Get ready to treat your hands while playing Street Fighter III, Marvel Vs Capcom, and all the other amazing fighting games in your collection, because Retro Fighters has just announced their D6 Dreamcast Wireless Controller, a fighting gamepad for the Dreamcast that also works on PC and Switch!
I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of the Dreamcast. It’s one of those consoles that exudes mystery from every port, a piece of hardware that has such a big ‘what if’ hanging over it and one that was just too ahead of its time. If it wasn’t for SEGA falling apart from within, then the Dreamcast could have kept SEGA as a main player in the console market today. Nevertheless, it’s an incredible console and one that we’ve made some amazing memories on over the years… but let’s face it, the controller isn’t the greatest.
That’s where Retro Fighters come in, a company that all of our long-time Retro Dodo readers should be very familiar with. We’ve covered lots of their controller in the past including the wired StrikerDC controller with space for your VMU to slot in and the Wireless StrikerDC variant with Hall effect Joysticks which still makes me gape in awe whenever I see it. Now they’re back with the D6, which as you might imagine features 6 buttons and is shaped more like the SEGA Genesis gamepads of old and pays homage to the ASCII pad as opposed to the Pro-Controller feel of their last two Dreamcast offerings.
So what’s inside this thing? What makes it tick? Well, the controller comes in both black and white variants and uses integrated Kailh® micro switches in both the D-pad and face buttons. It has been designed for ultra-precise D-pad control; when there’s no Analog-stick involved, your D-Pad needs to be on point, and while I haven’t tested this controller yet, my past experience of Retro Fighters work leads me to believe that they will have made sure that this is very responsive and covers all of the bases. Just looking at the D-pad in the picture above fills me with confidence; it looks sturdy and as though it will be able to withstand some serious thumb-mashing when it comes to pulling out combos against my friends.
As you can see from the YouTube video in this article (that features the most relaxing music I’ve ever heard), the D6 provides gamers with the option of choosing left stick or right stick modes as well as D-pad configuration, and you can configure the C and Z buttons to be used instead of the L and R buttons. It also works with your original VMU though doesn’t have a slot in it like the original StrikerDC, and any 8BitMods fans will be able to use the VMU Pro with it once it arrives too!
I really like the design of the D6; it looks less like a traditional Dreamcast Controller and more like the little flying robot from Jet Force Gemini, and that’s never a bad thing in my book. It’s definitely got that SEGA Genesis-feel to it and will undoubtedly be the perfect aid to playing fighting games from your Dreamcast collection like Garou: Mark of the Wolves and SoulCalibur. The textured shoulder buttons are a definite win for me too, as are what looks like rubber grips to ensure it doesn’t slip out of your hands while gaming. It’s all very aesthetically pleasing; I love the use of the Dreamcast swirl logo as the ‘6’ on the controller, something that’s even more apparent on the white variant as Retro Fighters has used the original colour to make it more defined.
The D6 controller will cost $44.99 which puts it on par with Retro Fighter’s other gamepads like the Brawler 64 which we happily reviewed as long-time N64 fans. There are no details as to when the controller will be dropping yet or when pre-orders will become available, though the team has assured us that it will be soon, so keep checking back for more information as and when it drops!
