The Game Cube (GCN) controller is the most compatible controller in Mario Kart. It can work on the GCN original that is Double Dash, Mario Kart Wii, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with the USB adapter Nintendo (or other third parties for that matter) has made for Smash for Wii U and Ultimate. I want to make this very clear. I do own a Wii and a Wii U, but I have been using my Wii U for Mario Kart Wii for a little bit now. I didn't get into Mario Kart Wii when if first came out, but now I'm am. I am a huge fan of Mario Kart, so I never really knew why I didn't. Anyway, I want to discuss some of my findings when playing between a Wii and a Wii U.
First off, you will need some kind of mod for the CGN controller adapter to work on the Wii U. Thankfully, this feature is already inside the code for CTGP(Custom Track Grand Prix). It works how it's supposed to, at least on the surface. For some reason, whoever coded this mod for the GCN controller for CTGP thought it would be a good idea to have the triggers actuate at 50% pressure of a soft press. This may not sound like a big deal, but when drifting, you have to lift the trigger to a position where it is less the 50% down so that the game thinks that you let go of the button. This could affect gameplay, especially with tracks with a lot of turns, like SNES Mario Circuit 3. Now, it takes longer to charge up a drift than other games in the series. Before I found out about the 50% actuation affect, I bought some tall trigger plugs from Battle Beaver so that my GCN controllers can feel more like my Switch Pro Controller in the way that once you press the trigger, it would register, and once you let go, it wouldn't. With a controller with these trigger plugs, they would not work. I then did some testing and confirmed that with a Wii U with CTGP installed while using the CGN controller adapter, the actuation point was at around 50%. This lead me to believe that the same activity was going to be present on an original Wii, but when playing the game normally on my Wii, I was stunned.
When I did an initial test run on my Wii, I couldn't find my stock GCN controller, so I decided to plug in my modded controller to see what what would happen. And wouldn't you know it, it worked with the trigger plugs. I was amazed. I thought this was a Mario Kart Wii issue, not CTGP. I was convinced that you might needed an over $100 controller to have it where it would be possible to play on both Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. All I needed was a Wii. I don't know if this will be applicable if I do install CTGP onto my Wii, but it is food for thought. I will do some more testing once I do install CTGP onto my Wii, but for now, if you are planning on playing Mario Kart Wii, get a Wii. If you have a GCN controller and you play as much Mario Kart or even possibly more than I do, I would invest in the trigger plugs. Like I said, I got the tall ones from Battle Beaver, but there are some other options if you look on other sites. I know a few Etsy sellers that also make their own trigger plugs as well. They shouldn't cost more than $10 for each pair once you factor in shipping. They also have a short version. The short ones are designed to have some analog input while the tall triggers are designed to just skip analog input altogether. For Mario Kart, the tall trigger plugs are the way to go, but if you play something like Smash Melee, then the short ones maybe for you. Every game is different, so don't expect the trigger plugs to work in every game. The tall trigger plugs do not work in Smash Ultimate for example, so keep that in mind. With that, I hope everyone has a wonderful day!
First off, you will need some kind of mod for the CGN controller adapter to work on the Wii U. Thankfully, this feature is already inside the code for CTGP(Custom Track Grand Prix). It works how it's supposed to, at least on the surface. For some reason, whoever coded this mod for the GCN controller for CTGP thought it would be a good idea to have the triggers actuate at 50% pressure of a soft press. This may not sound like a big deal, but when drifting, you have to lift the trigger to a position where it is less the 50% down so that the game thinks that you let go of the button. This could affect gameplay, especially with tracks with a lot of turns, like SNES Mario Circuit 3. Now, it takes longer to charge up a drift than other games in the series. Before I found out about the 50% actuation affect, I bought some tall trigger plugs from Battle Beaver so that my GCN controllers can feel more like my Switch Pro Controller in the way that once you press the trigger, it would register, and once you let go, it wouldn't. With a controller with these trigger plugs, they would not work. I then did some testing and confirmed that with a Wii U with CTGP installed while using the CGN controller adapter, the actuation point was at around 50%. This lead me to believe that the same activity was going to be present on an original Wii, but when playing the game normally on my Wii, I was stunned.
When I did an initial test run on my Wii, I couldn't find my stock GCN controller, so I decided to plug in my modded controller to see what what would happen. And wouldn't you know it, it worked with the trigger plugs. I was amazed. I thought this was a Mario Kart Wii issue, not CTGP. I was convinced that you might needed an over $100 controller to have it where it would be possible to play on both Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. All I needed was a Wii. I don't know if this will be applicable if I do install CTGP onto my Wii, but it is food for thought. I will do some more testing once I do install CTGP onto my Wii, but for now, if you are planning on playing Mario Kart Wii, get a Wii. If you have a GCN controller and you play as much Mario Kart or even possibly more than I do, I would invest in the trigger plugs. Like I said, I got the tall ones from Battle Beaver, but there are some other options if you look on other sites. I know a few Etsy sellers that also make their own trigger plugs as well. They shouldn't cost more than $10 for each pair once you factor in shipping. They also have a short version. The short ones are designed to have some analog input while the tall triggers are designed to just skip analog input altogether. For Mario Kart, the tall trigger plugs are the way to go, but if you play something like Smash Melee, then the short ones maybe for you. Every game is different, so don't expect the trigger plugs to work in every game. The tall trigger plugs do not work in Smash Ultimate for example, so keep that in mind. With that, I hope everyone has a wonderful day!