Nintendo’s greatest gamepad merely prices an...

The Swap 2 Professional Controller is not good, although. For one, it prices $85 (up from its initially introduced $80 worth, due to the Trump administration’s tariffs). I suppose that is not as dangerous as shopping for a complete new pair of Pleasure-Con 2s for $95, and it is not too far off from the PlayStation 5’s $75 Twin Sense 2, but it surely nonetheless stings. It is much more painful when you think about that 8Bitdo’s excellent Ultimate wireless controller presently prices $50 (down from a $70 launch worth), it really works with the Swap 2, has rear buttons and it options Corridor impact joysticks. Meaning they’re impervious to the drifting drawback that plagued the Swap 1’s controllers.

Whereas players have been begging Nintendo to implement Corridor impact sticks for years, the corporate nonetheless hasn’t listened. Each the Pleasure-Con 2 and Swap 2 Professional Controller seem to make use of the identical mechanism because the Swap 1’s equipment. In an interview, Nintendo producer Kouichi Kawamoto stated the corporate “redesigned every little thing from scratch,” for the Pleasure-Con 2, and from my time with the Professional 2 Controller it additionally feels considerably totally different than earlier than. However actually, all I can do is hope and pray it would not begin drifting. One Reddit consumer claimed that their Switch 2 Joy-Cons were drifting right out of the box, however that does not look like a widespread concern.

Past the pricing and technical disappointments, although, the Swap 2 Professional Controller is a dream to play with. It significantly leveled-up my Mario Kart World efficiency, because it was simpler to float round corners and hop as much as rails with out cramping my arms, one thing that is unavoidable with the Pleasure-Con 2. I used to be in a position to play for a number of hours with the brand new Professional controller and I did not discover any ache, and I may additionally nonetheless maintain it simply as my palms acquired sweaty.

As somebody who was raised on each model of Avenue Fighter 2 on the SNES, I additionally needed to put the Swap 2 Professional Controller by way of its paces for preventing video games. And let me inform you, the hadoukens got here simply. The controller’s D-pad sits below my left thumb comfortably, and it’s a cinch to click on and rotate to carry out Avenue Fighter 2 strikes. Whereas taking part in Soulcalibur 2 (now accessible as a part of the Gamecube Classics for Nintendo On-line subscribers), the Swap 2 Professional controller was additionally comfy whereas holding my proper fingers above the face buttons, just like an arcade stick. (That is a Soulcalibur method I discovered on the Dreamcast and by no means let go.)

Regardless of being fine-tuned for Mario Kart, the Swap 2 Professional Controller is not perfect for extra life like racing video games because it would not have analog triggers like its predecessor. Nintendo engineers have said in interviews that the corporate opted for digital triggers since they’re faster to reply. Premium gamepads just like the Xbox Elite have switches that allow you to select between fast set off modes and lengthy analog presses, so there’s clearly a treatment for Nintendo’s analog aversion. However implementing that form of customization additionally makes gamepads much more advanced and costly.

A minimum of Nintendo gave us a modicum of customization with the Swap 2 Professional controller’s rear GL and GR buttons, which sit proper above the deal with grips. You possibly can immediately remap their performance in any sport from the Swap 2’s fast settings menu, making it simpler to do issues like change weapons or bounce with out transferring your thumbs away from the joysticks. I ended up remapping the drift and motion buttons in Mario Kart World to GL and GR, which helped me keep away from reaching as much as hit the highest set off buttons. You may also remap all the Swap 2 Professional Controller’s buttons from the Swap 2’s accessibility menu, the place you possibly can create presets for various titles too.

After round 10 hours of taking part in a wide range of video games, the Swap 2 Professional Controller’s battery fell to 82 p.c. Nintendo claims it may last as long as 40 hours, however sadly I haven’t been in a position to play that a lot throughout this assessment. Based mostly on what I’m seeing, although, the gamepad ought to attain 40 hours simply.

As a lot as I just like the Swap 2 Professional Controller, it’s undoubtedly an extravagance at $85 when 8Bitdo’s Final gamepad affords much more options for $50. However in case you’re a devoted Nintendo fan, otherwise you simply can’t settle for third-party controllers, it’s additionally among the best gamepads you should purchase at the moment.