Hardware Review: Hyperkin’s Ranger Controller for Atari 2600

Hyperkin has a reputation for being hit or miss with their products. Certainly I’ve bought a few of their consoles over the years, and none of them have been uncompromised by some flaw, usually a result of poor manufacturing standards. Which is understandable presuming that for budgetary reasons they are relying on first-run Chinese facsimiles of their designs, without the benefit of iteration prior to releasing their products to the consumer market. Not everyone has the luxury of being a Sony or Apple with endless resources, so given the low prices for Hyperkin’s products I accept that they need not be perfect, merely functional.

The Retron 5 for example is a great way to use your original cartridges for five different retro consoles on HDMI displays, but the cartridge slots are tighter than a Scrooge McDuck. The Retron 77, which emulates the Atari 2600 received a 9/10 from me but in time the controller that came with it broke easily, with gentle use. For that reason I purchased a Hyperkin Ranger controller, which is a nine-pin controller with a 3- metre cable that is compatible with both the Retron 77 and the Atari 2600.

Included in the $43.31 AUD price is:

• Wired controller with 3 metre cable (10 foot)

• A sticker

• A promotional card

The design is consistent with recent Hyperkin products, with a “dog ear” like angled corner on each outer point. Two sticker designs are available, though it seems that the initial DayGlo striped design has now been replaced with a wood panelled look, which goes well with the design of both the original Atari 2600 and the Retron 77.

The build quality is very good, the controller feels firm and built to take years of use. It features a single button, appropriate for Atari 2600 library. A hexagonal analog stick replaces the eight directional stick of the original CX40 controller, which is exceptionally functional. An eight sided stick would have been a better tip of the cap to the original controller’s capabilities, but this is a design nuance that other than a few pedants would notice or appreciate.

So far so good. So how did Hyperkin snatch defeat from the jaws of victory this time? Most online reviews, including this one, will point out that the paddle component of the controller does not work at all, or if it does, is either difficult to turn, or is overly sensitive.

In my case, the paddle (named because the original wheel-based controllers for the Atari 2600 were used primarily to replicate the Pong tennis game controllers) kind of worked, but were not functional. As with other reviews I’ve watched, the wheel works effectively until you try to use it on the right side of the screen. It scrolls smoothly when used from the left most point to the middle of the screen, but as soon as you get to the middle of the screen it jumps immediately to the right-most side of the screen. It’s an ineffective knob that even Viagra won’t help.

The paddle is a very important component of games like Circus, Kaboom and Breakout!, but beyond that has little use, so I can accept this deficiency, but the inclusion of an entirely defective device, at would have been considerable cost, is exactly how Hyperkin has earnt it’s hit or miss reputation.

For that reason I provide two scores for the Ranger controller. Caveat emptor.

For non-paddle use:

10/10

For paddle use:

0/10

- Phil Fogg