If you crave the authentic feel of a GameCube controller in your hands while playing Zelda: Wind Waker, F-Zero GX and SoulCalibur II on Nintendo Switch Online, then Nintendo has you covered – for a price.

The ‘Nintendo Classics’ wireless GameCube pad replica is great, but it’s not cheap – and, if you want to get the maximum number of players on Super Mario Strikers, things become even more expensive.

But what if you want to use your original wired GameCube pads from yesteryear? Well, there are already options on the market for that, with the best arguably being Nintendo’s official adapter, first released for Wii U but also compatible with the original Switch and Switch 2.

Another option has arrived this year in the form of the Retro Fighters Battle Dock, a device which effectively replicates what the official (and no longer manufactured) GameCube adapter does.

While it’s called the Battle Dock, it isn’t a replacement for your existing Switch 2 dock – instead, it connects to it via a cable with two USB-A connectors and one USB-C connector. The USB-A pair plug into your Switch 2 dock’s dual ports, while the USB-C end goes into the Battle Dock. The Switch 2 dock then sits inside a shelf on the Battle Dock, effectively creating a neat ‘whole’.

It’s worth noting that, while the Battle Dock’s shell has been designed to accommodate the Switch 2, you can actually use it with the original Switch dock, too, thanks to the fact that the really important thing here is that aforementioned USB connection between the two – but you can’t slot the Switch 1 dock inside the Battle Dock itself, so it doesn’t look as neat.

On the front of the Battle Dock, you’ll find four GameCube controller ports, allowing you to plug in your original wired pads for super low-latency play. These ports, as you’d expect, also support the Wavebird and other modern wireless pads, like Retro Fighters’ own BattlerGC controller.

Also included in the box are four different faceplates, each matching a different GameCube console colour. The default is Jet Black, but you also get Spice Orange, Indigo, and Platinum Silver. These clip on with a set of magnets and are easy to replace (almost too easy, in fact; I kept accidentally knocking off the faceplate when interacting with the dock).

The Battle Dock is the very definition of plug-and-play, and it takes little effort to get it up and running. The big issue when comparing this to the Nintendo Classics wireless GameCube pad is pretty obvious – if you’re using wired pads, then you’ll almost certainly need to either reposition the dock or sit closer to your TV, thanks to those pesky old-world cables.

Another downside is that the GameCube pad lacks ‘Home’ and ‘Minus’ buttons, so you can’t use those buttons to invoke menus and the like. Therefore, you’ll need to ensure you have a Joy-Con or Pro Controller handy for dropping back to the Switch 2’s Home screen. There’s not much Retro Fighters can do about this, but it can still be an annoyance.

On the upside, for $40 you can unlock the potential of your existing controllers without having to shell out for new ones, and the wired connection means virtually no input lag.

If you absolutely have to have the proper GameCube controller experience when playing on your Switch 2, then this is a solid purchase, especially for such a reasonable price. It’s arguably the perfect way to play Smash Bros. Ultimate, and, when Nintendo does eventually release Smash Melee on Nintendo Switch Online, I’d imagine the Battle Dock will become even more desirable.

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.