For retroheads trying to present their love for outdated consoles, there are many retro-styled controllers obtainable for Swap. Often they’re restricted to a livery and an old-school color scheme on the buttons, although.
They’re typically lacking trendy options, too. With the Warrior Bluetooth Controller, NYXI hopes to enchantment to GameCube aficionados in addition to individuals searching for a totally practical Swap pad alongside the strains of Nintendo’s Professional Controller.
With respectable customisation choices and a few spectacular options, this pad is a love letter to the GameCube pad and does an terrible lot proper. However does it tick sufficient packing containers for sufficient gamers? And is it a real Professional Controller different?
Let’s have a look at what it is received.
On this web page: Evaluation: NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller – A Nice GameCube Pad For Swap, With The One Massive Quirk
1.NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller: Design2.NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller: Efficiency3.NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller – The Verdict
NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller: Design
Earlier than NYXI kindly despatched over a assessment pattern, we had been requested which variant we would choose. We went for the basic Indigo Purple, however the pad additionally is available in Black or Orange variations — no Silver, sadly. As you may see from the images, it is a fairly good match for the unique console.
Feel and appear-wise, NYXI has executed an honest job of capturing the spirit of the GameCube controller with out handing over a complete clone. It is a mite wider than a GC pad, and heavier, weighing in at 241g. It is a quality-feeling little bit of package, as effectively it needs to be given the $69 price ticket, however contemplating the options right here, you are getting an honest bang:buck ratio.
The pad comes with Corridor Impact sticks, analogue triggers (which may have their distance shortened independently utilizing the switches on the again, successfully turning them into straight on/off buttons should you like), six-axis gyro, HD rumble, and programmable again buttons and turbo capabilities. In comparison with a Swap Professional Controller, the one factor lacking is an NFC reader in your amiibo. Not a nasty bundle.
Within the field, you get two USB-A to USB-C cables (one extraordinarily quick, used for connecting the GC receiver to a PC — extra on that later), a wi-fi receiver to plug into your ‘Dice’s controller port (styled a lot very like the one you bought with a WaveBird), plus some elements to change in/out as per your choice, together with one other C-stick that duplicates the type of the left stick, and substitute round surrounds for the sticks if the octagonal selection isn’t to you liking. Swapping the sticks and surrounds includes twisting them anticlockwise, which takes some doing, however there isn’t any probability of them coming out on their very own.
Along with all that, you get a backplate to swap in if the programmable buttons on the rear hassle you – unlikely to be a difficulty for normal gamers, however helpful for event environments, maybe. These again paddles/buttons are properly, naturally positioned beneath your center fingers. If you happen to’re the type to disregard these further doohickeys, they’re unobtrusive, but it surely’s good to have them.
In any other case, all the things is current and proper the place you’d anticipate it to be. If you happen to’re coming from a GC pad, the face buttons instantly really feel very completely different, as ABXY and the D-pad right here use ‘clicky’ microswitches. They are not notably loud, however swapping from the OG controller to this contemporary facsimile, it is in all probability essentially the most hanging distinction.
The Warrior’s rolling D-pad makes clean modifications between instructions easy — nice for preventing video games — though some might choose the old-school ‘cross’ selection. Both method, it is an enchancment on the unique GC D-pad which was curiously undersized; then once more, we do not bear in mind utilizing it a lot again within the day.
NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller: Efficiency
Earlier than digging out our GameCube, we fired up the Swap. The Warrior shortly paired with it and with the ‘+’ and ‘-‘ buttons, plus screengrab and ‘Dwelling’, it capabilities virtually precisely like a Professional Controller (and is recognised as such). You aren’t getting Professional Controller ranges of battery life, sadly, however NYXI’s 10-hour estimate from a single cost was in keeping with our expertise. In comparison with Nintendo’s Swap pad, it is simply the format of ABXY that is completely different, and that is this pad’s Achille’s heal.
You see, on firing up Tears of the Kingdom to present it exercise, a whole bunch of hours of Hylian muscle reminiscence kicked in and we repeatedly forgot that right here ‘Y’ is the highest button, with ‘X’ shifting 90 levels clockwise. Now, this is not an insurmountable hurdle — and you would remap the buttons through the Swap’s system menu should you actually needed — however in our time testing the pad, we might by no means get used to utilizing this face button association whereas enjoying our library of Swap video games.
Which was a disgrace given how the sticks, shoulder buttons, and gyro functioned completely with each sport we examined. For some video games it will not be a difficulty — and also you may adapt faster to the GC face button format — however not with the ability to execute Hyperlink’s acrobatic strikes immediately felt odd. Mileage might range, and all that.
Firing up Mario Sunshine in 3D All-Stars to see the way it felt to play a real GC sport on Swap, alas, the analogue triggers do not operate because the official GameCube ones do when linked with an adaptor – the Swap registers the NYXI Warrior as a Professional Controller, bear in mind.
Shifting on, it was time to check with authentic {hardware}, and the Warrior carried out as marketed. Plugging the dongle into one of many GC ports, the pad paired simple sufficient as soon as we would discovered the net video and received each gadgets blinking quickly (versus blinking not-quite-so-rapidly). As soon as linked, we had been in enterprise.
We performed on an LG OLED TV with our GameCube connected through HMDI (utilizing one in every of EON’s GCHD Mk IIs). Switching between a wired authentic GC controller and the trendy wi-fi pad, we struggled to understand a distinction by way of responsiveness. Diehard Melee gamers would definitely discover, however for anyone completely satisfied to take the comfort of a wi-fi WaveBird over cables, the Warrior appears like a barely chunkier model of that within the palms. Naturally, it really works on first-gen Wiis with GameCube ports too. Gone are the times when a third-party controller put you at a drawback. The Warrior is a high quality little bit of package.
A flexible one, too; you can even join it to your PC, both wired through the longer USB cable or wirelessly through the use of the quick result in join the dongle to your PC and your pad to that, and Bluetooth can also be an possibility. Steam recognised it as a Professional Controller over Bluetooth, and it really works precisely as you’d anticipate, with respectable wi-fi response that improves once you plug it in. We additionally linked to an iPhone with RetroArch and it carried out as anticipated.
And that’s the story with the Warrior. It does what’s says on the tin, and effectively. Its solely actual disadvantage comes from its faithfulness to a pad we love, however one which feels much less related than ever nowadays. For professional Melee gamers, or for when Nintendo places GameCube video games on NSO, this may very well be a godsend. In any other case it’s a wonderful pad with one large quirk.
NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller – The Verdict
For anybody searching for a feature-laden Professional Controller different with a retro really feel, the NYXI Warrior delivers on its promise. It is a sturdy, great-looking controller which pairs effectively with Swap and PC, but additionally brings the products for GameCube lovers searching for a wi-fi pad however baulking at secondhand WaveBird costs.
The one actual mark towards it’s the GC-style ABXY association which is extremely arduous to adapt to after so a few years. In a method, it isn’t the Warrior’s fault — it’s very true to the GameCube format — however given the customisation elsewhere on the pad, the flexibility to change out the face buttons for a extra normal, trendy configuration might have made this important.
As it’s, it is an excellent pad with a quirk that may very well be a dealbreaker should you plan to make use of it together with your Swap.
Appears to be like and feels the enterprise
Versatile and simple to make use of, with good customisation choices
High quality elements and building
It is received gyro!
A contemporary spin that plucks your nostalgia strings
Clicky buttons: good for professionals, however may irritate you
Nonetheless nowhere close to a Professional Controller, battery life-wise
The ABXY association right here is nice for GC… however bizarre for just about anything
Nice 8/10
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