Review: 8BitDo 64 Bluetooth Controller

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.

The A and B buttons are slightly flatter than on the N64 pad—another subtle tweak, but one that feels great. The quadrant of C buttons is essentially unchanged, although they lack the actual “C” ident in the middle of them—one of the few bits of original iconography 8BitDo hasn’t replicated.

The L and R shoulder buttons are chunkier than the thin strips of the N64 pads, while dual Z-Triggers prove a smart choice, and not only for the physical symmetry and balance it gives the 227-gram pad. When paired to a Switch or Switch 2, the right-side Z is seen as the ZR button, allowing you to bring up the system menu in NSO, or long-press for the rewind feature.

The only quibble is the D-Pad. Physically, it’s another perfect recreation of an original component, but functionally, it feels too twitchy. In menu screens, it can hop across too many items at once, while in games like the surprisingly tough pill-positioning puzzler Dr. Mario 64, played through NSO, it would regularly shift pills too many spaces. Good thing that rewind feature is so accessible.

Feels Familiar

Photograph: Matt Kamen

The 8BitDo 64's revamped layout introduces a few quirks, though most are due to muscle memory clashes. Modern players may reach for a right thumbstick that isn’t there, while nostalgic N64 players will have to mentally remap their play styles. This leads to oddities in a couple of games—on Zelda: Majora’s Mask, for instance, you move between inventory screens with the Z and R buttons. This made sense on the N64 pad, as you held the middle and right-hand prongs, but with the improved layout of the 64 BC, it feels more natural to go for L and R. Having those Z-Triggers immediately within reach means it’s easily overcome, though.

A concession to modernity is 8BitDo’s own trio of Star, Select, and Home buttons, sitting above Start. When paired to a Switch or Switch 2, Star acts as the screenshot button, while Home—8BitDo’s eight-pixel heart logo—takes you to the Switch base menu or, with a long-press, brings up the console sleep menu. Expect similar functions when connected to an Analogue3D.

The Select button unlocks the controller's built-in Turbo mode and button-remapping features. For Turbo, hold the button you want to assign it to and tap select (or twice for Auto Turbo), allowing each press to send a constant active signal. Using it to have Mario hop around like a jackrabbit is simply funny, but it’s actually useful in shooters. Remapping, meanwhile, lets you swap the function of any two buttons—hold both of them down and press Select, and they’ll invert. Not an essential feature, but one that’s nice to have, especially if a particular game’s controls feel a bit off to you personally.

The real elegance of this pad is in what it doesn’t do, though. Everything you need to play N64 games as they were intended is right here. There’s no second thumbstick because it’d be redundant—modern camera controls didn’t exist for those games. The C buttons were often used by developers for camera movement instead, and they’re exactly where they should be. The Start button is still proudly in place, rather than leaving you guessing whether a Home or Menu button—which have largely supplanted Start on modern controllers—might replicate its function. This really feels like the perfect way to play N64.

The Switch Hitch

Photograph: Matt Kamen

8BitDo’s take on the N64 controller has one big negative—while it pairs easily with the original Switch, it’s not initially compatible with Switch 2. Given the huge success of Nintendo’s latest console and the availability of N64 games on it through NSO, that’s a problem. It’s also not terribly clear to the average person how to fix it—store listings for the controller are littered with buyers complaining it doesn’t work with their new console.

Thankfully, updating the firmware gets it working with the Switch 2, but it’s not straightforward. First, you’ll need to download 8BitDo’s Ultimate Software V2, a management tool for all of the manufacturer’s gadgets (available for PC or Mac, although the 64 Bluetooth Controller itself isn’t stated as compatible with Apple devices). However, this isn’t an installable program. Instead, it comes as a zip folder containing the raw .exe file, which Windows Defender promptly blocks. In my experience, it’s safe to override the warning and run the software. From there, flick the mode select toggle on the 64 controller's rear to “D,” connect it with a USB cable, and it should be auto-detected, allowing you to update the firmware to v1.3.

Once done, actually pairing the 64 controller to Switch 2 is another hurdle. You’ll need to turn the console on with an existing controller, go into the controllers section on the lower home screen menu, then select “Change Grip/Order.” Flick the mode toggle to “S,” then turn it on by holding the Start button. Activate pairing mode by holding the small sync button at the top, and the console should see it straight away, recognizing it as Nintendo’s official N64 replica controller.

Photograph: Matt Kamen

Unfortunately, 8BitDo’s controller doesn’t stay synced between play sessions, nor can it turn the Switch or Switch 2 on from Sleep mode, meaning you’ll have to pair it every single time. It’s mercifully quick once you’ve done the one-time firmware update, but unquestionably frustrating—made more so by the 64 Bluetooth Controller seemly being unable to navigate the NSO game selection menu unless it’s set as the primary controller.

The rigmarole is worth it, though (and won’t be an issue with the Analogue3D, which it should stay synced to), as the 64 Bluetooth Controller is an absolute joy to play N64 games with. Its refined layout feels like the configuration Nintendo was trying to land on back in the ’90s, allowing all those genuinely innovative design ideas to shine, while sitting in the hand with all the comfort of the present-day Switch 2 Pro Controller. Connection issues aside, it’s a rare case of a remake being better than the original—after a few hours with this, you’ll never want to use the original trident pad ever again.