We recently bought the new HoriPad for Nintendo Switch, made by Hori.

After playing for countless hours with various games, we came up with this simple question: Can a entry-level gamepad actually improve a gaming experience, without leaving your bank account in the red?
The answer, quite simply, is a resounding YES.

Don’t get us wrong, the stock Joycons work wonders on a great numbers of games, but some genres require a more precise, specific approach in how you actually control the action. One genre very dear to us at PowerWave, to nobody’s surprise, are FightingGames. For Switch, we played (and still do) Samurai Shodown, UltraStreetFighter2, SmashUltimate, and StreetFighter30th. Although feasible, we needed to step up our game. This is why we decided to invest in a more proper gamepad. We also decided to continue using Hori products, which we use since a lot of time, since they never gave us any issues.

Enter the Hori HoriPad, Hori’s Entry-level gaming pad for the Nintendo Switch. At a price of 24.99, it was the cheapest option available. Of course, being an entry-level peripheral, we knew we couldn’t expect all the bells and whistles of a more refined product, such as rumble, NFC, a gyroscope, etc.

Straight out of the box, the impression is very positive: the overall feeling is that the gamepad is pretty sturdy, and well built. It’s also very light, which is a plus considered it’s a cabled pad, and you don’t want to drag your Switch down during intensive play sessions. Face buttons feel very good, offering a solid yet not uncomfortable resistance while being pressed. Shoulder buttons, if possible, feel even better.

Analogs work very well: Their stroke is longer than the standard Joycon, allowing for more precise movement, aiming, and general operating. The D-Button is the HoriPad’s main feature, or rather, is a double-feature: you can either play with it, and enjoy actually being able to land pretty complex moves and combos, OR you can entirely remove it, revealing four buttons like the standard Joycon. It’s a cool idea, but we don’t really see the point of it, since you can’t divide the pad and transform it into two of them. Of course the pad also features every other button present on the stock Joycons: + and -, the home button, and the share one (although this one is a bit too close to the left analog, and you may end up snapping a couple of unwanted pictures).
Lastly, for those who appreciate it, consider that the joypad also has a TURBO function!

Overall then, we are very satisfied with the HoriPad, and it allowed us to achieve our starting goal: improve our gaming experience, while not spending a small fortune.
Well done, HORI!

PROS:
-Light
-Precise
-Turbo function
-Well built
-Amazing price
-Two D-pads for one…

CONS:
-…but what’s the point of it?
-No added features (Rumble in particular)
-Capture button too close to left Analog