Top 5 Greatest Nintendo Game Control Layouts

Today’s Top 5 list was inspired by the recent news of High Voltage getting fan ideas for different control schemes in The Conduit. It’s a bold move; does it make them look more fan friendly? or does it make them look desperate for ideas? Either way it got me thinking about some of the great control schemes that Nintendo games have seen throughout the years. So (in Mario voice) Here We Go!!….

5. Street Fighter II - Street Fighter II is the type of game that a lot of people thought wouldn’t make its way to home consoles. How do you take a fighter that utilizes quick half-circles, and 6 buttons and bring it into the home? Capcom did it using ingenuity with the SNES controller.

In hindsight it might seem that it would be pretty simple to make a fighter. Back in the early 90’s though it was a huge achievement that Capcom was able to make a nearly seamless transition from arcade to SNES. Sure, the game looked better, and still played better in the arcade; but the gap wasn’t nearly as big as it could have been.

Down, Left, A…Quick Ken, DO IT!!

The reason that Capcom was able to bring a solid title was that it utilized the SNES’s button layout flawlessly. It’s one of the few games that takes full advantage of every single button that’s present on the controller. The SNES’s D-Pad is probably what made Street Fighter II so amazing on the SNES. To this day, I still think it’s the best D-Pad that’s been released. It’s big, it’s the softest on the fingers, and to me it still correlates best when having to quickly move from one direction to the other. All of these elements is what made Street Fighter on the SNES a blast.

4. Star Fox - When Star Fox first arrived on the scene during the SNES era, I remember going ‘WTF’ before the phrase even started on the internet. I remember first being at a friend’s house, and reading the package, and manual. I began laughing at said friend, and told him what a waste of time this was going to be.

After about 15 minutes of gameplay, I truly ate my words. There hadn’t been quite an experience like Star Fox on a game console when it first arrived. About the only games you saw that were like Star Fox, were arcade machines that simulated flight combat. With the SNES controller, it allowed Nintendo to take this arcade-only type flight combat and bring it to home consoles.

That 3D Ring Isn’t Going To Know What Hit It

Once you start playing Star Fox, the controls become second nature after about 10-15 minutes. You had the A button for your blaster, Y - Nova bomb, B-brake, X - boost, and L/R buttons for your rolls. Even though the controls weren’t complex, they blended so beautifully into the action that happened on screen.

Barrel rolling was/is a blast, and gave gamers a sense of satisfaction when it was utilized properly. The brake, and boost would come in handy in navigating the stage, primarily towards the latter levels when enemies blanketed the screen. The fact that Nintendo was able to pull of D-pad maneuvering for the Arwing in a pseudo-3D environment, while keeping the controls slick and responsive is a feat in and of itself. It’s also the main reason why Star Fox get’s its place at #4 for today’s list.

3. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Metroid Prime 3: Corruption isn’t a game without problems. It’s on the easy side when compared with other games in the series. It also was a bit too similar to the Metroid Prime games before. Even with those negatives, the control layout found in Metroid Prime 3 is still to me the best you’ll find on the Nintendo Wii.

What made Metroid Prime 3 a bit easy was how streamlined the controls were, specifically for the blaster. One of the questions going into MP3 was, “How will Retro Studios utilize turning, will it use the analog, or will the Wii be able to swiftly pick up the movement of the Wii remote?”. It’s safe to say that Retro Studios answered the question, and amazed gamers in the process. Turning Samus using the wii remote felt so natural, that most of the time you never mentally thought about shifting your view. You just naturally did it. Being able to point and shoot drastically improved the FPS element, and MP3 shows what the Wii is capable of for the genre.

Grappling Will Never Be The Same

The contextual actions which were mostly used for puzzles were solid as well. Instead of just roaming around looking for X key to open Y door, you had to think of different motions utilizing the wii remote to progress in some areas. The controls were slick, responsive, and added to the gameplay instead of hindering it.

Because of Metroid Prime 3’s ground breaking control elements for FPS gameplay, it rightfully sits at # 3 on today’s list.

2. Goldeneye - Almost any game that was able to utilize the funky, akward controls of the Nintendo 64 deserves an award. Even with the sex toy looking controller, the Nintendo 64 is still my second favorite console of all time and it’s games like Goldeneye that make it so.

Before Goldeneye came along, PC gamers (including myself) laughed at the notion that any game bearing the FPS mark would ever grace a console. Just like other notions I’ve had in my life, I turned out to be totally wrong. Not only is Goldeneye one of the greatest console FPS’s of all time, it’s up there with some of the PC elites.

Even though Goldeneye’s controls are great, the Nintendo 64 will be the leading cause of Arthritis in our generation.

When you start talking about the awesomeness that is Goldeneye, it all starts with the controls. I’m not quite sure what the Rare employee in charge of controls was thinking when his boss said, ‘Here’s the controller, here’s the game; now make it work’. I’m sure he went into emergency resume updating mode, and began eating heavily. Then he calmed down and realized that thinking creatively, this could actually work. How about if gamers had to shift their hands to the left, and use the D-pad for navigation, and I think the control stick could work for aiming the reticule? Eureka!, I’ve figured it out. Oh no, what if gamers like to use their left hand for aiming? Those small yellow C buttons look like they could the job done as well.

I’m quite sure that the developers in charge of controls were more adept then the person I portrayed. That simple innovation though; being able to switch your hands, and using one for aiming and the other for moving is the backbone of what made Goldeneye such a blast. I’m a lefty, and whenever I boot up Goldeneye I always have to switch to using the C-buttons for moving, and the control stick for aiming. It might sound simple now, but at the time it was amazing to be able to move around in a 3D FPS environment using a console controller. For all of you COD, Halo, Resistance fanboys out there, you should pay homage to the game that started it all. Get three friends over and pop in Goldeneye, stay up all night downing Mountain Dews, and relive the good ol’ days.

1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - I consider this to be the most odd Top 5 list I’ve done on Wii Blog so far. The top 2 games on the list are representing the console which I think has had the worst controller in Nintendo history. I think that this shows the creativity, and innovation that was present during the Nintendo 64 era.

When talking about the control layout for Legend of Zelda: OoT, it all comes back to the innovation of Z-targeting. When there are multiple enemies in your area, how will Link know which one he wants to swing at? All you have to do is press the Z-button, and you lock onto your enemy. Like most of the layouts I’ve mentioned, it seems so simple but at the time it was ground breaking. The camera would shift its focus to whoever you were fighting, and then you could use different kinds of moves to bring your enemy down.

Besides Z-targeting, the greatest concept behind the control layout in Ocarina of Time is the scope of moves that was at Link’s disposal. In gaming ‘more’ isn’t necessarily always better, but Legend of Zelda: OoT is the exception. Here’s a list of the different moves Link could pull off, and the corresponding button presses:

Z Button + B Button - Swing Vertically
B Button or Z Button + CS L/R + B Button
Z Button + CS U + B - Stab
B Button (Hold then release) - Spin Swing
CS L to R (rotate around the bottom)+ B Button - Weak Power Swing
Z Button + A Button (While holding the sword) - Jump Attack
Z Button + CS D + A Button - Back Flip
Z Button + CS L/R + A Button - Side Jump Left/Right
CS + A Button - Roll Attack
Right Button - Shield
Top C Button - Change view to first person
Left C, Bottom C, Right C - Use Items

(credit: AllGame.com)

Not only is that a lot of moves, all of them serve a purpose at some place and time. Along with having to use the moves in abundance, all of the button presses correspond fluidly with the action on screen.

The chicken wants you to press the A button..Dont Do it, it had it coming

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is considered by many as being the greatest game of all time. Sure, there are other elements at play that give the game that title, but to me it’s how the controls were layed out, and used that makes LoZ:OoT stand out above the rest.

So, what are some of your favorite control schemes/layouts of all time? Do you agree that the Nintendo 64 controller is the worst controller that Nintendo has developed? Have I commited blasphemy for saying such a thing?