Customer Reviews

NES Max Pad

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is THE BEST turbo controller available for the NES. It's very comfortable, it has grips like modern controllers, and the cycloid control pad protects your thumb from blisters (although it's NOT a real analog controller, there aren't any NES games which use analog controls anyway). It's especially good for top down action/shooter type games (e.g. Zanac, Jackal), and side scrolling shooters, like Gradius.
My only complaint is that it's a little hard to reach turbo B while holding regular A (i.e. turbo shooting while jumping). You have to hold the top right of the controller to do this. However, the MAX is contoured and accommodates this well, so it's still great for side scroller/platform type games (in fact, it's my favorite controller for Metroid).

I own this controller, and I used it for several years during the early 1990s. The points to recommend it back then were that it was cheap, sturdy, and it has separate buttons for turbo. On the downside, the D-Pad lacks precision and the buttons can be hard to use simultaneously. The main alternative at the time was the NES Advantage.

The D-Pad
The basic NES controller has a '+' shaped D-Pad. It can report up to 2 directional buttons being pressed at once (Up, Up+Right, Right, etc..). The NES Max has the same limitation. However, instead of a + shape, the directional controller is a ring. If you're trying to go purely Right but your thumb is a little too low on the ring, it will act as if you pressed Down+Right instead. When you're the most stressed out at a difficult part of the game, perhaps not holding the controller in the 'correct' orientation, you'll find the controls getting all fuzzy on you.

You also have the option of using the center button in the ring (it moves around within the ring, you have to also press it down to make it register a direction). It's even less precise than using the ring itself.

Turbo Buttons
This has 2 Dedicated turbo buttons. That is, you push the red 'A' button if you want the game to think you pressed/held 'A' once. You push the grey A button if you want the game to think you rapidly mashed the A button like a jackhammer. Compare this feature to the NES Advantage (and some 3rd-party NES controllers of this era), which also had turbo. There was one 'A' button. Then there was a toggle switch to make it into a turbo button. To go back and forth you had to keep toggling it. The NES Max lets you alternate between rapid-fire and precision as much as you like.

Reliability
The controller puts up with a lot of use. It's well-made.

Ergonomics
Pressing one regular and one turbo button is a stretch. If you play with your thumbs, it's very hard to hit B AND Turbo-A at the same time. A little less hard to hit A and Turbo-B. If you are over the age of 5 and you actually try to hold those "grips" on the bottom of the controller, your hands will get cramped very quickly. It's not a modern controller designed to fit your hand. It's a slight restyling of the rectangular classic NES controller.

Price
I remember this being a lot cheaper than the NES Advantage. If your buddy had the Advantage and was using it in a 2-player game, this was a cheap way of leveling the playing field. Price is kinda irrelevant these days since none of the controllers are new anymore.

Overall
My friends and I didn't like it, mainly because of the D-Pad. NES games aren't very forgiving, so imprecise directional controls are almost a deal-breaker. If it weren't for dedicated turbo buttons, this controller would have been thrown out long ago. You can at least transfer some of your D-Pad skills to this controller, unlike the NES Advantage which required you to learn a whole different way to play all your games (like using a Dvorak keyboard).

You won't find a better, more comfortable turbo controller for the NES. The "D-pad" is great at reducing fatigue in games that keep you moving in every direction, like shooters. The dog bone may be slightly more comfortable, but doesn't offer turbo. Skip the NES Advantage, this is the one to get!

This would have been considered a bad design back a quarter century ago, and even though it is getting more difficult to find working paddles for the NES system I can not recommend this product. The paddle is uncomfortable to hold and difficult to use for a quick response.

I remember this joystick as a kid, the power of being able to leave your finger on the button and cheat your way to victory (or playing a friend who had a regular controller). A couple of problems with this joystick lies within the design: it's pretty fragile, you drop it or fling across the room a couple of times you'll have to get it replaced, the D-Pad is circular, meaning when you intend to go forward the character my go diagonal, resulting in a cheap death. Overall, it's a solid product (which is more than I can say for alot of the crap nintendo has put out over the years).

Until recently, I never even knew this controller existed! As a kid I only owned the standard brick controllers. When I discovered this one I had to give it a shot and now I own two! This controller was way ahead of its time, between the cycloid which functions like a joystick, and the "wings" which have obviously been implemented in many future controllers (most notably the 64), this controller simply rules. The turbo buttons make it perfect. I use this controller for practically every game and have even tried using it for the Super Nintendo with a converter I made, the lack of additional buttons limit which games it works for but it still is awesome using it on a SNES!

I ordered this controller last week and of the 7 packages I was supposed to receive from Amazon, the NES Max was the first to come in. I instantly fell in love with it, its small but still feels pretty good in your hand but that's not the only reason I love it, It makes already fun games more fun. The first thing I did when I got it was put my copy of Metroid in the NES and the turbo buttons are phenomenal. After going through my shooter games, I wanted to see what else I could do, when you get a fire flower in Super Mario Bros. the turbo is insanely fun, and in Super Mario Bros. 3 flying has never been easier(even some Kirby copy abilities are easier to use).

But, I did have a few issues with the product. When I first started using it I noticed that the D-pad was a little off, the down arrow was sunken into the controller while the up arrow was sticking out way too far, and the cycloid part wasn't moving. My theory was that the previous owner opened up the controller and didn't put the pieces back right. It was a very easy fix though, and it works perfect now, it's just not something you want to have to do.

The last issue I had was the D-pad itself, the cycloid part doesn't really do anything, it just slides around. The thing that saved this part of the controller was the arrows they put on the outside. If you can get past the amount of space your thumb has to travel to get from one arrow to the other just to avoid the cycloid, this is an amazing controller.

Overall, I am a big fan of this controller and the NES Max was definitely worth more than what I paid for, not only is it a piece of gaming history, it is really fun to use, especially on games where you find yourself tapping a or b over and over to fire a weapon.

The controller works, don't get me wrong, and the turbo function buttons are great, I even like the feel of the controller, it reminds me of a modern controller. Where this controller fails, is the mess of what they call a D-Pad. The stick in the center seems to serve no real purpose but to move around, you can still use the buttons on the outside to move, but honestly, it really messes with your quickness and agility. I suppose for some players, this controller might be awesome, I was really hoping it would be...but it just isn't useful when you are playing a game that requires quickness and reflexes.

Nes Max did not work. I had to take it apart and deep clean it.