Fresh off the success of the Brawler64 and its colorful variations, Retro Fighters has shifted its focus to the Sega Genesis and Sega Saturn! Dubbed the BrawlerGEN, this modern take on the classic Sega controller looks to combine function with great ergonomics. The BrawlerGEN is intended to be usable on both a Sega Genesis and Saturn when they come out later this year. If this sounds interesting to you, there happens to be another version of the BrawlerGEN that is available now for PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, and The Sega Genesis Mini! Thanks to Retro Fighters and Castlemania Games, I was able to put this version of the BrawlerGEN through its paces!

What’s In The Box

The first thing you will notice when you get your BrawlerGEN is the larger than life image of the controller proudly displayed in all of its glossy glory! The BrawlerGEN naming is displayed largely beneath the controller and displays that this is the USB variant. Above the controller, we have the list of compatible consoles, with the Genesis Mini taking the prominent position. The Retro Fighters logo is also on display here, as well as on the top and right side of the box. Along the left side of the box is another wonderful depiction of the BrawlerGEN, accompanied once again by name and system compatibility. On the back is a great description of the BrawlerGEN controller along with a number of bullet points that I will be covering throughout this review!

Upon opening the box I was able to get my first view of the BrawlerGEN in its plastic housing. The controller cord wraps around to the bottom side for storage. There is one additional surprise hidden back with the cord and it is a nice Retro Fighters keychain. It is a good-sized keychain, so a good display item for those of you out there that are into that! The last item included in the box is a handy user manual that includes documentation on button mappings for the various compatible consoles. A few button combos, that can change up functions on the controller, are also detailed and have come in quite handy! There is also a listing for PS3 functionality that hasn’t been noted up to this point. The rest of the user manual has info about Retro Fighters and a nice thank you for customers!

Aesthetics And Build Quality

The BrawlerGEN features the same totally recognizable Retro Fighters design found on the Brawler64. The controller is wide and features two handles to help with its mission of ergonomic design. And yes, this controller feels good to hold! When I first picked up the BrawlerGEN I really liked how it felt in my hands. There are raised areas of plastic on the back, just below the shoulder buttons, that feel really nice to press my knuckles up against and help prevent slipping. Thanks to the lengths of the handles I am also able to get a grip with each of my fingers which is always a plus in my mind. Reaching inputs is also very easy and everything was spaced out nicely.

On the face of the BrawlerGEN are the traditional 6 buttons found on a Sega Saturn/Genesis 6-button controller, a rocker style D-pad, Start and Mode buttons, and finally a thumbstick. There are two shoulder buttons up top as well. I am really happy that Retro Fighters designed the areas around the face buttons and D-pad like those found on an official Sega 6-button controller. The buttons themselves are also very similar but are missing the traditional bumps found on the B and Y buttons to let you know where your thumb is resting. Buttons themselves have a nice click to them and feel very satisfying to press. Likewise, the D-pad feels good to roll around. I love rocker style D-pads!

Start and Mode has a softer feel to them, which I am a fan of since they aren’t going to be constantly used and don’t need as much tactile feedback. I also like that they have the name of the button engraved into the plastic rather than flat matte printing. The thumbstick features the same cap as those found on an Xbox One controller and feels great in use here. One area I think anyone who has used the Brawler64 will be happy to see improved is the shoulder buttons. I didn’t mind the shoulder buttons on the Brawler64, but those on the BrawlerGEN are so much better and don’t feel as loose. They also just feel more satisfying to use! The BrawlerGEN also uses a 10-foot cord which makes me happy! It is also a welcomed improvement over the 6-foot cord on my gen-1 Brawler64’s.

As far as build quality is concerned, the BrawlerGEN is a sturdy controller. It has a good weight to it so anyone who felt the Brawler64 was too light without a Rumble Pak should be pleased here! The construction is also solid enough that the controller has no give upon heavy presses or a rage-induced twist. Speaking of rage-induced twists, the BrawlerGEN has once again held up well to my merry assortment of rage tests. Cord swinging, not a problem. Smashed onto the floor, you can do better than that! Physical abuse, pfff, easy. The full weight of my body jumping upon it, worrisome but handled like a champ. It will take a fair amount of abuse to take the BrawlerGEN out of this fight!

Gameplay

There is a lot you can do with the BrawlerGEN which I love! It is indeed compatible with a number of different systems and I was able to test it on PC, Switch, PS3, and Genesis Mini. Considering the big bold text on the front of the box listed the Genesis Mini first, it seems only appropriate to start there. Now I want to get this out in the open quickly: I am not a big fan of the original 3-button Genesis controller. I know only 2 games on Genesis Mini can even make use of a 6-button controller but that has always been my preferred button and controller setup. The BrawlerGEN again features 6 buttons, making it compatible with every game on the Genesis Mini and its modern design makes it the most comfortable Genesis controller to date for me. Quite a perfect combo for digging into some games!

The first thing I want to point out is that the BrawlerGEN felt very responsive. I was able to beat Sonic without a hitch, and even beat Contra Hard Corps and Castlevania: Bloodlines for the first time ever! The D-pad worked great for games and I found it to be precise in games like Tetris. There is one thing I want to mention about the D-pad though because it was something that I had trouble with for a bit. When I would play Street Fighter II I would get a few instances of an up misread when trying to do combos. As I have used the controller more the occurrences of these misreads have disappeared. Either I got used to the motion of the D-pad or I loosened something up inside of it over the course of my testing. Regardless, it feels great to use now so I can’t complain!

Now when using the BrawlerGEN on the Genesis Mini, the D-pad and analog stick are mirrored. Despite all the games of the time being built around D-pad use, there are numerous games I will always find more comfortable to play using an analog stick. Playing Road Rash 2, and Space Harrier feels right at home on an analog stick and even the new port of Darius felt awesome. The analog stick itself has a good range of motion and feels very smooth to use. I am also loving they went with the Xbox One style thumb cap because it just feels so good and gives a great grip!

Moving on to the Switch, the BrawlerGEN’s usage becomes much more selective. Games that don’t make use of a second analog stick, or ones that make little use of one, are well suited to the BrawlerGEN. I had an especially fun time using it with the SNES games in the same manner as the Genesis Mini. Star Fox was yet another game that just feels awesome to me with an analog stick! The Mega Man X Legacy Collection was another game that I found thoroughly enjoyable to play using the controller. By default, the BrawlerGEN buttons are mapped to match up to the names of the Switch buttons but not the placement. This is great for players who look at the names of their buttons as they play like younger kids or new players. With a simple combo of the D-pad down and the Start button for 5 seconds, you can swap the buttons to match that of an official Nintendo controller, which will always be my preferred when using a Nintendo system.

With the buttons swapped, games play more as intended and makes games without customizable button mappings feel right to play again. There is one more combo that many of you out there might find interesting and that is swapping the D-pad for its normal D-pad functionality to that of the right analog stick. If you want that feeling of trying to play first-person shooters like you were on a PSP, this is the option for you! While not extremely practical it was fun to mess with. The more practical use to me came from testing Smash Ultimate. I like having the right analog stick to do a quick smash attack, and with the ability to remap the D-pad to the right analog stick I could easily pull off a quick smash attack when wanted! And seriously we all know Smash needs yet another controller input option right!? One cool thing I would like to call out is that the BrawlerGEN is able to go back to the Switch Home Menu at any time with a combo of Start and A at the same time. This was very convenient and made it so I didn’t need to keep a Joy-Con on hand for any reason while testing.

PS3 usage is identical to that of the Switch with the same limitations and button combos. Games that don’t need constant use of the right analog stick worked great. I didn’t spend the most time testing the controller on PS3 since most of my game library needed a second analog stick, and after messing around with DOOM on the Switch I didn’t think we all needed to see that again. Anyone that still goes back to play the abundant fighting game library on PS3 will likely be pleased with the BrawlerGEN and its 6-button design! The only downside on PS3 usage was that there didn’t seem to be the same menu functionality as there was on Switch, so I had to keep a DualShock 3 close by to switch games or check on Trophy progress.

PC usage is probably where I found the most use for the BrawlerGEN. By default, the controller connects using the direct input standard, which allows for compatibility with a wide variety of older games and even computer systems. Yes, It can even hook up to my Pentium 3 PC without an issue! For this era of gaming, the BrawlerGEN is perfect as a second analog stick wasn’t even thought of yet. My next main use of the BrawlerGEN was in emulation and the very first game I even tested with the controller was Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II. 

Emulation has allowed me to test the BrawlerGEN in a wide variety of games built around its particular qualities. N64 gaming was especially fun, as all the required buttons needed for the system were present. Though I did map the L-button functionality to the Mode button. The BrawlerGEN was built to be a Sega Genesis and Saturn controller when it’s real console version launches. Thanks to emulation, we can also get an awesome preview of how it will handle and I am a fan so far! We can also get a small hint at how the upcoming Retro Fighters Dreamcast controller might handle as well. 

Now that isn’t to say the BrawlerGEN is only good for old games, but it will have the same limitations as using it on the Switch or PS3. Fighting games were once again a strong suit for the controller with its 6-button layout. An extra button combo is available when using the BrawlerGEN on PC to switch the controller into Xinput mode extending compatibility into a number of modern games. If you really wanted to you could use this Xinput functionality to once again extend the BrawlerGEN’s compatibility to Xbox One through the use of the Xbox App on Windows 10. Again, use is going to have some limitations but it is still cool none the less!

What It Could Have Done Better

Now the BrawlerGEN is a really solid controller for what it can work for, but again, this isn’t meant to be used for all games. That being said, the initial bit of trouble the D-pad gave me before it worked right is a bit concerning to me. Mine did stop giving issues quickly but will that always be the case? Will others even have that issue in the first place? I don’t know, so I feel the need to once again point out it was something that troubled me in the early hours of my testing. I have one more huge nitpick with the BrawlerGEN, and yes this is a nitpick and not related to use in any way... but, the controller could really have benefited from some color or an added logo on the front to fill the empty space between the D-pad and buttons. The lines found on the grips of the Brawler64 would also have been a welcomed return to me aesthetically. Again this is nothing more than a nitpick but aesthetically it makes the BrawlerGEN feel more like a prototype than a finished controller to me.

Verdict

Overall I have found the BrawlerGEN USB version to be a great controller for what it is suited to play. There are limitations present in modern games for sure, but it shines in anything retro or retro-inspired. The number of systems it is compatible with is also a huge plus and can open the controller up to even more use. As an emulation controller, the BrawlerGEN is suited to a number of different systems and can play things perfectly! Buttons, thumbstick, and D-pad were very responsive and accurate; again see my previous comments about the D-pad. The controller is also well constructed and has taken a ton of punishment without faltering. At a price of $29.99 the BrawlerGEN is more expensive than competing USB options, but it brings added functionality that more than justifies the price. It is also the most comfortable Genesis-inspired option out there. If you are looking for a good controller to add to your Genesis Mini or emulation device check it out now at Castlemania Games!