Review: NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller – A Great GameCube Console for the Switch, With One Odd Thing

For retro-stylers who want to show off their love for old consoles, there are plenty of retro controllers for the Switch. Usually, however, they are limited to classic paint and colors on the buttons.

They also often lack modern features. With the Warrior Bluetooth Controller, NYXI hopes to appeal to GameCube enthusiasts as well as those looking for a fully functional Switch keyboard akin to Nintendo’s Pro Controller.

With decent customization options and some impressive features, this console is a love letter to the GameCube console and does a lot of things right. But does it have enough players? And is it a genuine Pro Controller replacement?

Let’s see what it has to offer.

NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller: Design

Before NYXI kindly sent us a review sample, we were asked which variant we preferred. We went classic indigo blue Purple, but the pad also comes in Black or Orange – unfortunately no Silver. As you can see in the photos, it matches the original console quite well.

Look and feel wise, NYXI has done a great job of capturing the spirit of the GameCube controller without creating an outright clone. It’s a little wider than the GC plate and heavier, weighing around 241g. It’s a quality-feeling set, and it should be priced at $69, but when you consider the features here, you’re getting a pretty good bang:buck ratio.

The keyboard comes with Hall Effect sticks, analog triggers (which can be shortened independently using the switches on the back, effectively turning them into straight on/off buttons). if you want), six-axis gyro, HD audio, and programmable back panel buttons and turbo function. Compared to the Switch Pro Controller, the only thing missing is an NFC reader for your amiibo. Not a bad package.

In the box, you get two USB-A to USB-C cables (one is extremely short, used to connect the GC receiver to the PC – more on that later), a wireless receiver to plug into your ‘Cube’ controller port (more styled). like the one you get with the WaveBird), along with some components to toggle in/out to your liking, including another C-stick that copies the shape of the left stick, and alternate circles around for The rods do not have an octagonal shape. not to your liking. Swapping the rods and sections around involves turning them counterclockwise, which requires a bit of work but there’s no chance of them popping out on their own.

In addition to all that, you also get a backplate to change if the programmable buttons on the back bother you – probably not an issue for the casual gamer, but perhaps useful for the environment. tournament field. Those rear keys/buttons are placed in a nice, natural position under your middle finger. If you’re someone who overlooks these extra doohickeys, they’re unobtrusive, but they’re nice to have.

Otherwise, everything is present and exactly where you expect it. If you’re using a GC console, the face buttons will immediately feel very different, as the ABXY and D-pad here use ‘clicky’ micro switches. They’re not particularly noisy, but the switch from the OG controller to this modern fax machine is perhaps the most prominent difference.

The Warrior’s rolling D-pad makes smoothly changing between directions simple — great for fighting games — although some may prefer the old-fashioned ‘cross’ style. Either way, it’s an improvement on the original GC D-pad which was oddly smaller in size; then again, we don’t remember using it much back then.

NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller: Performance

Before diving into the GameCube, we booted up the Switch. The Warrior quickly paired with it, and with ‘+’ and ‘-‘ buttons, along with screenshot and ‘Home’ functions, it worked almost exactly like the Pro Controller (and recognized so). Unfortunately, you don’t get the Pro Controller’s level of battery life, but NYXI’s estimate of 10 hours on a single charge is right in line with our experience. Compared to Nintendo’s Switch board, only the layout of ABXY is different, and this is the Achille’s cure of this board.

You see, when the gun was fired Tears of the Kingdom to give it an effective workout, hundreds of hours of Hylian muscle memory were activated and we kept forgetting that here ‘Y’ is the top button, with ‘X’ shifting 90 degrees clockwise. Now, this isn’t an insurmountable obstacle—and you can remap the buttons through the Switch’s system menu if you really want to—but during our time testing the keyboard, we never Now you can get used to using this face button arrangement when playing our library of games. Switch games.

It’s a shame as the sticks, shoulder buttons, and gyroscope worked flawlessly with every game we tested. For some games, that’s not a problem — and you can adapt more quickly to the GC face button layout — but not being able to perform Link’s acrobatic moves right away feels odd. strange. Mileage may vary, and all that.

Shoot up Mario Sunny IN 3D star to see what it feels like to play a genuine GC game on the Switch, alas, the same triggers don’t work like official GameCube games do when connected to the switch – Switch posted Sign NYXI Warrior as a Pro Controller, remember.

Moving on, it was time to test with stock hardware and the Warrior performed as advertised. When inserting the dongle into one of the GC ports, the pad mated easily enough once we found it online videos and causes both devices to flash rapidly (as opposed to flashing not so rapidly). Once connected, we were in business.

We played on an LG OLED TV with a GameCube connected via HMDI (using one of EON’s GCHD Mk II). Switching between the original wired GC controller and the modern wireless console, we had difficulty detecting a difference in responsiveness. Damned close combat players will certainly notice, but for anyone happy to take advantage of the convenience of the WaveBird wirelessly via cable, the Warrior feels like a slightly larger in-hand version. Naturally, it also works on the first generation Wii with a GameCube port. Gone are the days when third-party controllers put you at a disadvantage. Warrior is a quality set of equipment.

Another flexible one; You can also connect it to your PC, either wired via a longer USB cable or wirelessly using a short lead to connect the dongle to your PC and your pad to it, and Bluetooth is also an option. select. Steam has recognized it as a Bluetooth Pro Controller, and it works exactly as you’d expect, with good wireless feedback that improves the more you plug it in. We also connected to an iPhone using RetroArch and it worked as expected.

And that’s the story with Warrior. It does what it says on the tin and well. Its only real drawback comes from its loyalty to a mattress we love, but which we find less relevant today than ever. For professional Melee players, or when Nintendo brings GameCube games to the NSO, this could be a godsend. Otherwise it’s a great mattress with one great selling point.

NYXI Warrior Bluetooth Controller – Verdict

For anyone looking for a feature-packed Pro Controller alternative with a retro feel, the NYXI Warrior delivers on its promise. It’s a solid, good-looking controller that pairs well with Switch and PC, and is a boon to GameCube lovers looking for a wireless pad but stuck with the old WaveBird’s price.

The only real mark against it is the GC-style ABXY arrangement, which is extremely difficult to adapt to after many years. In a way, it’s not the Warrior’s fault – that’s certainly true of the GameCube layout – but with the ability to customize elsewhere on the console, the ability to disable the face buttons for configuration Modern, more standard practices may have made this necessary.

As it is, this is a very good pad with one weakness that could be a deal-breaker if you plan on using it with your Switch.

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase, we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read ours FTC Disclosure for more information.