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

I bought this controller for use on my PC with 2D games. Ive used it for a few weeks now, & I really like it. Its comfortable to use for long play sessions. The D-Pad in responsive & reliable. It does not have a center pivot, so its possible to accidentally smash all the directions, but I havent found this to be an issue in use. The 6 face buttons feel identical to my old 6-button Genesis controller. X, Y, & Z are a little loose, so they rattle when you set the controller down, but they still feel very good when you actually use them. The shoulder buttons are large with a similar feel to SNES shoulder buttons, but the pivot seems to be closer to center, which allows for easy presses on any part of the button. Pairing the controller was easy. Battery life has been great so far. I havent noticed any issues or lag while playing. My only real complaint is the positioning of the star, -, & home buttons. Theyre so close together & with no tactile distinction that I cant reliably press any of the 3. I feel it would be more functional if either a couple of tactile bumps were added to - or if star & home were moved above start to give more separation. Its not a big enough issue to make me want to reduce the rating, but it would be reason enough for me to buy a newer model if they changed it.

Really easy to set up and has a wide range of compatibility for retro gaming (pre-3d). The controller is very comfortable (and familiar) to hold and the dpad is one of the best you can experience on a modern controller. The buttons are snappy and satisfying. There are special settings for the dpad and buttons behavior. Look those up here in the reviews or somewhere else online. The manual and website do not mention these special commands. Firmware is updatable but seems unnecessary unless you are using this with the Switch. The only disappointment is that the M30 is not fully compatible with PS1 controller layouts. Theoretically, it should work with no issues (only one PS1 game requires analog sticks as far as I know). One button (usually the R button on the controller) acts like it doesnt exist when trying to map controls. So all buttons are configurable except one.

First, a couple of things. 1. It doesnt auto activate your switch so youll have to start up the switch manually or with your joycons/pro controller, then pair the 8bitdo controller. You have to do this every time you use the controller which can be a pain. 2. Youll have to look up a good way to remap the controller so the button layout lines up better. 3. The controller is a little on the small side. Although the buttons are nice and large like the original sega genesis controller, the overall size of the controller is noticeably smaller. This is a shame because one thing I loved about the sega genesis controller was how well it filled out my hands while holding it. 4. It has a nice finish on it that keeps it from smudging but the controller itself is very light. I prefer a little weight to the controller as it makes it feel more sturdy and of higher quality. I use this controller for my Sega ports on the switch. It is highly responsive with no noticeable input lag. It is comfortable to hold, though a little small as mentioned. Although this is a great controller, if your looking for a controller that looks and feels like a genesis controller, this is not your controller. This controller is more akin the Sega Saturn controller.

I use Linux based PC and my first experience with 8bitdo Controllers was the 2.4 SNES wireless controller. Using the old school controller with my Emulation sessions was that missing piece that completes the feel of the original games. The 8bitdo controllers link right up with my Asus Bluetooth card I got and installed. All major emulation systems recognize the controller. Steam and Lutris recognize the controllers as well. This is great when you play retro styles games like Oniken, Gigantic Army, Odallus, etc.

Great quality and I like the 8Bitdo products but I was mislead by the word windows so I assumed it would work for microsoft and the xbox but it does not. But is a good product.

Lo compré principalmente para jugar juegos de pelea, ya que en cuanto al precio y diseño es perfecto, la cruceta flotante (creo que así se llama) es bastante mas precisa que una cruceta clásica, aparte tiene toda la calidad 8bitdo, de los cuales tengo otro control, un sn30+ y también es perfecto, pero para juegos de pelea es mejor un diseño de 6 botones. A si que eso, si busca un control con estas características y a un precio accesible no lo dude y vaya por él :)

I grew up with a Genesis and the original 3 button controller (which was good but a little large) and later the 6-button controller (which in my opinion was the best controller ever, at least for 2d games.) We have a Nintendo Switch and Ive been excited to get the Genesis Classics games and play with this controller. So far, Ive used this controller exclusively on the Switch with some Genesis Classics games (Streets of Rage 2, Golden Axe, Shining Force, Sonic) and MarioKart. I have not tried it with PC or other systems. Overall, its a great controller.. but I would buy it for use with the Switch. First, the hardware is top notch. The original Genesis 6 button controller was excellent – good layout, d-pad, feel and size, etc, but this controller tops it in almost every way. The size is just right, the buttons all feel good, and the D-pad is great for fast twitch games like Streets of Rage. I have not noticed any significant lag - all very responsive. Add in being wireless, L and R triggers, and you’ve got a great product, especially for the $30 price. However, on the Switch, the button layout is just wrong with no way to fix it. It uses a layout more similar to the switch controller, instead of the Genesis controller layout it is trying to replicate. The primary buttons on the M30 that should be used on most games are A, B, C. Instead, A, B, and X are being used, where X is A, A is B, and B is C. (it’s more like a Nintendo layout with buttons in a near diamond, not a Genesis layout with straight in a line buttons.) Essentially, Im looking for the same button layout as on the Genesis but there is no way to get that. The button switching mentioned in other reviews does not solve this problem, it just swaps A/B or X/Y, etc. The C button on the M30 is not used in any configuration I can find on the Switch. Because of that, this controller has no real advantages over buying the Switch Pro controller, which can then also be used effectively for 3-d games like Splatoon 2, etc. If this product had a mode you could flip between on the switch to get the right button layout, or perhaps an option to map buttons anywhere you like, Id give it five stars.. but without it, I plan to return it. Its a good product but doesnt recreate the Genesis controller experience correctly when used with the Switch. Ive contacted 8bitdo support about this, and they said they have forwarded the request to their engineering team, so Ill update this review if it gets fixed. Also, FWIW, I found an article online that mentioned using the – key to put the controller in 3 button mode, but that doesn’t work either because in the Genesis classics game, “-“ is the key to exit the game you are playing and go back to the emulator front end to pick another game. Even if it did work, that is really a mode to fix compatibility with games that couldnt handle six button controllers, as opposed to a way to re-map buttons.

Overall a good controller with fair button resistance and good response time and battery life. However the D-pad lacks a central pin leading to mispresses with the directional pad. An unfortunate oversight that prevents this from being a very good controller.

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.

Was looking for a good controller to pair with my 2019 SHIELD to play some Saturn games via Yaba Sanshiro. After trying another brands officially licensed Sega controller, I was left very disappointed by build quality and Bluetooth input response time. I can already say that this 8bitdo controller is light years better in all regards compared to other controllers Ive tried. Setup and mapping was a breeze and the controller shipped with the latest firmware (1.14 at the time of this review) already installed. The controller feels solid in hand and buttons are super responsive and have the right amount of spring to them. I dont notice any kind of Bluetooth lag or connectivity issues sitting about six feet away from my SHIELD. USB-C charging is a major plus in my book too. I honestly dont have any negatives to speak of, everything from the packaging to the operation and feel of the controller is pretty perfect. If youre looking to do some retro Sega gaming, I highly recommend this pad.