8Bitdo M30 2.4G Wireless Gamepad for Sega Genesis Mini and Mega Drive Mini and Switch with 6-Button Layout (Black)

I grew up with a Super Nintendo, a PS1 and various Nintendo handhelds before I got a PSP. As someone who never owned an older Sega console(just a Dreamcast I got a few years back), you'd think this wouldn't do it for me, but it has the best D-pad I've ever used and the face buttons are cool and weird. I use it to play Sega Saturn games on my Mister FPGA system, and it's almost perfect for that. I just wish it had one or two analog sticks for 3D games. If you could use this for modern titles like Doom Eternal or even JRPGs like Soul Hackers 2 or Persona 3 Reload, I'd be one happy camper. There are competing Saturn-like controllers with sticks and extra shoulder buttons, but I've heard the D-pads are inferior and there are various quality control issues, so I'm just gonna hold out hope that 8Bitdo releases one in the future. But yeah, this is super light, the battery life is great, it works just as well wired and wirelessly, and it feels incredible in the hand. Strong recommend.

I was fascinated with this joystick. Feels like and old sega joystick, zero delay and the bluetooth works perfectly in Windows PC. Just plug and play

TL;DR: Great controller, but you need to check your Switch system settings. Go to "System Settings > Controllers and Sensors > Pro Controller Wired Communication." Flip that to "On" and it should work. NOTE: I don't have a Genesis Mini, so I can't comment on that. This review is entirely for the Switch. Now for the too-long part: So I've been a gamer for the past ~30 years, and most of my gaming in my childhood was spent gaming on the Genesis. I was a Sega fanboy through-and-through. My hands practically grew to the shape of that bulky 3-button pad, and later conformed to the 6-button pad. While I didn't get my Saturn until I was already an adult and bought it (very) used, the controller felt so great in-hand. Now that 8BitDo has come around, I've grabbed up a few of their products, including the M30 2.4GHz for the Genesis (the other 2.4GHz version of this controller). So I already knew what to expect in terms of comfort and general usability. The controller feels really good in-hand. It's a bit on the lightweight side, but it's reminiscent of older gamepads in that way, I suppose. Weight is pretty close to that of the original Genesis 6-button pad, minus the cord. The texture on the controller feels nice, and there's no sharp edges or anything to cause cramps. Plastic doesn't feel QUITE as high-quality as the original Sega pads, but is darn close. It doesn't feel cheap, and that's a good thing. So as soon as it came in, I practically ran to my Switch to play with it. Plugged the receiver into the dock, fired up the Switch, hit the Start button on the pad and... nothing. The blue light blinked slowly and never made a connection. I thought that was pretty weird. I fiddled around with it some and got the controller to sync up with the receiver. But I noticed that the Switch had come out of the dock. Plugged it back into the dock and... nothing again. The controller was unsynced. "WTAF?" I wondered as I tried to get it working again. Switch out of the dock: syncs just fine. Switch in the dock: fails. At this point I figured it wasn't a point of a broken/faulty controller/receiver. It HAD to be something software-related. I went to update my Switch and, nope, it was running the latest OS version. So while I was in the settings I decided to take a peek, and I found an option under "Controllers and Sensors" called "Pro Controller Wired Communication." This was turned off. Basically this option allows you to use a Pro controller via USB when plugged into the Switch, which... duh? Why wouldn't you want that on? So you could just charge it and NOT use it? The dock only has a single USB port. Why would you want that to be used for just charging your controller and not playing with it? So I turned on "Pro Controller Wired Communication" and voila! The controller synced right up and worked as it should. It's read as a Pro controller by the Switch, and since it has to plug in via USB (since it's not Bluetooth), this option being turned off means you can't use the M30. I reread through the included instructions and this was not mentioned anywhere in there. That seems like it'd be something you'd want to include. I was all set to return the controller. I played around in bundled SNES/NES games from having an online account, plus in Megaman X Legacy Collection a bit. I figured I should go for retro games that would make the best use of the low-latency 2.4GHz connection. My TV is an LG with roughly 10ms of lag (which is absurdly low for consumer HDTVs), so the next biggest source of lag would be the controller. And it worked like a champ. I don't have a rig to test input lag or anything, but at the very least, I couldn't detect any. No hiccups (aside from human error :P). Being able to swap A/B and X/Y was particularly helpful (hold down + select for 5 seconds). The turbo function is nice to have and works well, but is kind of a pain to deal with. I didn't manage to run it out of battery, so I can't comment on the battery life, sadly. But I suppose that means it's pretty decent. Pros: + Great build quality + Syncing is pretty painless* + Turbo functionality is there + Controller can be remapped to a degree + Price is pretty low + Extremely low latency/input lag** Cons: - The instructions leave out highly important details - Micro USB port*** - Not compatible with other 2.4GHz receivers**** * - Once you figure out that you need to enable USB controllers for Switch. Otherwise, good luck, lol. ** - Again, I don't have a rig so I can't get actual numbers, but IIRC their other M30 had about 3 to 5ms of lag (compared to like 25ms of lag on the Bluetooth version), which is pretty much undetectable by even the most perceptive gamers. *** - Other new 8BitDo controllers have switched to USB-C ports. It's kind of odd that they wouldn't update it. It was probably to save costs as the controller looks the exact same as the old M30, but still. **** - This is actually a pretty big problem. I didn't WANT to have to buy another controller. I'd have rather been able to use my existing M30 on the Switch, but I had to buy an entirely new controller. And since the controller and receiver are tied together with no way to sync with a new controller/receiver, losing one makes the other useless. In conclusion, it's a great controller and worth the price, but the instructions leave a LOT to be desired. How many returns here are ENTIRELY due to people not knowing about the USB settings on the Switch?

I and the kids love these. I bought 2 for our Sega mini. It's nice not needing to deal with the mess/hassle of wires. The controllers both connected very easily without any issues at all (I either pressed start or maybe didn't even need to do anything at all - it was so simple I forget, which is a good thing). The controllers hold a charge for a long time and indicate when charge is low. They have a nice USB charging capability that enables me to plug the controllers into a power strip next to my system, which is convenient. The controller itself is nice - excellent feel and response. The 6 buttons are helpful for some Sega games (like Street Fighter), and the turbo function makes many games more fun. 8Bitdo makes very nice quality controllers IMO, especially compared to other brands. I also bought 3 wireless NES mini controllers from 8Bitdo about 9 months ago before these Sega controllers and they are equally awesome, so I came into this purchase trusting the brand. They deserve recognition IMO, so I felt good taking some time to write this up to help others with their decision. Good luck and I hope your experience is as good as mine. Keep up the great work 8Bitdo.

8BitDo makes the best retro controllers! Feels solid and the buttons sound great! A perfect pairing for an FPGA or retro console emulator.

Bought it for my Sega Astro City Mini V and it works like a charm. It was easy to use. Plug and play. There is no button or switch to turn it off and it turns off by itself within 15 minutes of inactivity. I don't know if that wastes battery, but I would much prefer to physically turn it off when I can. Buttons feels great. D-Pad is pretty good too. Feel really good in the hand. I love the white color, but of course you can get a black one. Best thing about this is that it's wireless, unlike the official ones that you can buy for the cabinet. Now I can play the games on TV or on the cabinet without having to sit right next to it with my hands in the way because I have to use the built in small joystick and buttons on the cabinet itself. Totally recommend it and totally worth the moneyh.

It's a great controller and you'll be 100% happy with it. Because it's a 2.4ghz version there's literally 0 lag. Having the cable included is also great if you want to have a more 'retro' experience. Buttons and the dpad both feel great and good quality. Firmware is easily updateable following official 8bitdo website's instructions (download a simple installer that basically updates the controller's firmware) but not required at all as it worked out of the box. Recommended !

Muito bom controle fiel ao original do Mega drive recomendo.

Nice controller. Light, solid. Works fine with my Nintendo Switch, I like it for games like Mario.

Come da titolo è una bomba. Ho scelto questo anziché l'F30 per i pulsanti in più da usare con il core genesis/mega drive, ma si comporta egregiamente con tutti. Un pò laborioso l'update del firmware che trovate sul sito di 8bitdo, scegliete ovviamente la versione 2.4ghz genesis mini, scaricate il file zip e scompattatelo. A questo punto dovrete premere contemporaneamente R e L e dopo start. I LED gialli e blu si accenderanno (occhio che si vede male il LED giallo, meglio farlo al buio) e potrete collegarlo al vostro PC windows. Fatto questo aprite l'applicazione, cliccate avanti e aspettate che l'update sia finito prima di chiudere tutto e disconnettere il controller. Per collegarlo alla dock pigiate il pulsante dietro di essa, sul controller pigiate prima start e poi per 3 secondi select(il tasto di mezzo). Vedrete il led blu fisso e sarete connessi alla dock, buon divertimento!

Works on the steam deck 👍

Me ha parecido estupendo por tacto y calidad de los materiales, lo que no me ha gustado tanto ha sido la cruceta, aun así de mas calidad que la del mando original, de Astro City Mini, para mi muy importante la compatibilidad con Astro City mini, ya que a estas alturas es difícil encontrar el pad original para jugar con ella conectada a la televisión, me ha recordado al mando de Saturn, yo tuve una hace tiempo y me ha recordado al mando de Saturn, por tacto y calidad de materiales, 8 Bitdo, apuesta segura. Lo recomiendo 100% para Sega Astro City mini, va genial la pequeña prueba, que he hecho,me ha gustado la calidad, el tacto de los botones,la cruceta no tanto, es opinión personal, el recorrido de la cruceta se me ha antojado largo, pero se puede jugar a un buen shooter. Edito 01/25 lo he estado probando en mi Megadrive mini1 y va estupendamente, ya los juegos de lucha no son problema por la falta de botones.