Controllers, Handhelds & Gear for Snes9x

Buying guides for the hardware around Snes9x — controllers that map cleanly, handhelds, storage cards and a Raspberry Pi build.

Snes9x.net is an independent, unofficial resource site. We are not the Snes9x project; Snes9x itself is freeware for personal, non-commercial use, and you never need to pay for the emulator.

These guides focus on fit for SNES play: D-pad quality, latency, how a controller is recognised by Snes9x, and avoiding counterfeit storage. Where a guide recommends a product, it explains why, in plain terms.

Affiliate note: some links in the guides in this cluster are affiliate links. If you buy through one, this site may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure for how that works.

Guides in this section

• Best Controller for Snes9x — What makes a pad good for SNES games, and the main options compared.
• 8BitDo SN30 Pro with Snes9x — Pairing and mapping the SN30 Pro, a popular retro-styled pad, in Snes9x.
• Xbox vs DualSense for SNES Emulation — Microsoft and Sony pads compared on D-pad, connection and emulator setup.
• Best Retro Handhelds for SNES — Handheld options for SNES play, and what to check before buying one.
• microSD Card Buying Guide and Fake-Card Warnings — Capacity, speed classes, and how to spot counterfeit cards that lose your saves.
• Where to Buy SNES Classics Legally — Legitimate re-releases and collections for building a legal SNES library.
• Build a Raspberry Pi SNES Console — What a Pi-based SNES setup involves, from board to controller.

Need the emulator itself first? Get Snes9x 1.63 from our download page, which links to the project’s GitHub releases and lists verified checksums.

You can also browse everything in this cluster in the Buying Guides category archive.