In the early aughts, somewhere around 20 years into the home console revolution, my favorite controller was released: the GameCube controller. With a goofy button layout and near-perfect ergonomics, it was a charming, quirky input device that was, if you’ll forgive the hyperbole, transcendent.
Most well known now as the Smash Bros. controller in the era of the Nintendo Switch, its usefulness transcends that game, and any that makes heavy use of the A button, where you can quickly roll your thumb to all of the other buttons surrounding it. The shoulder buttons nicely cradled your index fingers in their curve, and the grips were stubby yet somehow perfectly fit the crook of my fingers. With modern rereleases of several GameCube classics (and new games that demand that console’s controller layout), the design remains popular enough today that Nintendo itself released a four-port USB GameCube controller adapter just so people could play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with it.
Yet Nintendo never released its own GameCube-style Nintendo Switch controller in the US, instead leaving that to third-party manufacturers like PDP and PowerA, which each produced respectable one-piece, Switch-compatible gamepads in the spirit of the sublime original. There’s been a palpable absence, though, of a Joy-Con-like version that can strap to the sides of your Switch in handheld mode. That is, until now.
The $70 Nyxi Wizard proposes to solve exactly this problem. It’s not a bull’s-eye by any means, but it hits in most of the right ways to make for an excellent portable way to play your favorite classics from Nintendo’s most adorable console while being just modern enough to work with newer Nintendo Switch games. I’ve been using it for the last month, and from where I’m standing, it’s the only way I’ll play any GameCube original on the go. Here’s why.
The Nyxi WIzard is a third-party controller for the Nintendo Switch that combines all the offerings of a GameCube controller with the portability of handheld Joy-Cons.
What we liked about it
It’s a GameCube controller in every way that matters
Maybe it’s obvious, but the Nyxi Wizard’s most immediate strength is that it’s essentially a GameCube controller. The buttons and analog sticks are in the right place, but there are some key changes. The most obvious difference is it’s big. My Wizard arrived just in time for the release of Metroid Prime: Remastered. I’d already put a couple of hours into the game on my PowerA GameCube-style controller, and switching to the Nyxi Wizard felt like I had wrapped my mitts around something from a dark timeline, one in which the GameCube controller had been made by the people behind The Duke (the so-lovingly-nicknamed bloated original Xbox controller). I was worried it wouldn’t be playable, but I quickly adapted to the new size.
Other than that, the buttons are all in the right places and feel good, if a bit squishier than Nintendo’s perfectly clicky originals. Where there are changes, they’re the right ones — the C stick, which is what Nintendo called its nubby right-hand analog stick, is now a full-size stick, and the three right and left triggers are replaced by four more contemporary Switch-style buttons. The sticks have removable rings — you can use the default octagonal ones for the classic feel, or swap them out with the included smooth circular ones for a more modern take.
The sticks themselves are Hall effect sticks, a recent innovation that promises to abolish the dreaded “Joy-Con drift” that has plagued Switch owners since the console’s 2017 release. The buttons are also backlit, which will be helpful for players new to Nintendo’s best-designed face buttons.
In-game, the gyro control in Metroid Prime was as good as that of Nintendo’s first-party efforts, and it was a delight to jump, slide and spray water jets as Mario in the Super Mario 3D All Stars compilation. It also felt like the right controller for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (which, I might add, is on sale at Best Buy, as of this writing), keeping all of the buttons in reach and making it easier to glance behind you while still holding the accelerator. And, of course, playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate no longer feels like a compromise when you’re on the go.
Plenty of configuration
The Nyxi Wizard also has programmable buttons in the grips, to which you can assign a series of actions, button press timing included, to either grip trigger — a nice bonus for tedious tasks or grinding in fighting games. There’s likewise a configurable turbo option that can be set to either constantly fire on its own or repeat when you hold your chosen button down. The turbo’s repeat is fast, but it’s adjustable anywhere from a 5Hz rate up to 20Hz, if you want. And pro tip: Use the automatic turbo option when you’re faced with cutscenes from older games that you can’t skip but that require occasional button presses, keeping you from just waiting them out otherwise. Set it and forget it!
You can also configure the rumble strength of the controller in 25% increments, which is good, because it’s loud as heck at 70% and lacks the subtle dynamics of the first-party Joy-Con and Switch Pro controller.
Portable GameCube-style play is finally possible
The Nyxi Wizard’s greatest asset lies in its use as a Joy-Con alternative. Although they can combine to form a single controller with the included middle piece, playing with them attached to the Switch’s side rails is like unlocking a superpower. It’s surprising it’s taken almost six years for someone to make (mind you, there have been weak pretenders to the throne), and I must not be alone in that feeling, because the day it went on sale, Nyxi’s site struggled to keep up with the server load, and in the process my order was apparently lost (though customer service was quick to fix this).
If you want a standard layout, the next best thing in terms of comfortable portable play is the Hori Split Pad Pro — an excellent, comfortable Joy-Con alternative from a company with a strong pedigree as a third-party controller manufacturer. However, Hori’s option doesn’t also work as a wireless, Bluetooth-connected controller, unfortunately.
USB-C charging
Although the Wizard controllers can be charged on the Switch itself just like normal Joy-Cons can, Nyxi added USB-C ports to the bottom of both, so you can charge them individually if need be. You can also do this while you’re playing them in single controller mode, although the awkwardness of two charging cables jutting out of the controller you’re playing with might be too much for some.
What we didn’t like about it
The design could’ve used one more pass
The large size of the Nyxi Wizard won’t be ideal for those with smaller hands, I’m sorry to say. Even for my average-size hands, which aren’t big enough to palm a basketball but let me comfortably play most jazz chords on a guitar, the right analog stick felt like a bit of a reach, requiring me to slightly adjust my grip to comfortably use it. Same goes for the D-pad, which also falls into the trap of feeling like an afterthought, being a little too stiff and cheap-feeling compared to the rest of the assembly. This won’t be your only road trip controller if you like unblinkingly playing Tetris until your eyes shrivel up and fall out of your skull.
The physical tilt of the controller grips when it’s attached to the Switch is also a bit of a problem. I preferred to use the gyroscopic aiming option in Metroid Prime: Remastered, but I frequently found myself accidentally tilting the system away from me, requiring me to regularly re-center the aiming reticle. I never really got used to this through the 18 hours or so I spent playing that game, though I also didn’t find it to be a huge issue in what can be, depending on your play style, a fairly slow-paced, meditative affair.
And remember that configurable grip trigger? It’s really easy to accidentally press. If you’ve configured it to do something, it supersedes anything else you’re doing until the button combo is finished, making your controller feel momentarily possessed as you abruptly strafe into a lava pit or start jumping and firing for no reason. It’s very disorienting.
Connection issues
The Nyxi Wizard can have some irritating Bluetooth connection issues. This is, at least in my experience, a problem with the Switch in general, and one that’s most pronounced when playing with the standard-issue Joy-Cons. The Wizard was at least better than Nintendo’s tiny controllers, but the Nintendo Switch Pro controller is better at maintaining its connection, as is the PowerA controller I use from time to time.
How it compares
 |
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Backlight | Yes |
No |
No |
| USB-C charging | Yes |
No |
No |
| Removable/replaceable batteries | No |
No |
No |
| Turbo | Yes |
Yes |
No |
| Programmable trigger button | Yes |
No |
No |
| Rumble | Yes |
No |
No |
| Rumble adjustment | Yes |
No |
No |
| Connection | Bluetooth |
Wired |
Wired |
| Price | $70 | $50 | $28 |
Bottom line
If you’re a fan of the GameCube’s controller and you’ve been waiting for a Joy-Con that recaptures that nostalgia, this is probably the closest you’ll ever get without creating one yourself. It’s not a perfect 1:1 re-creation by any means, but it comes with some key features that make it not just one of the best Joy-Con alternatives but also the best wireless GameCube-style controller for the console — something I don’t say lightly. It’s probably too big for small hands, and I hope it’s revisited at some point to fix a couple of minor yet annoying design issues. But even so, it’s a big league third-party effort that pays off for a company that’s flown under the radar so far with some pretty mediocre, if affordable, Nintendo Switch controller alternatives.
