Review: Mad Catz Dream Pad

December 3, 1999

Web posted at: 1:27 p.m. EST (1827 GMT)

By John Robinson

CNN Interactive Senior Associate Editor

(CNN) -- Buying a third party controller usually means accepting a step down in quality in favor of saving a few bucks to spend on games. Few manufacturers have ever been able to match the feel and control offered by the original device. The Mad Catz Dream Pad for the Dreamcast game console is cheaper, but does come very close to matching the quality of the official Dreamcast pad with only a few small problems.

One of the major issues with the official Dreamcast pad is that it is way too small for people with large hands. The makers of the Dream Pad apparently thought that too and made their controller significantly larger to accommodate all the game-playing apes in this world. The sides of the controller also sport a neat rubber insert to keep your hands from slipping during a game. There are also two ports on the front of the pad to accommodate a VMU and a rumble pack, like Segas original.

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Analog control offered by the Dream Pad is the same as the Dreamcast pad with a stick on the left side along with left and right triggers on the underside. The only noticeable difference is that the stick on the Dream Pad offers a bit less resistance. To its credit, the stick also has rubber coating giving it a nice tackiness.

Unfortunately, Mad Catz took the whole rubber-coating thing just a little too far and decided to coat the directional pad too. The problem with that is that it becomes difficult to quickly change your thumb position. In addition, the pad requires a harder push than the original to make it register.

Fans of fighting games will like the six button layout on the face of the controller as opposed to the original Dreamcast pad's four. Those two extra buttons allow you to use them in lieu of using the triggers. The placement of the top two buttons seems a little awkward initially but gets easier with some practice.

The Mad Catz Dream pad offers a respectable alternative to the original Dreamcast pad. It offers great analog control and a comfortable grip. Even though the directional pad isn't perfect, it does work well and is not a big enough problem to keep this controller from being well worth the money.