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Post by Centrale on Dec 28, 2015 21:56:58 GMT
Over the years, I've read about what a disappointing and under-utilized peripheral the Sega Sports Pad is. Only a very few games support its analog functionality, and apparently those games are pretty bad. Still, I always wondered about using the Sports Pad's "control" mode - effectively using the trackball for games that have digital controls, usually a control pad or joystick.
For a few years I watched online auctions for the Sports Pad come and go, as most were well within the realm of delusionally overpriced. At times, I thought I'd missed the boat as over the past year I rarely saw one that wasn't well above $50. I wondered if it would be worth it to even have one, considering everything that's been said about it being a bad controller. Maybe my interest was purely in having it as a display item, among the other boxed SMS controllers I have. Finally, I spotted one for less than $15 and got it a couple of months ago. With the flurry of the impending holiday season, I only recently had the opportunity to give it a good try.
My verdict? Y'all must be smoking some crack, because the Sega Sports Pad rocks! Using it in Control mode, I tried it with Astro Warrior, Out Run, and Power Strike. In each game I felt I had very precise control. In fact, in Power Strike, I marveled that I could move the ship one pixel at a time. Collecting P capsules is almost trivially easy - I can get almost every single one of them, whereas with a pad or joystick I would usually be lucky to get one or two. Truth be told, I am terrible at Power Strike, but I can see myself playing it considerably better with the Sports Pad than with a control pad or joystick.
With Astro Warrior, I felt the same precision, although at first I was disappointed that I had to roll the trackball somewhat forcefully to move across the screen. After a few minutes, though, I realized this was an issue with powering up the ship and increasing its movement speed, not an issue with the Sports Pad.
With Out Run, I naturally had to take care to favor rolling the trackball up or down depending on which gear I was in, but I felt a similarly pleasant precision of control. The car will stop moving toward the left or right as soon as the trackball stops spinning, so it's possible to change lanes very intentionally.
Those are the only games I've tried so far. I can imagine the trackball interface won't be as satisfying with platformers. But for shooters, and probably for most driving games, I definitely recommend giving it a try! I expect it will work really well for aiming in Global Defense, and I'm interested in trying it with Super Smash TV and Gauntlet soon. Don't believe the internet hype... I have to side with the box's classic hyperbole - this is "a real competitive advantage. And now it can be yours." (If you are willing to wait a long time for someone who is not insane/greedy to sell one.)
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Post by Stan on Dec 29, 2015 13:33:12 GMT
I feel like you have one that wasn't used much. They're known for losing their sensitivity rather quickly, keep playing, heheheh... I will admit I never tried one with some of the titles you mentioned, so I just may have to see for myself, but generally it's maligned for a reason.
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Post by Centrale on Dec 29, 2015 17:04:23 GMT
Ah, interesting... I guess there's no way of knowing how much use mine had previously, although the fact that it came boxed is usually an indication that the previous owner(s) took decent care of it. I wonder what parts "lose sensitivity"? Is it like an old ball mouse that would periodically need to be cleaned?
If I have time today, I'm going to try it in two-controller configuration on Global Defense (move with joystick, aim with Sports Pad). I'm also curious to see how it works with top-down shooters like Rambo and Time Soldiers.
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Post by Rastanfarian on Dec 29, 2015 17:33:49 GMT
I feel like you have one that wasn't used much. They're known for losing their sensitivity rather quickly, keep playing, heheheh... I will admit I never tried one with some of the titles you mentioned, so I just may have to see for myself, but generally it's maligned for a reason. Yeah I had one that was clearly very used and would not work at all. Didn't matter which setting I had it on or what game I used it with. I have a boxed one that looks like it never was removed from the plastic/box and seems to work properly (although still poorly). I only tried it on Sports Pad Football though and immediately reboxed it for safe keeping. I am tempted to try it on Power Strike now to see if it helps me improve on my poor performance. Although I've come to believe that in this case it's more of a 60hz vs. 50hz thing that makes your guys scores so much better then mine. No way I suck that bad after 27 years of owning a master system! |
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Post by Centrale on Dec 29, 2015 17:55:48 GMT
I highly recommend giving it a try with Power Strike... you can use very small movements and have such fine control.
I imagine that, since games like Sports Pad Football and Great Ice Hockey were so poorly tuned for use with the Sports Pad, kids must have been thrashing the hell out of it to get their players to move, so there are probably a number of damaged ones floating around.
As for the 60Hz vs. 50Hz issue... I have to agree, I mean you need to look at how the game was originally designed. Although some games were intended for 50Hz, I don't think Power Strike is one of them. Ride the 60Hz lightning! Play it as it was intended!
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vingazole
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Fetchez la vache !
Posts: 19
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Post by vingazole on Dec 29, 2015 19:42:08 GMT
Marble Madness is really great with the Sports Pad on "control" mode, too  |
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Post by Centrale on Dec 29, 2015 20:36:24 GMT
Marble Madness is really great with the Sports Pad on "control" mode, too That's great to know! That's actually a game that I specifically had wondered about for a long time. I've got to get a copy of it! So, I've had some free time today and have tried out a bunch of games. Here are my impressions: Global Defense - ***** Perfect. The way the game is meant to be played! A lot of people might not be aware, but Global Defense has a two-controller mode. The controller in port 1 moves the aiming reticle, and the controller in port 2 moves your ship. So I used the Sports Pad in port 1 and an XE-1 ST2 joystick in port 2, and then set the joystick to the left and the Sports Pad to the right. I believe this is the controller configuration of the arcade coin-op (S.D.I.), although I've never seen it or played it, I've only read about it. Perfect precision in aiming. The reticle can move fast or slow, and at any angle. It feels like it's practically an analog controller. Totally awesome. Time Soldiers - **** Very good. Since the enemies can fire at any angle, it's nice to be able to move at any angle. It's also interesting and sometimes helpful to be able to maneuver slowly. I'm not too good at this game, but I felt the Sports Pad was helpful. Rambo/Secret Command - ** Fair. Mostly the limitations of the character's available movements keep the Sports Pad from being helpful. Better with a control pad or joystick. Gauntlet - *** Good. The Sports Pad was at its best in the more frantic, fast-paced parts of the game when there are enemies all around. In more empty areas, it's a bit tedious having to roll the trackball repeatedly to move along. Overall it's a very active way to play the game. I'd say it's a toss-up - worth a try, but probably most people will feel that the Sports Pad doesn't give enough of an advantage to recommend it over a control pad or joystick. Space Harrier - *** Good. I felt an extra degree of control and precision in areas where you're flying through a bunch of indestructible obstacles. I also felt I was able to perfectly match the dragon bosses' movements, and was able to strategically "wiggle" against the stone faces. I'd recommend giving it a try. Thunder Blade - **** Very good. Thunder Blade itself is a harshly criticized game by many. I think it's really interesting and unique. The Sports Pad provided better precision for me in lining up shots against the tanks, and made me feel it was a lot easier to avoid enemy shots. You can make very small movements on the trackball and have a good response. A very good control experience. Fantasy Zone - ***** Perfect. Feels great and the easy availability of rapid fire is wonderful. It felt a lot easier navigate through the first boss's barrage of shots, and to line up the tricky aim necessary for the second boss. I also felt like it was much easier to collect most, if not all of the coins after a boss is defeated. With the right power-ups I was cruising through the first few levels. Fantasy Zone II - **** Very good. It seems Opa-Opa starts off a lot slower in this game than in the first one, so that doesn't feel as nice. Navigating through the first boss's maze of logs was elementary with the precise control of the Sports Pad. However, selecting which items to equip after you purchase them was really tricky as they tended to flicker back and forth when you roll the trackball. Overall, though, definitely worth a try. The Ninja - **** Very good. Another game where you are afforded the unique opportunity to move slowly if you wish, although it's usually not necessary, at least not in the first half of the game which is what I played through. Weaving my way through the unique falling boulders stage and river stage was fun and felt great. Cloud Master - *** Good. It's been a while since I've played this, so I didn't get far. At this point I'd say it's a toss-up. Might be worth a try... might feel better once you've powered-up and can move faster. Galaxy Force - ** Fair. Galaxy Force is a game I want to like, but I think it's just not that good, unfortunately. I wasn't convinced that it was controlling any better in the first stages, and in the tunnel stages, the control is just as hypersensitive as it is with a pad or stick. Super Smash TV - *** Good. I didn't really notice much improvement in my gameplay at first, in this very frenetic game. After a while I did feel like I was getting the hang of it and might have been playing a little better than normal, but I still wasn't able to get past Mutoid Man. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who's actually good at this game! That covers most of the games that I have in my collection that kind of jumped out at me as ones that would be good to try. I do have a lot of platformers but I doubt that would feel like a natural interface for them. |
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Post by Rastanfarian on Dec 29, 2015 23:11:31 GMT
Great info Centrale! I will definitely try the Sports Pad out on some of those games that I have always struggled with. I always thought the concept of the roller ball was sound, who can forget the sit down MS. Pacman found in every arcade, bowling alley, and pizza shop of the early eighties. I see that Maxim has started a thread over at SMS Power about the technology behind the Sports Pad. I wish I did not sell my "broken" one years ago, as I would be happy to dissect it for the good of learning why it fails. If I can procure one cheap enough I will pick it up for the cause. |
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Post by kungfukid on Dec 30, 2015 8:15:29 GMT
I'm really enjoying this thread as it's a little known fact that probably about 7 or 8 years ago I began writing an article for the main site on exactly this topic, or to be more specific on trying to play games with the sports pad that were never designed to be played that way. I never got round to finishing it for reasons that I cannot remember now, and the article which was originally saved on the dashboard, unseen because it was still a draft, was probably lost when the site was attacked a few years ago resulting in a backup having to be used. A shame, but this very thread was the sort of thing I visualised would have stemmed from it.  |
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Post by Centrale on Dec 31, 2015 1:51:17 GMT
That's great, kungfukid! If you ever want to try again to write such an article, I'd be happy to contribute. I'd also be interested to know which games, if any, you remember working especially well with the Sports Pad. I imagine Dead Angle would be a good candidate, but I don't have a copy of it. Same with the Japanese-only release Super Racing. Super Off Road comes to mind... there's so many that might work well. Having fun trying out games with the Sports Pad actually has me seriously thinking of getting an Everdrive for the first time.
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Post by Stan on Jan 1, 2016 0:12:56 GMT
Ah, interesting... I guess there's no way of knowing how much use mine had previously, although the fact that it came boxed is usually an indication that the previous owner(s) took decent care of it. I wonder what parts "lose sensitivity"? Is it like an old ball mouse that would periodically need to be cleaned? If I have time today, I'm going to try it in two-controller configuration on Global Defense (move with joystick, aim with Sports Pad). I'm also curious to see how it works with top-down shooters like Rambo and Time Soldiers. The trackball loses its sensitivity pretty quickly overtime and becomes difficult to use. |
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Post by Centrale on Jan 1, 2016 2:15:05 GMT
The trackball loses its sensitivity pretty quickly overtime and becomes difficult to use. Right, but I wonder what mechanism inside it is wearing out or becoming dirty. I would venture to guess that there's some kind of accumulation of oils from peoples' fingertips and palms, plus dust and dirt, that is accumulating on the internal roller mechanisms that track the rotation of the ball... it would follow that there should be some sort of cleaning/maintenance that can be done periodically to restore sensitivity. I would be surprised if there are actually mechanical components cheap/flimsy enough to just permanently wear out in a short amount of time. In the next few days I'll see about opening mine up to get a look at its internals, if it's not too tricky. I recall the Light Phaser is actually kind of tricky to open up and put back together... hopefully not the case with the Sports Pad. |
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Post by Stan on Jan 1, 2016 11:44:19 GMT
The trackball loses its sensitivity pretty quickly overtime and becomes difficult to use. Right, but I wonder what mechanism inside it is wearing out or becoming dirty. I would venture to guess that there's some kind of accumulation of oils from peoples' fingertips and palms, plus dust and dirt, that is accumulating on the internal roller mechanisms that track the rotation of the ball... it would follow that there should be some sort of cleaning/maintenance that can be done periodically to restore sensitivity. I would be surprised if there are actually mechanical components cheap/flimsy enough to just permanently wear out in a short amount of time. In the next few days I'll see about opening mine up to get a look at its internals, if it's not too tricky. I recall the Light Phaser is actually kind of tricky to open up and put back together... hopefully not the case with the Sports Pad. That would actually be a cool article just waiting to be written, I should say. |
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Post by Stan on Jan 1, 2016 11:46:24 GMT
And I mean to say I'm VERY interested in seeing that happen. There are 0 videos or articles ANYWHERE about fixing a Sports Pad, if it's possible. I talked once to John Sauer about it, who worked for Sega back in the SMS era up to the Genesis switch, and he said the things were pieces of crap, but perhaps there's something you have to find in there.
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Post by Centrale on Jan 1, 2016 16:47:46 GMT
Yeah, weird isn't it? Seemingly no one has really looked into this. If it does turn out to be a simple matter of them needing to be cleaned periodically, I guess we could argue that it's a design flaw that it isn't easily opened. But IIRC, ball mice didn't have easy-to-open panels until a couple/few years after they'd been on the market, either.
That's cool that you spoke with Jon Sauer, I remember him well from the days of Sega Challenge/Team Sega Newsletter. He did great work to support SMS fans in the States, and laid the groundwork in giving Sega their notorious '90s aggressive "attitude" in marketing.
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