After 30 years, writer warms to N64 controller

Ollie Reynolds, a games writer, wrote that they had disliked the Nintendo 64’s three-pronged controller as a teenager but warmed to it after replaying N64 titles on Nintendo Switch Online with Nintendo’s official wireless N64 controller.

Reynolds described first encountering the N64 at friends’ houses and later through ports and promotional discs. Their first time playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time came via a Wind Waker promotional disc in 2003.

As a teen, Reynolds wrote they found the controller baffling. They listed the analogue stick placed in the centre, a cluster of C-buttons and the M-shaped shell as features that broke the flow compared with earlier and later pads. Short multiplayer sessions of GoldenEye 007 and Mario Kart 64 ended in frustration, and the controller was set aside.

The view changed after Nintendo released an N64 app for Switch Online and an official wireless N64 controller. Reynolds wrote that playing single-player games away from competitive multiplayer allowed time to relearn inputs. They played Super Mario 64, Star Fox 64 and Ocarina of Time and described an adjustment of muscle memory for movement and camera control.

Reynolds described switching inputs: less use of the D-pad and the L button, using the central analogue stick for movement and the C-buttons for camera and items. “I couldn’t imagine ever wanting to use that pad again,” Reynolds wrote, “but I’m almost embarrassed at how quickly I got to grips with it.”

Reynolds noted they prefer the official Nintendo pad to a third-party 8BitDo controller they own. They also pointed out that Nintendo did not return to the N64’s layout in later mainstream controllers and that the design remains distinct. Reynolds added that Donkey Kong 64 remains on their play list.

Reynolds’ reassessment coincides with the N64’s 30th anniversary on June 23, 2026.