Has Your SNES Pad Seen Better Days? Don't Worry, A Fix Is Coming

I feel that membranes is something no aftermarket company ever thinks about, so I'm glad someone is! I had to swap in my OG membranes to my Retro-Bit Genesis and Saturn controllers for them to feel proper during gameplay.

Nice. Keepin' those SNES pads fresh for anyone who's played them to death.

Man, that's awesome!! I modded a GBA with a new shell and buttons a few years ago, and things just felt off. I ended up switching back to the original membranes, and that helped but it still wasn't the same as that first party feel

@Ziondood It's when you try all the third party stuff that you realise the quality of the first party Nintendo products for the most part. No other controller of that era even touched the default SNES controller imo. Although, for certain uses, some third party options were definitely well worth trying. Like if you wanted to play Street Fighter II in a manner closer to the arcade, you might try the best-in-class C&L Championship Joystick for example. But, outside of actually quite niche situations like that, I've always found Nintendo's first party controllers genuinely great in almost every instance. And the SNES controller was/is kinda peak for me.

It would be nice to have a source for true-to-feel controller components for 80’s and 90’s pads

@NinChocolate

It is really hit or miss.
The Retrosix ones are generally the better ones.

I bought one of the switch online SNES controllers and it feels amazing compared to my original SNES controllers and that’s what it is the membranes have definitely gone in the original but for me the main problem with a SNES controller is the L and R triggers they snap where they pivot near the pin I hope someone can find a fix for that in the future as it is one of my all time favourite controllers

Good news.
Modern membranes usually sucks.

My preferred SNES controller is the Hori Super Commander, so I don't think those d-pad membranes would fit, but it looks like the button one might and I do need one of those as my Y button is getting a bit iffy in Mario World these days.

@Sketcz
Or the shell, or the buttons.
I use my Snes controllers in an unusual way.

Thats to say hooked up via an adapter to my 3DO
Takes a bit of getting used too but its quite pleasant.

@Sketcz
Yup.
It wasn't cheap but it works quite well
https://controlleradapter.com/products/snes23do?variant=40507810807965

I got the grey and purple one.
The button layout is s bit funky since the 3DO controller is actually a 5 button controller.
Or a 7 button, if you count the "start and select" buttons, but after a while you get used to it .

A proper Snes controller is just that much more better.

@Sketcz

Not quite.
I'm using Samuari Shodown as a reference

Y is A
X is Pause
The shoulder buttons do nothing
B and A are also kick and punch
Start pauses .

Let's see what it does in SF Turbo II
Select is start.
The shoulder buttons are punches.
Start is also a punch.
But so is Y.
A, B and X are kicks.

The convertor doesnt map buttons one on one.
From what i gathered it emulates that weirdo 6 button controller.
And it's layout changes for each game.
In most beat em ups you can remap the controls though.

But in other games, like Need For Speed, it's more of a puzzle.

The mapping is actually also in the manual here
https://controlleradapter.com/pages/snes23do-instruction-manual

@WaveBoy Thanks for the info! My NES and SNES pads are good because I use the ones that came with my classic consoles

EBay is always a gamble! I pick stuff locally when possible.

@WaveBoy I dunno, I have both OG Saturn pads and a wireless 2.4 GHz Retrobit one. The shoulder buttons are pretty different, not better or worse IMO, but in terms of weight and feel, I don't notice much of a difference.