Retro-Bit SEGA Mega Drive® 2.4GHz BIG6 Wireless Controller Review
If you’re like me (old), you’ll fondly remember the feeling of a new controller on Christmas Day. Hell, if you were lucky you’d find out on your birthday. For me, such things were reserved for Santa’s day or whatever and I’ll never forget when I opened up my Mega Drive II for the first time with a copy of Street Fighter II Championship Edition bundled on top. It was a most glorious Christmas Day and it’s because the sexiness of a new console was there in front of me, the infinite possibilities of what to play next ready to kick in at any moment.
The Mega Drive (or Genesis, if you’re an American) was a special console. My favourite game of all time comes from this era (Sonic 2) and I have hugely fond memories of playing the system with friends and family over the years. I even beat Street Fighter II and that’s the only time me ‘completing’ a Street Fighter game ever happened. My reflexes were better when I was 9 years old, clearly.
But that controller was exciting. Six buttons?! As home consoles were catching up with the excitement that could only then be reserved for the arcades, the controllers were shifting in that direction also. More buttons meant more ports were possibly, and SEGA were at the forefront at bringing that experience home with their iconic pads. It felt extremely cool and taking a step into the future.
And now, it’s back. Suddenly, out of nowhere I’m playing games with a Mega Drive controller again thanks to Retro-Bit, with their BIG6 Wireless Controller. A modern reimagining of that classic joypad (hi Mum!), this edition has been taken glorious care of ensuring that nostalgic experience remains front and centre. It still feels bulky, but better in my hands these now they’re bigger but now feature shoulder buttons, Bluetooth connectivity to your PC, a Mega Drive Mini and even your Nintendo Switch along with wired connections and that bloody amazing D-Pad. Oh, and it has a connector that allows you to connect it to your actual Mega Drive if you want to. A very cool feature.
And where did I go first? Well, Sonic 2 obviously. I booted it up on my PC and after a fairly straightforward pairing with the tiny little Bluetooth USB device, I was ready to play this game the way it was always intended to be played and what a joy it was to play with. The feel was exactly how I remembered, with precision input detection and no connection issues, I was thrilled with the results. An hour later I had beaten Sonic 2 all over again with the same controller I had used the very first time. It was a cool feeling and one I could easily recommend to unfathomably old gamers like myself.
Connecting to the Switch in my living room I had a similar experience. This time I wanted to try out the Mega Drive collection on Switch Online and had a similarly great experience on replaying Streets of Rage, Ecco the Dolphin, Altered Beast, Gunstar Heroes and even Sonic Spinball (for science, obviously). It all felt just like I remembered. Of course you don’t have to play just Mega Drive game with it, but it seemed rude not to. I was deep in nostalgia mode so that’s where my head went and let’s be real, it was a super pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Then the evening. Then the following morning.
It’s good to have this controller back in my life again.
Retro-Bit SEGA Mega Drive® 2.4GHz BIG6 Wireless Controller is available here.
Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional sample of the product. For our full review policy, please go here.
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