cheap shit, because that’s part of Sega’s original design and engineering. Retrobit has managed to replicate all these, thought the battery adds ever so slightly more weight. It feels like a Saturn controller, which always felt like built from cheap plastic, hollow and clattered when shaken. Of course, the 3D Pad was a thing, but mostly good only for Nights. The first Saturn controller is a slight monstrosity with really uncomfortable looking D-Pad, but I’d like to get my hands on one still for reviewing purposes. Overall, the controller is seemingly the same size as the original Saturn S controller, the one that really matters. It’d be a surprise if a controller like this would make the sync process somehow obtuse, but nothing special to mention here, except the small sync buttons on the dongles feel extremely cheap and something that could break. It’s still a neat case, easy way to keep track on your two dongles, one basic USB and for Saturn. At first it comes as a bit gaudy with the hard plastic casing and such, which just wants to be scratched and cracked. If you’re wondering why my copy is transparent blue, it was the cheapest option out there. Embarrassingly I’ve misplaced my Nikon’s battery charger, and you’ll have to wait until I’ve found it, or my travel charger has arrived. It runs just short in few areas, and these areas are probably something they can’t help too much.Īs a side note, the photos in this review will be updated at a later date for better ones. The Retrobit Saturn controller gets the Saturn experience almost right. However, that should be the minimum level a replication controller should be like, then have some additional bells and whistles like wireless functionality, RGB lights and the like. Some materials may have been changed, some components may not even be in production anymore, things like that. It’s a tall order to ask a modern replication of an older controller feel and function the same. Still, faster than creating a whole new product design, and with something relatively simple like the NES controller, the costs probably are not all that high. Nowadays it is easy to model the controller in a CAD program and mill it out, though even that costs some money. You can get proper molds from existing controllers just fine, or if a company still has the originals, they can use those. ![]() It’s surprising how much a controller’s responsiveness and tactile feeling comes from how good the contact rubbers are, how well they spring up, what’s their depth and how much pressure they require to be pressed down. For example, you can find NES controllers that look just like the original, but then the buttons have a terrible feeling under the thumb, Start and Select are hard plastic instead of soft rubber and the contact rubbers underneath are mostly trash. You mostly have options from third party producers, who may or may not have the best quality to offer. Nowadays it’s become somewhat hard to find new controllers for your old hardware.
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