The latest launch of Marvel vs. Capcom Preventing Assortment: Arcade Classics may have had many Swap homeowners pondering the robustness of their management setup; as a lot as we just like the console’s Pleasure-Con and Professional Controller choices, they don’t seem to be precisely splendid for the extraordinary nature of one-on-one preventing video games.
That is the place Hori’s Preventing Commander for Nintendo Swap is available in. The most recent in an extended line of comparable pads created by the Japanese firm, this controller has been designed with aggressive brawlers in thoughts.
It removes analogue management fully, focusing solely on digital enter through its cross-shaped D-pad. It additionally locations six buttons on the face of the controller, conforming to a structure established by Capcom with the unique Road Fighter again within the late ’80s.
However is it any good? Let’s discover out…
Hori Preventing Commander for Nintendo Swap Assessment: Design
The Hori Preventing Commander has an interesting ergonomic design, with curves in the entire proper locations and good button placement. Along with the aforementioned six-button structure, you’ve got obtained 4 shoulder buttons mapped to ‘L’, ‘ZL’, left-stick button, and right-stick button.
The latter two may appear pointless, as you hardly ever click on on the analogue sticks in video games for important instructions, however by mapping these inputs to bodily buttons, the pad lets you configure them in distinctive methods – corresponding to performing a particular transfer or button mixture, for instance.
That is truly extra helpful than you would possibly assume, because it offers you extra enter choices than ordinary. There is a swap on the highest fringe of the controller which lets you swap the mappings of those shoulder buttons.
One other swap could be discovered on the entrance of the controller which toggles the D-pad enter. ‘DP’ maps it to the default digital pad (effectively, duh), whereas ‘LS’ and ‘RS’ map it to the left and proper analogue stick, respectively. That is useful for these video games which do not use the D-pad for motion, however the disadvantage is that you just lose the subtlety of analogue enter.
The Hori Preventing Commander can solely be used wired, but it surely comes with a beneficiant 3-metre cable which suggests you do not have to take a seat too near your TV so as to use it.
Hori Preventing Commander for Nintendo Swap Assessment: Efficiency
As any preventing recreation fan will inform you, a controller lives or dies by the standard of its D-pad. With the Preventing Commander, you’ve got obtained a superb cross-shaped pad, which is nice for pulling off particular strikes like Dragon Punches and fireballs however is not fairly the best-in-show so far as the market goes.
I would have most well-liked to see a ‘rolling’ D-pad, just like the one used on the legendary Sega Saturn controller. Whereas that is very a lot down to private style, such a pad is the best possible for preventing video games for my part, and whereas cross-shaped pads are nonetheless completely high quality, they do not provide the identical scope for clean inputs when rolling the pad round beneath your thumb.
Earlier than this feels like I am dunking on this pad, let me stress that I used to be nonetheless in a position to pull off advanced strikes efficiently with the Hori Preventing Commander – for probably the most half. There have been a number of instances when it felt just like the pad lacked enough journey, however on the entire, I did really feel that this controller helped elevate my recreation significantly, particularly when in comparison with utilizing a Pleasure-Con or Professional Controller. (It is also value noting {that a} rolling D-pad does not routinely assure high quality, as PowerA’s Struggle Pad proves).
The six-button structure is unbelievable, with giant buttons and good placement. When enjoying Capcom’s preventing video games, having fast entry to all three punch and kick strengths is important – particularly when enjoying at excessive ranges – and in that respect, this pad completely nails it.
It is value noting that the Hori Preventing Commander can also be nice for non-fighting video games, particularly these that are constructed round digital enter, like 2D platformers, shmups, or side-scrolling beat ’em ups. You may need to tinker with the button structure within the settings to get issues configured the way you need them, however this is not an enormous challenge.
Hori Preventing Commander for Nintendo Swap Assessment: Conclusion
Whereas its D-pad might arguably have been higher, the Hori Preventing Commander is among the greatest choices for Swap homeowners who want a superb joypad for his or her fight exploits.
The dearth of wi-fi management is a disgrace, however many preventing recreation followers will want the low-latency wired connection, even when it does imply sitting a little bit nearer to the TV than ordinary.
For those who’re in search of a pad to boost your recreation with one-on-one fighters, then this can be a stable choice.
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