A few months back, I gasped in horror at the sight of a third-party Wii U pad that, from the hideous photoshop promotional image, looked to be a sin against everything Nintendo held dear about controllers.
Well, for the past week Iâve been using the thing. Itâs called the Controller Pro U. Combining the functionality of a Wii Remote with that of a Wii Classic Controller in the one device, thereâs not much hideous about it. In the flesh, it looks a lot better than it did in that mock-up.
WHAT I LIKED
Itâs Good! â Surprisingly, for a third-party controller that doesnât even ship with a brand name on it, this thing is pretty well made. Itâs got a great, rough finish that feels good in the hand (no doubt helped by the fact it copies the already-comfortable Wii U Pro/Xbox 360 design), the face buttons felt responsive and the thumbsticks were great, with a nice âtightnessâ to them that allowed for a lot of precision.
Versatile â The pad works on the Wii U, Wii and even Android systems (via Bluetooth). Note that while it works across systems when playing Wii games or Wii U titles that support regular motion controllers, I couldnât get it working (nor is it advertised as working as) a Wii U Pro Controller. Whatâs really neat about its flipping switches is that it can trick the Wii U into thinking itâs either a Wii classic controller or a Wii Remote. Meaning, yes, you can play New Super Mario Bros. Wii U with it (the official Pro controller wonât work with the game).
D-Pad â Iâm going to give a special shout-out to the d-pad, which manages to get a proper Nintendo design on the thing. Iâm not sure how they got away with that, but it doesnât matter, itâs a nice thing to have, especially on Virtual Console titles and Wii games designed for the Wii Remoteâs d-pad.
WHAT I DIDNâT LIKE
Shoulders â Disappointingly, the shoulder buttons werenât quite up to scratch, especially the triggers, which felt a little âfloppyâ. The bumpers also felt a little loose, with pressure having to be applied right in the middle, or you might not register a press.
MY FINAL WORD
Were it not for the shoulder buttons, Iâd recommend the Controller Pro U as a must-buy for Wii U owners, both for the quality of the rest of the pad and the sneaky versatility it offers for games that use Wii Remotes. With that slight disappointment, though, Iâm just going to recommend it as a good third-party option, one that gets upgraded to âvery goodâ if youâre still playing Wii games or really want to play New Super Mario Bros. Wii U with a proper pad.
If itâs not already available in your region (itâs out here in Australia, for example), the Controller Pro U will be available soon from GameStop, Target, Walmart and Amazon. Theyâll be priced between $35-40. Itâll come in five colour schemes: white, gold, North American SNES, PAL/Japanese SNES and black (you can see pics here). Iâd say go for the SNES ones if you can; the gold looks a little garish, and I was also sent a black model, which with its glossy finish looks a little cheaper, and also attracts fingerprints just by looking at it
