There are numerous ways to control most games, and, of course, you should pick the type of control scheme that works the best for you. However, I think a lot of people overlook the humble D-pad as an option—always opting for an analog stick.
However, I think there are some game genres that simply play better if you just move your thumb slightly and rest it on that cross-shaped button you probably only use for quick items or weapons changes. If you use it for its original purpose—movement—you may find that some games simply play better.
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2D Platformers
2D platform games like Shovel Knight, Super Meat Boy, and, of course, genre giants like Super Mario Bros. never really went away. They aren’t as popular as they once were, but both modern and retro entries in this genre are played widely around the world.
While it varies from one title to the next, precise movement controls are essential to playing most of these games well. I’ve even seen people hook up mechanical keyboards to consoles like the Nintendo Switch so that they can use those clicky digital keys to play games like Mario Maker.
Using an analog stick to play a 2D platformer is a real exercise in frustration, in my opinion, because the movement is simply too imprecise. The only real exceptio is if a game actually makes use of analog movement speed, in which case it was designed to play with a stick.
9
2D Fighters
A “2D” fighting game is simply one where characters fight on a 2D plane. However, it doesn’t mean the game has 2D graphics. Both Street Fighter II and Street FIghter VI are 2D fighters, because the characters don’t move in the Z-axis. Tekken, on the other hand, is an example of a fighter with 3D movement, so it’s not part of this subgenre.
Either way, unless you have an arcade stick, the next best thing is a D-pad. I don’t know about you, but I find it much harder to reliably input movement commands with an analog stick than a D-pad. Keep in mind that an arcade stick isn’t analog either, but uses microswitches. So a D-pad has more in common with the control scheme these games were originally designed for than an analog stick.
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8
Real-Time Puzzle Games
Tetris was and is a phenomenon, and there are countless modern puzzle games like it that expect you to move and position things under time pressure to solve each level.
Now, whenever I try to play something like Tetris using an analog stick, I tend to accidentally commit the piece before I mean to. Likewise, it’s faster and more precise to make movements that require repeated button presses with a D-pad, rather than a stick which has a significant travel time from its neutral position to the end of its travel.
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Rhythm Games
Rhythm games where you need to input directions as part of the game benefit from the D-pad in most cases. I find that in rhythm-based games where I need to move something from one “track” to another, or dodge stuff in time to music, a D-pad is just more precise.
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6
2D Metroidvanias
I know what you’re thinking—shouldn’t 2D Metroidvanias be lumped in with 2D platforming games? While both games have platforming as a game mechanic, Metroidvanias usually have a much stronger emphasis on movement-based combat rather than pure platforming, which is why I feel comfortable separating them out as their own thing.
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Either way, D-pad precision helps with these types of games pretty much for the same reason. Specifically, I tend to die a lot faster using an analog stick than a D-pad, so that certainly counts for something!
5
Isometric Action Games
While most isometric games worth mentioning are either turn-based, mouse-driven, or both, there are some games, such as the excellent Hades, which I just can’t seem to get the hang of unless I’m using the D-pad instead of the analog controller. The bone hydra kept kicking my backside until I shifted over to the pad, and I think a lot of people would have an easier time in games like these where dodging precisely in the right direction is crucial to making it to the end of your run.
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4
Turn-Based Strategy Games
Turn-based strategy games are a major part of my video game diet, and this often means working through menus and selecting tiles on a grid-based map. I’m talking Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, Disgaea, XCOM, and numerous other games where I find using the analog stick both inefficient and tiring.
With a D-pad? I eventually don’t have to think about it, and it makes working through the interfaces of these games much easier. Of course, that’s for the actual tactical bits of gameplay. In games like Fire Emblem: Three Houses where the sections between battles use a third-person viewpoint with a movable camera, twin sticks are the only way to go, but for the actual battlefield sections, the D-pad is my weapon of choice.
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3
2D Bullet Hell and Shoot-’Em-Ups
Schmups and their more extreme variant—bullet hell games—are something I’m trying to get into, but as you might expect, in some cases the learning curve feels practically vertical.
When I can, I prefer to play these games with my arcade stick, but failing that I’ve found it much easier to avoid being blown up by using the D-pad. Again, any schmup that actually uses analog movement speed should probably be played with an analog stick, but for the restI feel like the analog option introduces enough input delay that even a casual like me can tell.
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2
JRPGs
JRPGs are another major part of my gaming tastes, and the vast majority of these games are turn-based with lots and lots of menus to work through. One of my favorites—Final Fantasy 8—probably has half of your play time in menus both during and between battles.
1
Visual Novels
Are visual novels games? It’s complicated, and the answer ranges from “no” to “sort of”, but one thing I am sure about is that in visual novels, where you have to page through a lot of menus, or just page a lot in general, I much prefer using a D-pad.
There’s usually no character movement here at all, and once again analog sticks become annoying fast when you’re essentially just paging through a book. So if you’re using a controller and not a mouse, the D-pad saves the day (and your thumbs) again.
Of course, not everyone will prefer the D-pad for these games, and you might like the D-pad in game genres where I’d swear by the analogs. The real lesson is that it’s worth trying out different movement controls, because you never know when you’ll find one that really lets you get the most out of a game.
