Daily Debate: Do You Prefer to Play 2D Zelda Games with an Analog Stick or D-pad?
Posted on September 08 2024 by Jared Eubanks
As someone who grew up with the NES, SNES, and Game Boy as a kid, I have a deep fondness of 2D games and controllers with high-quality D-pads. However, with the release of Ocarina of Time on the N64, Zelda 3D console games have never looked back on switching over to the use of an analog stick for movement instead of the D-pad. On handhelds, the D-pad continued to live on a bit longer, but with the release of Phantom Hourglass on the DS, the phase-out truly began. Some Zelda games since have ignored the D-pad entirely as an input, restricted its use to menus, and/or isolated it to auxiliary commands like map controls.
However, with the resurgence of 80’s and 90’s nostalgia in recent years, 2D games have experienced a renaissance, and retro gaming has become increasingly popular. Nintendo Switch Online (NSO) has brought NES, SNES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance games to a new generation of fans, including many classics from the Zelda series. This leads to a conundrum for some Zelda fans, like myself, when playing classic 2D or retro-inspired titles on the Nintendo Switch. If movement via analog stick or D-pad are both available, which do you choose, and which controller provides the best setup?
For 2D playing titles through NSO, I tend to grab the corresponding official Nintendo wireless controller (i.e., NES or SNES) for extra nostalgia. For other 2D games, if the D-pad is available for movement and only one set of shoulder buttons is needed, I am quick to grab my SNES controller over the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. For my recent playthroughs of The Minish Cap and Cadence of Hyrule, the SNES controller was my controller of choice. I love the way the controller feels in the hands, and when a game only recognizes eight directions of movement (i.e., four cardinal directions plus four diagonals), I much prefer the precision of a D-pad.
Recently, I played through Link’s Awakening (2019 version) on Nintendo Switch on Hero Mode. I was sorely disappointed to remember that for whatever reason Nintendo made the D-pad non-functional for movement, despite the fact that it wasn’t mapped to any auxiliary commands. I sincerely hope that this oversight is corrected for the upcoming Echoes of Wisdom.
Which input method do you prefer for playing 2D Zelda titles? Is it the analog stick or the D-pad? What is more important for you, creating nostalgia or the precision of directional inputs? Do you hope to see the D-pad be an alternative movement method in Echoes of Wisdom? Let us know in the comments below.
Jared Eubanks is a staff writer at Zelda Dungeon, and he is also a husband, father, and engineer. He is originally from the Atlanta, GA area and still lives there. He graduated from Georgia Tech and is a proud Yellow Jacket. He loves to play boardgames, build Lego, and read books with his family. He’s been gaming since childhood with the original NES and GameBoy, and he enjoys retro gaming, collecting, and modding consoles and handhelds. His favorite Zelda game is Breath of the Wild but is also fond of the older classic titles.
