| Consumer Advice |
ESRB Rating: Everyone
This a great controller overall for nearly every type of
game, but the six button layout makes its extremely attractive for fans of Capcom-style fighting games. But regardless of
the appropriate button layout, these fans may still be turned off by the D-pad controls and ultimately decide an arcade
stick is the only genuine controller that will suffice. Still, for anyone else looking for an extra controller or replacement,
the Dream Pad is well worth the look and many may prefer it over the original that comes prepackaged with the Dreamcast system. |
Mad Catz scored high points with us for improving on the Nintendo 64 controller with their Advanced Control Pad and
here they have done it again by improving on the Dreamcast's basic controller. More specifically, they've actually
managed to bring to the table a few unique improvements. First of all, the Dream Pad comes with 2 extra face buttons
(which are essentially transplanted trigger buttons) making the Dream Pad the first 6-button game pad on the Dreamcast. This
opened the door for much more pleasant button configurations, especially when I took advantage of the re-programmability
feature. Secondly, Mad Catz (God bless 'em) seems to just love offering consumers larger controllers and for those of us
who aren't eight years old, this is a definite plus. To further increase comfort, they also opted to add rubber to key
parts of the controller; there is rubber coating on the analog stick, along the sides of the controller, and the entire
D-pad is crafted out of rubber. As a whole, the Dream Pad feels like a 'dream' in my hand.
However, despite these improvements, the Dream Pad does come with a few problems. While the six remappable face buttons
will be appealing to all gamers, they are especially appealing to fans of Capcom-style fighting games that require the
six-button format to properly execute elaborate combos. For the most part, it is a decent choice to play those fighting
games with, but I had a few issues with the D-pad. Made completely of rubber, the D-pad is not conducive to the quick
direction presses needed to pull off Ryu's Uppercut or any move similar to it. It's not easy to slide my fingers across
the frictional surface or perform diagonal moves as easily as I should. The other problem is the program button. It's a
transparent button situated close to the face buttons. During a frantic action game or fighter, it's easy to accidentally
press it and alter your entire button configuration, which could result in major onscreen confusion that can only be
rectified by pausing the action or even starting the game over.
The Dream Pad is one of the best controllers out for the Dreamcast right now. It's much better overall than Sega's
controller in both comfort and durability. The options I mentioned are certainly welcome but I believe it was worth
mentioning the controller's negatives, even if they aren't of major concern. All in all, the Mad Catz Dream Pad should
be the controller of choice for all Dreamcast gamers.
- Published December 24, 1999
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