The Best Game Controller Buttons of All Time

What makes a great button? No, really. While rankings of the best videogame controllers abound, a consideration of the importance of individual buttons has, scandalously, been ignored. Until now. Because what was gaming, really, until the N64 Z-trigger came along? A great button is the perfect mix of form, function, and simplicity.

Wired UK

This story originally appeared on WIRED UK.

Few topics have caused such fierce debate in the WIRED office. Quickly it became apparent that such a list must also include non-button-ey buttons: sticks, triggers, even rumbles. And so, right here, and in no particular order, is the definitive ranking of truly great buttons.

The N64 Analog Stick

Though analog sticks existed prior to the N64, on Sega Arcade systems, for instance, no console cemented the idea that these sticks might be controlled with your thumbs quite like Nintendo’s third console. The stick grew out of the understanding that the eight directions detected by the SNES’s D-Pad would prove insufficient for the N64’s 3D worlds—these demanded 360 degree control. Even now, the tilt-perfect movement players could gain over a back flipping Mario or an egg-farting Kazooie is second to none—it’s no surprise that the analog stick coincided with a golden era of 3D Nintendo platformers. (The stick melded particularly well with the controller’s equally iconic Z trigger.) First-person shooters have held up less well—playing a single analog game like GoldenEye from the perspective of the post-Halo, dual stick era is chastening (though there was an option that allowed you to play with dual analog sticks by using two controllers). However, the N64 control stick can claim to be an essential early precursor in the development of precise, dual stick analog that became standard. — Will Bedingfield

The GameCube’s A button

The GameCube’s giant A button is the perfect embodiment of what Nintendo games are all about: fun. What do people play games for? To have fun. Want to have fun? Just. Press. A. It’s big. It’s green. It’s A. There’s a reason Nintendo is still churning out GameCube controllers for Super Smash Bros. fanatics: its ingenious arrangement of the main control buttons. With the majestic giant A at its center, the skilled player can quickly zip between the kidney-shaped Y and X and the tiny, proud-yet-apologetic B, making this the perfect tool for a fast-paced, highly skilled fighting game. And the A button is always there, unmissable with a frantic mashing of the middle of your thumb. — James Temperton

The Dreamcast’s analog triggers

All sensible people know Project Gotham Racing 2 on the original Xbox is the best racing game of all time, but the seeds were planted on the Dreamcast. In the dying days of the console, a little-known studio produced Metropolis Street Racer. It used the Dreamcast’s innovative analog triggers to create a racer where deftly balancing acceleration and braking was rewarded with subtle, satisfying slides. Now we can’t imagine a controller without them, and the Xbox would go on to use them for Project Gotham and an obscure cult hit called Halo. The Dreamcast’s controller was objectively bad, but its analog triggers were inspired. — Andy Vandervell

Right on the SNES D-Pad

Go. Explore. Find out what lies beyond the side-scrolling horizon. The SNES D-Pad wasn’t the first, but it was, without question, the best. And it remains unsurpassed. Fight me. And nowhere is that D-Pad’s brilliance better expressed than on the right-facing prong. It’s how you propelled yourself forward in Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and launched another flailing attack in Street Fighter II. As a whole, the D-Pad is just the right mix of firm and squishy, its edges subtly rounded so as not to mangle your thumb too much as it twirls around like a tiny, fleshy conductor. To the uninitiated, a D-Pad is just a D-Pad. Incorrect. The GameCube D-Pad, a minuscule, cheap insult, is testament to how something so simple can go so wrong. The SNES D-Pad, with its seminal right-facing prong, is pure, simple brilliance. — JT

The N64’s Z trigger

Nintendo defined the basic formula for controllers with the SNES—a formula that endures to this day. So, naturally, for the N64 it reinvented its own wheel in favor of the delightfully weird three-pronged N64 controller. What it lacked in elegance or practicality (aliens with three hands loved it), it made up for with one truly great button: the Z trigger. And you can’t talk about the Z trigger without talking about GoldenEye. The first time you line up a shot with your silenced pistol, hit the trigger, and feel the controller pop as a guard hits the ground, you realize this isn’t a normal button, it’s a hair trigger. This isn’t a controller, it’s a weapon. — AV

The PlayStation’s second analog stick

The PlayStation controller is a bit like a crocodile. The reptile is the ultimate killing machine, and has barely had to change at all in millions of years of evolution to stay at the top of the food chain. Likewise, Sony’s iconic gamepad pretty much nailed the design, if not the first then certainly the second time around. The pivotal moment came with the introduction of dual analog sticks in 1996—which opened up a whole new world for games. Adventure games like Tomb Raider instantly became less frustrating because you could move the camera independently of your character. It allowed for precision movements in later editions of games such as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and innovative control schemes in titles like Ape Escape. And it revolutionized the first-person shooter by allowing you to aim and move at the same time. Without that second analog stick, there’s no Medal of Honor, no Call of Duty, no Halo, no fun. — Amit Katwala

The Nintendo Switch’s HD rumble

Controllers are now so feature-packed that we’re entering a post-button age. The Switch’s Joy-Cons are at their best when you don’t have to press any buttons at all. That’s partly down to HD Rumble, the latest iteration of haptic feedback that Nintendo introduced way back in 1997 with the N64’s Rumble Pak. Back then, vibrations could quickly get irksome; if, like me, you were not particularly good at videogames as a child and routinely bumped into things, the near-constant shuddering would viciously shake the controller until your hands started to go numb. HD Rumble shows how much the technology has moved on, offering a level of precision that provides a much more immersive experience. The feature shines most in games like 1, 2 Switch, where the multiple nuanced vibrations emulate delicate sensations such as that of marbles rolling in a box. But it’s when HD Rumble fades into the background that it really shines. Take a swim in Super Mario Odyssey’s Seaside Kingdom and the Joy-Cons effervesce with a satisfying, subtle fizz. It’s minor, but it’s magic. — Victoria Turk

This story originally appeared on WIRED UK.