8BitDo 64 Bluetooth Controller Review – BlastCorps from the Past
I was a relative latecomer to the Nintendo 64, blowing a whole wad of birthday money in November 2000 on The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask from Software Today after Toy World had run out of stock. That’s not to say I’d never played the console before that point – it was ubiquitous in that era and there were many sleepovers featuring hours of Goldeneye and Mario Party, the most controller-destroying title ever developed – but our household Nintendo 64 technically wasn’t mine so I rarely spent much time on it compared to the PSX I’d picked up as soon as they dropped below $200AU, yet another birthday purchase. Outside of both Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, if I had to hazard a guess I’d say the 64 titles I played the most were Mario Kart 64, Pilotwings and Vigilante 8 – not exactly the most rounded experience of the library. Now revisiting some of the N64 highlights via the Switch 2 and the new 8BitDo 64 Bluetooth controller, it’s amazing to see how well some of them have held up and also just how much the second analog stick came to define every subsequent generation of console gaming.
Compared to the Dual Shock which debuted 18 months after the N64 and was clearly inspired by Nintendo’s work, the OG 64 controller always felt a bit rinky-dink, the three prongs an odd choice, almost as odd as Nintendo never bothering to revisit the design for the entire console’s lifecycle. 8BitDo have shed that aspect to deliver something far more suited to modern controller sensibilities whilst remaining faithful to the colour scheme of the era, at least in the version Player2 was sent. The build quality was evident from the first moment my thumb touched the analog stick, the buttons responsive and not ‘clacky’ as some controllers can be.
Navigating the Switch 2 menu with the 64 Bluetooth Controller can be a bit finnicky – while it’s inclusions and layout perfectly suit emulated N64 titles, it’s lacking some other buttons that facilitate smooth operation of the menu system, like X to shutdown software. It also isn’t able to wake the console itself, so getting things underway with the Joy-Cons or a Pro Controller before navigating to the ‘Change Grip’ screen will happen every session.
Once in game, the 64 Bluetooth controller lives up to its promise. One minute I was soaring across the water in Wave Race 64, then within a few button presses could be leaping of the dam in Goldeneye. I had more trouble rewiring my brain to use the C-buttons as a pseudo second analog or navigating to the ‘invert look’ setting than I did handling the 8BitDo 64. For dedicated emulation enthusiasts this piece of kit is a no-brainer – not only is it a more ergonomic layout than the original, the build quality far outstrips it too with the analog stick in particular the centrepiece given how notorious the original 64 controller was for this key component wearing out relatively quickly. Not to fear here with the sturdy metal ring that even the mighty Mario Party is unlikely to defeat. Weighing in at just over 200 grams, a 30-hour battery life is another surprise, although it may go to show just how far battery life has come in these past few years that I’m constantly amazed at how light things can be and still run for days.
These features don’t negate the fact that while the 8BitDo 64 vastly improves upon the ergonomics and build quality issues of numerous N64 controllers, official or otherwise, it sometimes can’t overcome just how dated a few of these control schemes are in 2026, even moreso when using official means to play them. Winback made me feel like I was having a stroke just trying to control the main character – it’s a simple fact that there’s a good reason an extra analog stick and even more buttons became the standard. While it is possible to remap the buttons of the 8BitDo 64 controller by holding the two you wish to swap and then pushing the select button, even this function couldn’t save me in this scenario and sadly resets every time the controller is powered down or disconnects from the system. I imagine many other people my age would despair at my ineptitude, but the fact of the matter is that outside a few key titles, I was always more of a PlayStation player during the period and by the time I picked up a GameCube, Nintendo had largely fallen in line with the prevailing controller norms. For anyone going beyond a Switch 2, the 8BitDo also works across a range of systems including PC, Android, Windows and the luxurious Analogue 3D hardware, with both wired and Bluetooth compatibility. A small switch on the rear of the unit swaps between the Switch 1/2 (S) and pretty much everything else (D) that the controller can interface with.
It turns out Nintendo 64 titles are easily the least intuitive retro titles for me, but the 8BitDo 64 Bluetooth controller took much of the pain out of the process. The battery life, build quality and versatility across systems makes it an accessory to seriously consider for those wanting to revisit their childhood or introduce nostalgic titles to their own children or grandchildren – my own sons were excited to check out older Mario and Pokémon titles, while I think a few more 8BitDo 64 controllers would be better suited to showing them why nobody is allowed to pick Oddjob in Goldeneye.
The 8BitDo 64 Bluetooth controller was kindly supplied by 8BitDo for the purposes of this review. The primary play platform was the Nintendo Switch 2.
