At first the GameCube controller looks, for lack of a better word, funky. But as soon as I put my hands on it, all my skepticisms were swept away. The handles are as long as the outer handles on the N64 controller (NOT the middle handle, meaning it's much smaller). The giant-sized A-button is a great idea, since most games focus around one button. The smaller B button is also a welcome addition, since there's no longer any confusion about which button is which. The kidney shaped X and Y buttons certainly look uncomfortable, but once you use them you'll wonder how controllers ever used to function. The analog L and R buttons are also very nicely designed.

My only main complaint with the GameCube controller is the ill-placed Z button, just under the R shoulder button. The Z button is hard to reach in the first place, but it made worse by the fact that it only pushes in on one side. The D-pad isn't as out of the way as it may seem at first, but it is very small, and may be troublesome for fighting game fans.

The analog stick is very good. It's probably a bit easier to handle than the joystick on the Playstation's Dual Shock controller, but it does not have as many degrees of function as the N64's analog stick. The analog camera stick is a great idea, and works fine with the few games I've played so far that made use of it.

Overall the GameCube controller is brilliant in it's design, barring the Z button, and is certainly a step up from the Dual Shock, and several giant leaps ahead of the XBox's sloppy controller. I'll have to play a few more genres of games on it before deciding whether it reaches the classic levels of its predecessor SNES and N64 controllers, but for now I am enjoying it just fine.

Overall Score: 9.0