Smashing Bricks: A Retro Gaming Podcast

Top 5 Controllers of All Time - SB Bonus Round 35.5/36.5 (Replay)

Smashing Bricks: A Retro Gaming Podcast

Show Notes

Note - This episode was originally released in December 2024. I've decided to add all Bonus Round episodes to the main feed, sequentially and on a 1-year-plus delay, so that EVERYONE can enjoy these fun, classic gaming banter sessions. Patrons will still get NEW Bonus Round episodes every month. Bonus Round 49.5 just went live a few days ago, so if you'd like to catch up, head over to Patreon and support the show at the Fire Flower level or higher. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/smashingbricks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hey Retro Gamers, welcome back to Bonus Round! These monthly podcast episodes are Patreon Exclusives and available at the Fire Flower level of support or higher. Each month, my guest and I will put together some sort of list, ranking, or otherwise fun conversation, usually related to that month's main episode. These will be released on the 28th of each month, and hopefully will be the dessert you've been missing after the main course episode two weeks earlier! Episode 35's game, Tomb Raider, had a unique control scheme due to it being one of the earliest 3D action/adventure/platformer games to grace consoles in the nascent 3D era of the early-to-mid 90s. Realizing this fact, I thought, "what better to talk about than CONTROLLERS?!" So here we are. Anthony and I picked our Top 5 Controllers...and you know I managed to talk about like 10 of them along the way. There are a couple of visual aids at the original Patreon post for this episode (which is now free to access) that will make more sense as you listen: https://www.patreon.com/posts/118806015 Enjoy! And let me know what YOUR favorite controllers are. And which ones you despise. Join the discussion at https://discord.smashingbricks.com

More from Smashing Bricks: A Retro Gaming Podcast

Oct 14, 2026

Hey Retro Gamers! On today's episode of Smashing Bricks we head back to the year 1998 and discover that the powerhouse of the cell was a trap all along in Parasite Eve for the Sony PlayStation!

Oct 1, 2026

Note - This episode was originally released in August 2025. I've decided to add prior Bonus Round episodes to the main feed, sequentially and on a 1-year-plus delay, so that EVERYONE can enjoy these fun, classic gaming banter sessions. Patrons will still get NEW Bonus Round episodes every month, so if you'd like to catch up on the last year of Bonus Round, head over to Patreon and support the show at the Fire Flower level or higher. ⁠⁠⁠patreon.smashingbricks.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/smashingbricks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hey Retro Gamers, welcome back to Bonus Round! These monthly podcast episodes are timed Patreon exclusives and are available at the Fire Flower level of support or higher. Each month, my guest and I will put together some sort of list, ranking, or otherwise fun conversation, usually related to that month's main episode. These will be released on the 28th of each month, and hopefully will be the dessert you've been missing after the main course episode two weeks earlier! On this month's Bonus Round, Kyle and I are talking about direct movie tie-in games! Listen, people, I'm sure we missed a bunch because I don't play many of these, but we picked out a selection of good ones from gaming history, as wells as a few whose existence I think Kyle just finds humorous, and we chatted about them. I had also just seen James Gunn's new "Superman" movie and was confused about the backlash(?), so we wondered aloud about that to round out the show. I hope you like it! And please do head over to discord.smashingbricks.com and talk about all the movie tie-in games YOU are familiar with and/or find interesting in the #bonus-round channel!

Sep 14, 2026

Hey Retro Gamers! On today's episode of Smashing Bricks we head back to the year 1994 and bomb every single wall on an alien planet in Super Metroid for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System!

Sep 1, 2026

Note - This episode was originally released in July 2025. I've decided to add prior Bonus Round episodes to the main feed, sequentially and on a 1-year-plus delay, so that EVERYONE can enjoy these fun, classic gaming banter sessions. Patrons will still get NEW Bonus Round episodes every month, so if you'd like to catch up on the last year of Bonus Round, head over to Patreon and support the show at the Fire Flower level or higher. ⁠⁠patreon.smashingbricks.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/smashingbricks⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hey Retro Gamers, welcome back to Bonus Round! These monthly podcast episodes are timed Patreon exclusives and are available at the Fire Flower level of support or higher. Each month, my guest and I will put together some sort of list, ranking, or otherwise fun conversation, usually related to that month's main episode. These will be released on the 28th of each month, and hopefully will be the dessert you've been missing after the main course episode two weeks earlier! The subject of our most recent episode, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, was a game from 2002, and both James Batchelor and I said that it was amazing. I wondered where such an impressive title might fall on our Top 10 Games of 2002 lists, so that's what Bonus Round 43.5 had to be about. Will you agree with either or both of us? If so, head over to Discord and tell everyone about it in the #bonus-round channel! On the other hand, if you can't believe what we said, head over to discord.smashingbricks.com⁠⁠ in the #bonus-round channel to assert the truth that only you can see! In any case I hope you enjoy it, and if you missed any of these games, maybe you'll be inspired to try one of them for yourself.

Aug 14, 2026

Hey Retro Gamers! On today's episode of Smashing Bricks we head back to the year 1993 and vanquish evil pigs in all their forms and vehicles in Rocket Knight Adventures for the SEGA Genesis!

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