8Bitdo M30 Bluetooth Controller for Switch, PC, macOS and Android with Sega Genesis & Mega Drive Style

I heard the dpad on these is exceptional, and Im playing a lot of Guilty Gear Strive. Originally i deemed the PS2 controller to be the only acceptable dpad for a game that requires lots of half and quarter circle dpad movements, as everything else seems much more finicky and inaccurate. This Dpad is better than the PS2 dpad. It just always gets the input right. Its crazy. Im not sitting here cursing out the controller. I just play better. 8bitdo is a great company and everything Ive got from them (just this and the SNES one) are exceptional.

This is a great little controller, perfect for metroidvanias, platformers, and 2D fighters. They got the dpad perfect, feels just like it should. Im not entirely sure how the design works but its not like your usual dpad, its a Sega dpad so please keep that in mind when purchasing this.

Im pretty well versed with a few variations of Genesis/Mega Drive controllers for the original system. From the 3 button original, to the odd jank 3rd party ones to the normal original 6 button one, Ive grown up with em. This thing is MOSTLY a Genesis controller. The dpad and buttons really have that feel but this controller has the triggers which are a blessing from the Saturn controller. All of the buttons feel just right, they even sound the same from what I can tell. The Genesis controller is great for the games of the time, but later games really benefit from shoulder buttons. I tested this game with a few titles, Ranger X & Sonic 3 & Knuckles on the Genesis (emulated), Freedom Planet and its sequels beta, Sonic Mania, Mega Man X2 & X4. I made sure to test games on both Switch AND PC. For the games it worked really well and really, really feels like a genesis controller in terms of buttons and dpad. The extra buttons for the switch took a little getting used to. The Heart=Home which also works with steam, the screenshot button works on switch but didnt seem to register on PC. If youre curious about input delay? I cant feel any. That doesnt mean there isnt but as far as I could tell with my testing it felt spot on and if there was any delay I couldnt detect it. Naturally there will be since its wireless but it may very well be undetectable to most people. I heard its 1-2 frames, so if that sounds like a big deal? Thats on you to decide. Now, heres the problem with the controller which Im sure can be fixed with firmware updates which 8bitdo does do, theyre very good with support. So, the issue is when I tested some other games, yikes using the L & R button at the same time seems to negate both of them. So when playing Mega Man Zero with dash as L and shoot as R? I couldnt hold a charge shot and dash. If you want to say this is meant for Genesis games so the L&R buttons are moot to complain about? I disagree. They put them there for a reason and they help the controller be more than the OG 6 button controller. Again, this is very likely easily fixed via firmware and they do update these their many controllers. But as of writing with firmware 1.0? These two buttons will not work when pressed at the same time. No other buttons seem to be effected by any other combo either. So, as it stands I cant give it full marks. It feels so good and Im really happy with it over all but till they fix that one problem? I cant play some of the games I was hoping to. Edit: If youre going to use this on PC/Windows for some retro games, the best option is to set it up via MacOS mode by holding Start+A on boot up. This will put it in direct input mode and will negate my complaints. However it still will be a problem for any game you want to use xinput on.

I had picked up some of these for using on the Genesis. Initial feel and gameplay usage, I thought these felt extremely familiar to the included controller, and indeed it is. The d-pad is squishy and the buttons respond as youd expect. Theres a method to revert to 3 button layout, you should look it up. Additionally, theres a few features like rapid fire and the like, and these controllers work for pretty much anything blutooth enabled. 8bitdo is a brand to recommend from all occasions Ive been using them.

Fantastic for playing shmups on my PC. Connects via Bluetooth to my Fire HD 10 tablet. The touch control emulation doesnt work, but it does play games which otherwise have controller support. Unfortunately, after using this I couldnt go back to using the d-pad on the Sn30 Pro controller for anything requiring precision. The face buttons do feel a bit cheap, but thats pretty normal even for the original Sega controllers. If youre looking for the best d-pad this M30 is worth considering.

A great product packed into a small package. I bought this controller as my go-to for fighting games and it hasnt disappointed yet. The d-pad is exactly what I was looking for, allowing for easy quarter-circle and Z input patterns. Also allows for various input modes that can be switched between easily. Pairs well with phones, the Switch, and computers via Bluetooth and USB. Highly recommended.

So from what Ive been reading, a vintage Japanese Sega Saturn controller is considered the ultimate gamepad for shoot-em-ups. Some people prefer the arcade stick, but I think the Saturn controller is more popular in the SHMUP community. Its also considered the best gamepad for retro fighting games, though an arcade stick is favored over the traditional gamepad for fighting games. However, there arent any adapters that will let you use a real Saturn controller on the Nintendo Switch, so I decided to give this a try. Well, my SHMUP skills shot through the roof as soon as I tried out this pad. I never got seriously into the genre, but Im now starting to since I have the proper equipment for it. I found modern analog sticks terrible for SHMUPS. There are many instances where youll need to slowly move in one direction with the bullet patterns(or in some games like Radiant Silvergun or Ikaruga, to get through tight corridors), and this can only be accomplished on an analog stick by tapping the stick to one side over and over again, which works horribly because its an analog stick, not a button. The Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo d-pads work for moving slowl, but theyre still bad for SHMUPS since its hard to move diagonally or in a circle. However, the 8-direction Sega-style d-pad is perfect. You can move slowly to one side by clicking the d-pad repeatedly and easily move in 8 directions. I wish I could compare this to a vintage Saturn controller or the officially licensed Retro-bit Saturn controller for Switch, but I havent used either. I cant say if those are better or worse than those. All I know is that this blows away trying to play SHMUPS on a a DS4, Xbox One controller, or Switch Joy-cons(some people do actually like the DS2 for SHMUPS though, try if if you want :Þ). Games Ive tested on it include Radiant Silvergun in Retroarch, DoDonPachi Dai-Ou-Jou in Retroarch, Ikaruga on PC, Touhou 16 on PC, Danmaku Unlimited 3 on Switch, Gunbird 2 on Switch, and Aero Fighters 2 on Switch. All controlled beautifully. A few things to note. For Retroarch I had to put it into Android mode(start+B). Windows mode(start+X) had a glitch where the R-button was just a duplicate of the Z-button and L wasnt recognized at all. For Touhou I had to put it into Windows mode and to use Joy2Key, since Joy2Key would not recognize Android mode. Both Android and Windows mode work with Steam, however, in Windows mode LB is mapped to L on the gamepad, LT to R, RB to Z, and RT to C. With Android mode its mapped like it is on the Switch where L is LB and R is RB, which makes way more sense. But the bottom line is, if Windows mode is not working right on PC then use Android mode, Windows will recognize either(note that I do not know if Android mode works in wired mode, I tested with bluetooth mode). Apparently one is Xinput and one is Dinput, hence the different compatibility. And of course, Joy2Key is always an option for games that refuse to recognize the gamepad like Touhou. I had no issues with it on Switch since the Switch lets you remap controls now. However, the manual doesnt tell you how to change the D-pad from emulating the left analog stick to emulating the D-pad, even though it does have that feature. Its so typical of retro stuff to put features in and not tell you they exist. The pad also worked great in the Sega Genesis classic collection on Switch with Sonic 2 and Streets of Rage 3, and it worked well with Sonic Mania. Ill have to try it with Streets of Rage 4 soon. So bottom line, I cant compare it to the officially licensed Retro-bit controllers for the Nintendo Switch, I just know this a really good gamepad on its own. And of course a vintage Saturn controller and an adapter is probably superior if youre serious about PC SHMUPS, but they wont work on Switch and will cost you more than this gamepad and lack bluetooth and the extra buttons. Also, while Retroarch, Steam, Joy2Key, and Switch all worked perfectly with this gamepad in the end, it did take some trial and error(that is the norm for anything other than Xbox controller/Windows and pro controller/Switch). Ill just say if you want a gamepad for PC and Switch thats great for SHMUPS and fighting games and classic Sega games, this works great.

This is advertised as being inspired by the Genesis 6-button controller, but it is much more similar to the Japanese Saturn controller. The d-pad looks identical to the Saturn version, and the button layout is very similar as well. The controller feels solid and well-made, like a first-party console controller. There is slight wiggle on the face buttons, but less than youd find on the original Saturn controllers. One difference from the Saturn to note is that the triggers are less clicky and feel more like a SNES or Playstation/DS# shoulder. Bluetooth reception is good, and it uses x-input on PC as advertised. Regarding x-input, the d-pad uses the left stick axes (not the hat), and, as another reviewer noted, the triggers use the z-axis. I suspect this is because x-input on a xb360/x-bone controller only has six digital buttons (aside from the start/select buttons), and those six are taken up by the face buttons here. The geometry of the controller body is slightly different than the Saturn (although I would say more similar than it is to the Genesis 6-button). One difference, which I like, is that the center of the body bulges less—on the Saturn, my thumb tends to hit the center of the controller body, and that doesnt occur with this controller. I love the size, and I think anyone who is happy with the size of a Saturn controller would be as well. Overall, Im extremely pleased with this purchase, especially at this price. This is now my favorite fighting game controller. Just like my previous purchases from 8BitDo, this is a very well made and well supported product at a very reasonable price. Thanks

Understand what this is. This is a third party controller that works for for multiple platforms. It will not be 100% perfect for your specific application. That said, its still very, very good. The build quality is top notch. I bought this controller to play fighting games on Switch. The D-pad is among the best Ive ever felt. 5 stars

I have a few 8bitdo controllers and the M30 is by far my favorite. As a huge Sega fan from back in the day, I love that the dpad mimics the one found on the Genesis 6-button pad and the button layoutmatches both that pad and the Saturn controller. This one adds extra buttons for modern gamers that also accomodate its use on the Nintendo Switch. Personally I dont use it on that platform, I use it often on a Windows 10 computer and sometimes on a couple of Raspberry Pis. This isnt a controller Id recommend for modern games since it lacks analog sticks and has a different button layout. However, if youre into playing classic games via emulation, I think this is about the best controller you can get right now. Its responsive, easy to connect, works over either a wired or bluetooth connection, and when using it wirelessly you get more than respectable battery life. If youre looking for a controller for retrogaming that is suitable for multiple older platforms, then look no further, this is the one to get.