Directional pad
Thedirectional pad (shortenedd-pad, officially+Control Pad) refers to the grey, cross-shaped group of buttons on the left side of theGameCube andNintendo 64controllers, the cross-shaped group of buttons located on theWii Remote,Classic Controller,Nintendo 3DS,Wii U GamePad, andWii U Pro Controller, and cross-shaped group of buttons on the left side of theNintendo Switch Lite (white) andNintendo Switch Pro Controller (dark gray). The leftJoy-Con has a group of four buttons in a diamond shape in the same place called the directional buttons, with the same purpose. The color of the d-pad on the Nintendo 3DS varies, but it matches the color of the Wii Remote, Classic Controller, Wii U GamePad and Wii U Pro Controller.
Overview[edit]
While the directional pad has appeared in some form across every console theSmash series has been playable on, its functionality has varied over the years. InSuper Smash Bros., it serves no purpose other than menu navigation. When played on theWii using a GameCube controller or Classic Controller, the d-pad is analogous to the N64 controller'sL button, used for the character'staunt.
InSuper Smash Bros. Melee, it continues to function as menu navigation, but also has a number of other uses. Pressing up during a fight will make the player's charactertaunt. The d-pad is also used for activating Fox and Falco'ssecret taunts andSamus's Extended Grapple. InCamera Mode and the Trophy Gallery, the d-pad can be used to move the camera. InMelee, the directional pad also has uses not intended in regular gameplay: through thedebug mode, it can be used to toggle the game mode, controlMaster Hand (also possible with theName Entry glitch) and/orCrazy Hand, and spawn items in-game, among other things.[1]
InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl, it takes the role of thecontrol stick when played on a Wii Remote, and reprises its role of taunts for the Classic and GameCube controllers. When using the Wii Remote with theNunchuk, pressing up will make the characterjump, while pressing sideways will make the charactergrab in specified direction, and pressing down will let the charactershield. Thecontrols menu option introduced in this game allows non-default actions to be mapped to the d-pad.
InSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, it once again takes the role of being used for the character's taunt, whereas inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U, any controller reprises its role for taunts. Different actions can once again be mapped to the d-pad.
InBrawl,Smash 4, andUltimate, all directions on the d-pad can be remapped to perform other functions.Nintendo Switch hardware version 10.0.0 introduced the ability to map the functionality of any button to any other button from the console options menu, further diversifying how the d-Pad can be used inUltimate.
Joy-Con directional buttons[edit]
The Joy-Cons do not have a d-pad built in. When using both Joy-Cons at once, the four buttons on the left that mirror theA,B,X, andY buttons on the right substitute for a d-pad, thus having the same functionality in games likeUltimate. When using a single Joy-Con held horizontally, what would be d-pad buttons are instead set to different actions, as the right button acts like an A button and is used for performing standard attacks, while the bottom button acts like a B button and is used for performing special attacks, and the top and left buttons act like X and Y buttons and are used for jumping. All other compatible controllers have a traditional d-pad and it functions like in previous games with the ability to be mapped to different actions.
Gallery[edit]
The directional pad on a Switch Pro Controller.
Trivia[edit]
- Masahiro Sakurai admitted in aYouTube video that he prefers using the directional pad for menu navigation over theControl stick, as he finds repeatedly tilting the stick tedious.[2]
- Sakurai admitted in another YouTube video that he has received requests to allow the directional pad to be mapped to movement, but has been reluctant due to his belief that the lack of analog motion and granular values on a d-pad makes it impossible to match the subtle precision of aControl stick. He even admits that theWii Remote controller configuration was not ideal for this same reason.[3]
