If you haven’t been able to tell, I love testing controllers as they are our interface into games. A good controller brings us closer to the action in more ways than you can really give it credit for while a bad controller will ruin even the most highly praised games. When I test a controller for review I like to spend, at minimum, a month with the device before giving my thoughts on it. I spend most of that time testing it out with a selection of games, mostly what I am familiar with and know how it should feel but other random things people ask me for on social media as well. After this initial testing, I like to further examine the build quality of a controller to make sure it will stand up to moderate punishment.
Yes, “moderate”; I know I do some crazy things to some of these devices but it gives a good idea for how they should stand up over time. After this abuse I go back and replay a number of titles to see if the performance has been impacted in any way; this is also when I tend to record my gameplay footage. While I stand by what I say in these original reviews, as it is how I felt about the product at the time, a month isn’t the longest time to spend with a product. This is why today I am going to be re-examining the Retro-Bit Tribute 64 controllers for the Nintendo 64 and the release of the new Tribute colors gives me the perfect reason to do so!!
What’s In The Box
The Tribute 64’s are still shipping in a neat double box design with the outer portion being a harder plastic protector and the inner cardboard housing the controller. Removing this inner box allows you to touch the controller while it is still housed, and just as I did a year ago, I think it is pretty cool! Though the cardboard is still rather flimsy, but that is the whole point of the outer plastic housing. All the design aesthetics remain unchanged from the original release and it still looks sleek in my mind! Inside the box is the Tribute 64 without any additional pack-ins or documentation.
Aesthetics And Build Quality
With the new Tribute 64 color variants, the main design of the controller remains unchanged. The new colors look absolutely beautiful, and I have to say, having a Classic Grey Tribute makes me far happier than I would have expected. The main inspiration for the design remains the Hori Pad Mini but the Tribute 64 is wider, making it easier to hold for players with larger hands like myself. The handles are direct replicas of those found on an original N64 controller which gives them a more vertical orientation. Because of this, the controller gives the impression that it is smaller than it really is.
Face buttons have a nice spacing which likewise mirrors that of an official controller, and the thumbstick in use is nice and large with decent resistance. The Tribute’s d-pad resides smack dab center at the bottom of the controller’s face. The d-pad placement remains one of the biggest controversial points of the Tribute 64’s design and has been debated so much that the wireless version will actually be shifting it more to the left upon its eventual release. For me personally, I haven’t really minded it since so few games in the entire N64 library actually use it. The dual Z shoulder button design also returns for the new color releases, only this time they have been properly named! They do still sink into the controller a bit more than I would like but it isn’t something I actively notice during gameplay.
Durability and weight of the controller appear to be unchanged so the controller will feel light to some without the use of a Rumble Pak. Speaking of durability, the Tribute 64 I brutalized for my original review is still working perfectly to this day, showing that design was built to last! Even the analog stick range is within the same range as my other launch model Tribute despite being jumped on.
There is one thing I would like to bring up though. In the original review samples of the Tribute 64 I received, the thumbstick would grind into the inner PCB making it impossible for the stick to go fully right without some extra force. I never noticed it affecting anything during gameplay but the design was quickly updated to address the problem. The new color Tributes are the first time I have used the new stick design and it is far better to the touch than you would expect!
Gameplay
Things have changed a bit in the last year since I first reviewed the Tribute 64. I have upgraded one of my original Kickstarter Brawler 64’s to the newer model with the better thumbstick and longer cord length as well as picked up the Hyperkin Admiral wireless controller. I have spent a ton of time bouncing back and forth between each of these controllers but it is always the Tribute 64 that I end up coming back to.
Over the last year, I have been able to test the Tribute against a far more comprehensive game list and have been able to complete around 35 games start to finish while also trying out about 100 more. The performance of the new Tribute 64’s has been nearly indistinguishable to me which makes them great for a good majority of the N64’s library including highly popular games like Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64, Banjo Kazooie, Goldeneye, and Ocarina of Time.
Now I will say this once again because it is just a fact with nearly every 3rd party replacement controller or thumbstick. The higher analog range on the Tribute 64 will result in a slight learning curve when you first begin to use it. If you have played N64 games on a PC through emulation using something like an Xbox One or Xbox 360 controller you should have a basic idea of how the Tribute will feel on the actual N64 hardware. This higher range can be of great benefit in a number of titles such as DOOM 64 or the various flight games present on the system like Star Wars Rogue Squadron. I seriously love playing flight games with the Tribute 64; they feel so good to me!
While the thumbstick and sensitivity are far higher than those on the competition or original controllers, the oversized stick design and resistance are tuned well and give a sense of far greater control. Part of what helps the Tribute maintain control also comes down to how the diagonal range is handled. On GameCube style stick replacements for official N64 controllers the diagonal range far exceeds that of an official controllers gate. This leads to a number of wild turns and makes a number of games feel wrong to play. With the Tribute 64, the diagonal range stays in line with the rest of the controller’s gate leading to smoother performance. With the newer Tribute’s, the upper right part of the analog gate has actually been significantly improved over the originals I own leading to a better experience overall.
The Tribute’s face buttons likewise feel very similar to those found on an official N64 controller which I really enjoy. They have a good tactile feel and aren’t obnoxiously noisy. Every game I have played has responded quickly and well with no signs of missed inputs. Shoulder buttons, despite being a tad on the mushy side, also respond well to presses from a variety of angles. Thanks to the dual Z design Perfect Dark or GoldenEye can be played fairly similar to a modern shooter which is a huge plus.
Despite its controversial placement, I enjoy how the d-pad on the tribute 64 handles gameplay. The N64 WWF and WCW games are games many N64 fans play and I am happy to report that they have handled well in all of my sessions. Likewise, Kirby 64 and Mischief Makers have been an absolute joy for me to play through on the Tribute! Now one of my favorite ways to test a d-pad is by playing through the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater games. The original in particular doesn’t allow you to remap tricks, so utilizing the diagonal is a necessary part of the game. With the Tribute d-pad this is a nonissue and utilizing the full range of moves is a breeze, unlike another N64 controller I have been testing lately.
Just a quick note on additional accessory compatibility. Both Rumble Paks and Controller Paks worked without issue across every game I have tested. Third-party variants of these accessories that I own also worked well without issues. Sadly, Transfer Paks are not officially supported due to Nintendo black magic making them unusable on practically every 3rd-party controller to date.
What It Could Have Done Better
Thanks to the gift of time I have been able to test far more games with the Tribute 64 than I had in my original review and there are some that might cause you trouble to play. Buck Bumble is one such game. Since the game was designed around a certain analog range, going above this range results in the game not registering any input at all. With the Tribute 64, this happens with left, up, and down but right is within the accepted range. The only way to counter this is to not push the stick all the way over in any of those directions. This same issue happens in Toy Story 2 when doing first-person aiming but the rest of the 3rd-person gameplay is just fine. These are the only 2 games I own that had this issue out of 140 titles but I think it is important to let them be known.
Just as an additional heads-up, the Sea Salt Ice Cream and Atomic Purple Tribute 64’s I received had a bit of a death grip problem caused by the side latches on the port connector sticking out too far. This made them hard to insert and remove from the N64, and if you aren’t careful you could potentially damage the controller. If this is something you encounter, shoot Retro-Bit an email at info@retro-bit.com and they will help you out! I haven’t heard of anyone else encountering this issue yet with the new colors and my new Classic grey Tribute didn’t experience it so I am thinking it shouldn’t be a major issue to worry about. If you aren’t interested in doing the return process, removing the side latches has worked well for me.
Verdict
After a year of testing and jumping back and forth between the various N64 controllers on the market today, I still always find myself coming back to the Retro-Bit Tribute 64. I find the Tribute to be the best blend of performance and comfort over the other options. Even with the initial learning curve due to the added sensitivity, it blows away every analog stick replacement you can get for an official N64 controller within the $25 price range. Yes, there are some really good stick replacements out there now, but have you seen the prices? Yeah, no thanks, I will take 4 Tribute 64’s at a fraction of the cost!
