I would say that the PC Engine Avenue Pad 6 is the best looking control pad for the PC Engine, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best way to control – specially if you ask my friend Frank. 😀
If you’re looking for a control pad with 6 buttons for the PCE, then this is pretty much the only choice you have. There are many more choices in relation to joysticks out there, but when it comes to pads the choice is quite limited.
Released in 1993, it was specifically designed for Street Fighter II. In fact I can’t seem to think of any other games off hand that do support the 6 buttons – it is early in the morning here though.
The pad itself has a nice set of turbo options, and overall I like the feel of it. Since getting a decent stick for the PCE I don’t use this at all though, and I guess that gives you some insight into my recommendations for buying one. If you can’t afford a stick for the PCE then I say go for it, but otherwise spend the money elsewhere. 🙂
Don’t start with me Hollo! The Hori Commander is the best PCE 6 button pad, but unfortunately they’re rather pricey. I can’t justify spending big money on a controller, especially when the same amount of money will land you a loose PCE console!
The Duo RX pad is also a fine 6 button pad, once again hard to find and costly.
Interesting bit of trivia that you may not be aware of, the 6 button pads have further uses aside from Street Fighter – some of the shooters use the select button to select between movement speed or special firing sequences. It’s a pain in the bum to reach the select button though, so with a 6 button pad you can use the third button to replace the select button in a range of games. There’s also a dedicated 3 button control pad which serves the same purpose.
Ahh I forgot about that Hori Commander!
Nice info regarding the shooters that use the 6 buttons as well. I might have to have a shmup session to see which ones work.
I’m with Frank – the Avenue 6 is a pad for utility, not necessarily for comfort. I was playing some PCE yesterday using the nice black PCE pad and it felt a lot better than playing with the Avenue 6.
That being said, the aforementioned pad wouldn’t be useful for SF2!
The Hori Commander sounds like a nice piece of kit, but I can’t justify huge prices for controllers. A better option would be to take an Avenue 6 and case it, then build an i/o to take a Saturn controller to the PCE. In fact, pretty much any console could benefit from such a setup. Those controllers are amazing 🙂
Being able to control a PCE with a Saturn controller would be unbelievably sweet! I tend to use the Hori stick the most out of the controllers I have for the PCE, but there are times when a pad is a must.