Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
View
Trending
  • Summer Game Fest
  • New games for 2025
  • Upcoming Switch 2 games
  • Switch 2 stock
Recommended reading
Best PC controller buying guide hero image showing the Victrix Pro BFG controller and its suite of components
Gaming Controllers The best PC controller for gaming 2025
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom screenshot showing Princess Zelda with tied-back blonde hair and emerald green eyes, wielding a sword before her face
The Legend of Zelda Forget blindfolded runs, a Switch 2-exclusive challenge emerges as fan proves you can play Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom with your Joy-Con attached the wrong way
The best Xbox One controllers
Gaming Controllers The best Xbox One controllers 2025
Xbox Elite Series 2 controller
Gaming Controllers The best Xbox Series X controller in 2025
A header image for the GamesRadar+ Best Games of 2025 list, showing Mario Kart World, Blue Prince, The Alters, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Games The best games to play in 2025, so far
Best horror games - Resident Evil 7: Biohazard screenshot of Ethan shooting a mutamycete monster
Horror Games The 25 best horror games to play right now
best Xbox One games
Games The best Xbox One games of all time to play now
  1. Games

The 8 most original control schemes weve ever seen

Features
By Jason Fanelli published 16 April 2014

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Power in your hands

Power in your hands

I bet you think you know everything there is to know about your controller. Youve used it countless times in shooters, brawlers, adventures, and beat-em-ups; nothing could surprise you now, right? Wrong. What if I told you that there are ways your controller can work that youve never seen before? Youd probably think I was crazy, but its absolutely true.

The following list is full of prime examples of bizarre uses for the controller youve become so accustomed to. New ways to fight, new ways to travel a digital world, and new ways to immerse yourself into the game youre playing all await you here. I bet that reading this list will add a few games to your must-play list, as youll want to see these crazy controls for yourself.

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of 10
Infamous: Second Son

Infamous: Second Son

Through 90% of the newest InFamous game, controlling Delsin Rowe is just like controlling Cole MacGrath. I shoot with R1, I aim with L1 before shooting with R1 if I so choose, and the other face buttons unleash all different kinds of special attacks. That last 10%, however, throws a new mechanic at you that paints the DualShock 4 in a whole new color. Were talking about tagging.

As it turns out, Delsins also a superhero when it comes to a spray paint can, and by extension so are you. Not content to just let you watch Delsin at work, Sucker Punch gives you a way to feel like you are the artist. Sure, it's gimmicky, but turning the DualShock 4 on its side, shaking it to hear that satisfying rattle, then aiming the controller at the cardboard on-screen to make your artwork come alive felt real. Sega, take note! If you're planning a new Jet Set game, this is how you do it.

Page 2 of 10
Page 2 of 10
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Technically, portable systems aren't controllers, but one particular moment in Phantom Hourglass is so clever that it's totally worth including. Right at the beginning, the game gave Link a map and told him to put a mark on it so that he knowns where he is heading. However, when I got to that point, I couldn't get the mark to appear on my map.

Tapping the bottom screen did nothing, tapping the top screen did nothing (because of course it doesnt). No buttons helped, nothing. If youre like me, you shut the system out of frustration and when you went back to try again, the seal miraculously appeared on your map. Thats when it dawns on you: You have to imprint the map by shutting the device! Zelda games love to throw curveballs in their puzzle design, but that was one most didnt even see coming.

Page 3 of 10
Page 3 of 10
Okami

Okami

Who knew paintbrushes could be so deadly? The Celestial Brush wielded by the Sun Goddess Amaterasu in her quest to defeat Orochi has some potent powers. By pressing R1 on the DualShock 2 (or pointing at the screen with the Wii Remote/PS Move), the world turns into a canvas where the brush can bring life back to wilted plants, create gusts of wind, or repair fallen bridges. The world is one big easel to Amaterasu, it seems.

Do you need daytime to stick around for a little while longer? Summon the brush, draw a circle in the sky, and bask in the sunlight. Battling a tough enemy? Draw a line through the foe with your brush and take him out. Other games have allowed us to manipulate the world, but something about drawing on the earth itself to get where we need to be is wholly satisfying.

Page 4 of 10
Page 4 of 10
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Nintendo implemented motion controls in Twilight Princess, but I feel their next Wii Zelda game was the true realization of its ambitions. Motion controls in Skyward Sword are much sharper than Twilight Princess, and when you combine that with a world that responds more naturally to your actions, it feels like youre actually Link in the midst of his biggest adventure.

The Wii MotionPlus lets players feel like theyre truly wielding the Master Sword, slashing at enemies in full 1:1 motions. Perhaps the coolest part of Skyward Sword's control scheme is when you raise your hand straight into the air, let Link charge up the attack, before unleashing the Skyward Strike on whoever stood before me. I dont normally put full effort into motion controls, but watching Link power up his sword when I raised my hand made me want to slash as hard as I possibly could every single time. Those safety warnings that flash before every Wii game never rang more true than they did in Skyward Sword.

Page 5 of 10
Page 5 of 10
Metal Gear Solid (Psycho Mantis)

Metal Gear Solid (Psycho Mantis)

How about that Psycho Mantis, huh? Everyone who has followed the saga of Solid Snake knows what I'm about to talk about--it's one of the most legendary moments in fourth-wall breaking in gaming. Mantis knew more about us and our respective gaming habits than he had any right to know...but how? (Yeah, rhetorical question - he read our memory cards save files) But he didnt stop there- he even messed with us by telling us what we liked to play based on our memory card save files. He then toyed with us even further by making the controller rumble in our hands, then seemingly short circuiting our controller and throwing everything out of wack.

How could we ever counter this seemingly psychic assault? By taking the controller out of Port 1 and moving it to Port 2. Seriously, disconnecting and reconnecting the controller was the only way to throw Psycho Mantis off of his game and get past him. A control mechanic like this might surprise me even today, but in the PS1 days it was unheard of. Do you want to know why people love Hideo Kojima so much? Moments like the Psycho Mantis battle are a good place to start looking.

Page 6 of 10
Page 6 of 10
WarioWare: Smooth Moves

WarioWare: Smooth Moves

Perhaps the weirdest use for a controller in gaming history has to go to WarioWare: Smooth Moves on the Wii. The franchises trademark microgames once again make an appearance, but each game requires the player to perform certain poses with the Wii Remote. Some are pretty standard--like The Umbrella pose that ask the player to hold the Wii Remote upright--but others are just daffy.

Take The Elephant, which makes the player hold the Wii Remote longways at the tip of the nose. Perhaps The Big Cheese, where the remote needs to be held at the side with bent elbows extending the chest, is a better example. There are 19 poses in all, ranging from normal to super duper weird, but all of them make for good fun...even if you look ridiculous while youre in the pose.

Page 7 of 10
Page 7 of 10
Dead Space: Extraction

Dead Space: Extraction

Dead Space Extraction doesnt do anything special with the motion controls it offers for most of the game. It had me pointing and shooting at Necromorphs just like I used to point and shoot at the ghouls of House of the Dead in the arcade. However, Extraction put players in a unique situation at the end of the game, and thats where the insanity begins. (Spoiler warning, in case you ever wanted to go back and play Extraction.)

The protagonist Nathan McNeil gets his arm impaled on a spike just feet away from escaping. And how do you get Nate out of his predicament? By using the Wii Remote (or PS Move, depending on the system) to CHOP OFF HIS OWN DAMN ARM. The game even slows down with every hit, just in case you werent grasping the severity of CHOPPING OFF HIS DAMN ARM.

Page 8 of 10
Page 8 of 10
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons took the standard controller and chopped it in half. One side controls one brother, and the other half controls the other brother. It sounds insane, but splitting the controller in two made for some of the coolest puzzle solutions Ive ever seen. (Spoiler warning for those who have yet to play Brothers.)

At first I thought it was just novel and interesting, but by the end of the game the controls had gone from just clever to legitimately meaningful. Right before the finale one of the brothers dies, but instead of reverting to a normal control scheme for the endgame, the deceased brothers half of the controller is rendered useless. Just as the on-screen duo is cut in half, you lose one half of your ability to control the game. That handicap puts Brothers into a class of its own, as I cant think of any other game that does something like that.

Page 9 of 10
Page 9 of 10
Keeping things fresh

Keeping things fresh

In a world filled with genre-standard schemes, these games shake things up with their unique approaches to control. Whether youre controlling two brothers with one controller or restoring the world by painting on it with a divine brush, you wont find control mechanics like these anywhere else.

For more, check out 22 things every gamer kid has heard from their parents and First!!!! moments every gamer remembers.

Page 10 of 10
Page 10 of 10
CATEGORIES
Android iPad iPhone PC Gaming Wii-u Nintendo PlayStation PS4 Xbox Xbox One Platforms Mobile Gaming
Jason Fanelli
WHY HELLO THERE! Name's Jason, hailing from right outside Philadelphia. I've been playing the vidya games for well over 20 years, starting with the NES and making my way all the way up to the Wii U. My mother tells people that I taught myself to read at age 3 using Wheel of Fortune Family Edition on the NES. I'm the type of guy that will try anything once, but I do have a few favorite genres, fighting and RPG being at the top. I've been writing about video games since I finished my Broadcast Journalism degree at Temple University in December 2008, mostly for www.gamernode.com. Since then I've been to three E3s, two New York Comic Cons, the first ever PAX East, and many more to come (I hope). I hope everyone enjoys my stuff as much as I love producing it. Hit me up on Twitter @bigmanfanelli, I love talking games with anyone and everyone.
See more Games Features
Read more
Best PC controller buying guide hero image showing the Victrix Pro BFG controller and its suite of components
The best PC controller for gaming 2025
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom screenshot showing Princess Zelda with tied-back blonde hair and emerald green eyes, wielding a sword before her face
Forget blindfolded runs, a Switch 2-exclusive challenge emerges as fan proves you can play Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom with your Joy-Con attached the wrong way
The best Xbox One controllers
The best Xbox One controllers 2025
Xbox Elite Series 2 controller
The best Xbox Series X controller in 2025
A header image for the GamesRadar+ Best Games of 2025 list, showing Mario Kart World, Blue Prince, The Alters, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
The best games to play in 2025, so far
Best horror games - Resident Evil 7: Biohazard screenshot of Ethan shooting a mutamycete monster
The 25 best horror games to play right now
Latest in Games
A hulk with glowing red eyes and its flamethrower lit and ready to burn
Helldivers 2 makes a highly requested change: the Warbond Token, a new item that fills a hole in the game's special editions and stops people from buying things twice
Hytale
Reviving Hytale is such a risky proposition, its founder kind of "wants Riot to say no" to his offer for the Minecraft rival because it "makes no business sense"
Dune Awakening
Dune: Awakening hoarders swiftly discover a second item duping glitch, barely a day after the survival MMO's devs fixed the first one: "This game is cooked"
Peak screenshot showing players climbing an icy cliff
"Guys we can't add cannibalism to Peak": Co-developer of viral indie survival game lays down the law, despite fans' protests of "what if just one little nibble"
An orange car in The Crew.
Stop Killing Games petition is 95% of the way to its 1 million signatures goal, a year after Ubisoft sparked the preservation campaign by taking always-online racing game The Crew offline
Xbox Gamescom 2023 logo featuring a stylized city skyline in green
Of the 9,000 workers let go in Microsoft's layoff blitz, less than half were at Xbox specifically
Latest in Features
María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer
James Gunn's Superman may be setting up The Authority movie with its enigmatic villain The Engineer
Sam sits in a bike looking across at a city in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
70 hours in, Death Stranding 2 is one of few open world games that justifies having such a huge map
Nintendo Switch 2
I can't use the Switch 2's handheld mode, so I'm hoping a Lite is on the horizon
Guy Gardner, Hawkgirl, and Mister Miracle as the Justice Gang in Superman
The Justice Gang explained - The non-Justice League in James Gunn's Superman may be influenced by team of classic DC supervillains
Team Fortress 2 characters looking at a map
I have 464 games on my Steam wishlist, 23 games in my Steam Summer Sale shopping cart, and I can feel my already overstuffed library giving me the side-eye
Heavy Metal Death Can demo screenshot
I got a nicotine rush and set zombies on fire in this PS1-style survival horror demo, and it's basically Resident Evil on a submarine
  1. Sam fires at the ghost mech squid boss in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
    1
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  2. 2
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  3. 3
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  4. 4
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  5. 5
    Dune: Awakening review: "Both extremely compelling and extraordinarily boring, sometimes at the same time – yet still a true Dune love letter"
  1. A T-rex in Jurassic World Rebirth
    1
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  2. 2
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  3. 3
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  4. 4
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  5. 5
    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review: "Brilliant action, even if the plot gives you a sense of déjà vu"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...