Nyko is generally well known in the third-party controller market. A lot of companies that do third party controllers or add-ons for consoles generally seem to phone it in (see the myriad of Wii “Sport” peripherals) so it’s nice to get your hands on quality stuff from time to time. In the past I have had good luck with Nyko products (especially their Perfect Shot) so I was excited to try out both their Nunchuk and Classic Controller replacements. So how do they stack up? Read on for my impressions.

Kama Wireless Nunchuk replacement

When the Wii Remote and Nunchuk were announced, many people were sad to learn that the Nunchuk had to be tethered to the Wii Remote to work. To me, it didn’t seem like a big deal, but upon use, the wire does get in the way sometimes. Thankfully Nyko brought us a solution.

I tried the Kama out with four games: Wii Sports Boxing, the Wii Fit boxing game, Animal Crossing: City Folk, and Zelda: Twilight Princess. The Kama really shines in Wii Sports Boxing and Wii Fit boxing. Throwing punches is so much easier without the Nunchuk cable getting in the way. One thing is for sure, this will be my controller of choice for any motion heavy games.

As for Animal Crossing and Twilight Princess, that’s where I found the problems. First of all, the non-octagonal gate on the analog stick. I know it’s a personal preference thing, but for me, it’s hard to go from the octagon on the N64/GC/Wii Nunchuk and try playing Nintendo games with a round gate. There are times that I want to go straight, but since the analog stick isn’t held in tandem with the Wii Remote like the controllers on other consoles, I sometimes miss the mark. Aside from that, every once in a while (especially when the batteries in the Kama start to wear down) I would be holding a direction on the analog stick and, upon letting it go, my character would continue moving in whatever direction I had been moving in for a moment. This isn’t too bad a game like Twilight Princess, but because of this I killed some of my wife’s flowers in Animal Crossing. Luckily she didn’t ask about them, and even if she did, I would just blame Blaire or Camofrog. Granted, it’s not something that happens often, but those occasions that it does happen were kind of annoying.

Speaking of batteries, there were some issues with the power on the Kama to me. Firstly, it comes with a power button on the face, but pressing Z or C also causes the Kama to power on. Now this is a good thing when you are turning on the Kama on purpose, but the down side is that the buttons are VERY sensitive. As such, often I would move things around on my coffee table and all of a sudden there’s that familiar blue flash of the Kama trying to sync with the Wii Remote dongle. Another issue I had with the power is that it takes quite a while for the Kama to auto power off. Now of course this is good when you are trying to start up the thing, or you are in the middle of a game, but it is annoying when your batteries run down because something (like your lovable cat) has laid down next to the Kama and pressed one of the buttons, powering it on. Personally I would have preferred if the Kama would auto shut off after say 30 seconds of inactivity when not synced, but it’s really a small issue in the long run (especially if your cats aren’t jerks like mine and actually stay off the table. I’m just kidding, Max! You’re not a jerk! Come back, I love you, my widdle orange fwuffywuffingtons. Oh wait, people are reading this..)

Positives:
- Wireless.
- Comfortable in the hand
- Dongle fits flush in the handle of the Perfect Shot.
Negatives:
- Sometimes directions stick for a moment.
- Power issues
- No octagonal gate

Overall, I’d give it a quite respectable 7.5/10

Wing Classic Controller replacement

For every one person that didn’t like the fact that the official Nunchuk was wired to the Wii Remote, it seemed like ten were upset about the Classic Controller being wired. I should know, I’m one of them. The Nunchuk being wired made some sort of sense at least, but the Classic Controller? What was the point? The Nyko Wing takes care of this issue in a fine little package. Sure it’s still technically tethered to the Wii Remote via a wireless dongle, but it’s much better than having the Wii Remote hanging from the bottom of the controller.

Feelwise, the Wing has a decent weight to it. It’s not too light that it feels like it’s going to fall apart, but it’s not too heavy either. The actual shell feels very solid. The buttons also feel very good, and the Z1 and Z2 buttons are much easier to use than the ones on the official Classic Controller. Of course I can’t think of many games that USE the Z buttons, but that’s beside the point. The best part of the Wing however is the shape. The pseudo-handles make the Wing MUCH more comfortable to hold and use than the rounded official Classic Controller.

For the Wing, I tried it with Kid Icarus, Zelda: A Link to the Past, F-Zero X, and Zelda: Ocarina of Time. For 3D control, the Wing is great. It also has a round gate instead of the octagonal gate of the official Nintendo products, but as I said before, that’s more of a matter of personal preference. Even with the round gate, F-Zero and OoT control great with the Wing. It seems 3D games are really this things forte. Everything in these two games worked flawlessly. Sadly, the 2D stuff wasn’t quite as good. That’s not to say that the 2D controls are BAD, but when you grow up with fantastic Nintendo d-pads, you get accustomed to a certain feel. The only real negative I can find with the Wing is that the d-pad can be a bit..squishy. It seems that the d-pad should have been elevated out of its recess another millimeter or so. Again, this is more of a personal preference thing, so your mileage may vary. The d-pad, while squishy feeling, was still quite responsive. It’s not Xbox 360 d-pad squishy, but it’s still noticeable when you’re used to using Nintendo’s stuff.

All in all, the Wing is a fantastic complement to any Wii setup, and if given the option of picking up a Wing or an official Nintendo Classic Controller, I’d have to give the nod to the Wing, if just for the wirelessness and the handles.

Positives:
- Wireless!
- No input lag
- Long battery life
- Recharge via mini-USB (with rechargeable batteries, sold separately).
- Very comfortable to hold
- Dongle is marked with the name “Wing” so you don’t confuse it with the Kama dongle
Negatives:
- No octagonal gates
- D-pad is a little squishy

For the Wing, I’d give it a very good 8.5/10

Final Thoughts:

While there are a couple things that could stand a change, overall the Kama and Wing are quality products, plus they look great. I was already a fan of theirs with the Perfect Shot and the Wii Remote charge station (even though after two years my batteries don’t hold the charge they used to) and with these two products, Nyko has shown themselves again as being one of the top players in the 3rd party control market. As for these two items, if you are only going to get one, ask yourself this question: Which do you play more on your Wii, Nunchuk-heavy games, or Virtual Console/Wii Remote only games? If you don’t use the ‘chuk much, definitely go with the Wing. If you DO use the nunchuk a lot, go with the Kama. Just make sure to keep its batteries fresh.