Woot, tis here. Seems solid. Haven't tested in gameplay. Plastic on buttons doesn't feel quite great, might be because I'm used to the DS4 plastic though. They press fine. X Y Z buttons weren't the Saturn's strongest point already and it's a bit more apparent on those. The shoulder buttons aren't clicky like the originals as known, just normal. D pad feels beautiful. Start button is a bit mushy softer plastic like the original. Can't wait to use it.
Sorry for the sexy wife beater, didn't notice how shiny the pad was xD
I got to use my Retro-bit Saturn pad a tiny little bit.
At first I got worried, in my Saturn emulator (Mednafen with Mednaffe GUI front end) trying to map the dpad directions would map the horizontal as axis 1 left/right and vertical as axis 2 left/right or whatever. I don't care what they're labelled as, sure, but then in game the vertical wouldn't function at all so something weird was happening there. Firing up the recent Capcom Beat 'em Up Bundle to test an actual game brought to light that if the config screen is a mess like that it would be really tiresome to configure the pad as I'd first have to figure out what each button is recognized as (the game only shows color coded A, B, X, Y etc as if it only expects an Xbox type pad) then find that button in the listing and scroll through the functions to find the one I want.
Thankfully all that was because the pad wasn't actually in xinput mode, holding start to enable it took care of all of that. The buttons are now mapped in the standard Xbox arrangement (with two of the shoulder buttons placed in C and Z respectively as the pad only has 2 actual shoulder buttons) by default and other games like Capcom's own Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection have actually decent configuration screens as you simply choose a function then press the input you want, rather than choose an input from a list then scroll through the functions.
It's been smooth sailing past that point. That said, if it wasn't already obvious, you should only get a pad like this if you want a retro (and retro style) games controller as it does lack a given amount of buttons many games (even 2D and otherwise retro-looking games) might need. Like, obviously, it's an exact replica (aside the mentioned softer rather than clicky shoulder buttons) without additions to remedy games expecting other inputs (even if theoretically they could have had a slightly tweaked set up to allow pads with less buttons to retain core functionality as plenty Saturn/PS multiplatform games did).
For example in Mednafen you couldn't fully map PlayStation (1) emulation since it doesn't only lack the shoulder buttons which C and Z can act as, but also the Select button compared to the DualShock. It should be fine in many games, for example if they use Start to pause yet Select for the menu or whatever also pauses and you don't actually need to push Start as the X/O buttons also begin/confirm. Or if some of the shoulder buttons are duplicates or void or button combinations you can press manually, then you could skip having them and map Select there. You have to figure out what's best per game.
Other emulated systems, arcades included, are fine obviously as the Saturn pad has more buttons than most up to that generation of systems, then starts to be left behind by some. Still, even modern fighting games will leave you without some functions you might want, like say the extra buttons which aren't actual play buttons but instead are mapped to do shit in training mode or in menus or enable whatever other shortcuts you might like.
I guess it would have been good to have software that lets you select which button acts as what xinput button, maybe even set things like "hold or double tap to have the Start button act as Select, tap to have it act as Start" or whatever those are called nowadays, or maybe hold Start and tap another button for other functions, so you can have a few more supplementary actions mapped (obviously not any that require high reflexes, just secondary functions and menus and stuff) to enjoy a wider range of games with a little less configuration hassle by exploiting such combinations that games don't commonly use.
So yeah, it seems like a wonderful pad for the specific type of use I got it for. If I didn't have my DualShock4 this wouldn't have been a great choice so waiting for the upcoming Retro-bit Saturn pad + modern inputs on top (sticks, extra shoulders etc) would have been the better course of action to get 6 face buttons and that sweet d-pad (as long as that pad proves equally great as it's gonna be more expensive with all the extras). But for anyone who already has an all purpose pad like a DS4 or an Xbox type pad or whatever and wants the 6 face button and dpad bliss of good old SEGA this should do.