I had an NES while growing up, but by the time the toploader came out, I already had an SNES and my toaster worked fine. Thus, like many others, I missed out on the toploader in its day. As such, I have never even seen a dogbone controller in person. It looks pretty cool, but the pricetag has always turned me off (at least on ebay, like 15+ship). My question is whether or not it is worth picking one of these up--for actual game play, not for collecting. I have tons of original rectangle controllers and a couple of nes max pads, so I don't want to buy a dogbone unless it offers a better play experience than the traditional controllers. Anyone have any opinions on whether or not dogbones are worth buying for game play? I play mostly platformers/sidescrollers, if that makes any difference. Any and all opinions are welcome

I don't care for the dogbone at all to be honest but I know a lot of people swear by them.
~~NGD

Personally, its all I use. I love mine. But I bought a set of Power Grips like NGD suggested and im going to give them a try when they get here.

I prefer the dogbone's shape. It is much more comfortable in your hand, and the buttons are angled slightly to align with your thumb better.

I have such large hands that the dogbone isn't really big enough for me to grip comfortably, maybe that is why I dislike it.
~~NGD

I have big hands too, and that's why I like it. The angle of the buttons are easier than the square one.

I'm not crazy about the dogbone. I gave it a good try, but I guess I'm just too used to the original controller for anything else to be 100% comfortable.

I always use dogbone controllers, too. They're just more comfortable.


You could give the black Competition Pro controller a try that is often found on eBay for relatively cheap (also sold as the Teqniche Power Pad). It's similar to a dogbone, but larger...good quality controller with turbo buttons, and definitely made for adult hands (unlike the official NES controllers which were mostly developed for children's hands IMO).

I can't stand the dogbone - they angled the A and B buttons wrong. A should have been below and to the right of B, not above it... then it work just like Super Mario World does with the SNES controller: nice and comfy. As it is though, it's a real strain to hit both buttons at the same time without putting your hand and arm at awkward angles. Give me the old brick controller any day

I personally love the dogbone controller. I lucked out and got one for 99 cents at EBgames a couple years back.

I like the dogbone. after like 5 hours of non-stop playing, the corners of the original controller can start to hurt your hand lol

 I like the dogbone but it seems like I try to keep them in good shape and not use them. You should get one just for collections sake. Be patient and you will get one at a good price. I think I have like 6. I like the regular brink controller and always used the power grips with mine when I first had an NES. I use the Messiah wireless NES pads most of the time these days.

My dogbone has all the lettering scratched off it. Its a beater but its been my favorite controller for years now. I'm really not even sure where I got it from. The power girps came in the mail yesterday, though. So far I like them a lot. They might win first place, we'll see.