Your Android phone is probably the most powerful retro gaming device you own – if you install the right apps. If you have an iPhone, for RM20 a month, Apple Arcade grants you access to a large library of well-developed games that won’t pester you with ads and microtransactions.

But if you really enjoy playing games on your smartphones, trust me, get a game controller. And not one of those junk ones designed for smartphones. No! You want one designed for a gaming console.

Sure there are a lot of games on the Apple App Store and Google play that are designed for the smartphone interface. When they are done well, those are some of the best games to play on mobile. However, there are more and more games that are designed with the controller interface in mind.

This is all thanks to ports. If a game designer can make a game and sell it on as many platforms as they could, they would. And they do. And most of these gaming platforms are controller-based. It’s the lowest common denominator, as in a majority of gaming devices uses a controller so the games are designed to use them.

On the smartphone, this incompatibility is often remedied with a touch interface, either a modified user interface system or just plain old on-screen virtual controller. However, more often than not, the touch interface is just not as precise or fun. And nothing beats a good controller.

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My solution was to get a mobile phone clamp for a PS4 controller by Dobe and a PS4 controller by SONY, on Shopee. If you don’t already have a PS4, I would recommend the latest Xbox controller instead, since the asymmetrical analogue stick is far more comfortable especially in games where you need to use both of them, like in FPS, 3rd person shooters, and dual-stick shooters.

Having a game controller would open you up to a whole library of games you never thought you could play on your smartphone. Since most of them are ports, they tend to not have ads or microtransactions, a practice in games that are frowned upon on other gaming platforms.

I can’t imagine playing a classic like Castlevania Symphony of The Night, or dual-stick shooters like Exit the Gungeon, or the new first-person dungeon crawler Everland without a controller. And all these games have native controller support despite being on smartphones. MOst that I have played, recognises the PS4 controller and shows the appropriate button prompt.

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Currently, I’m playing Shantae and the Seven Sirens, a barely good enough Metroidvania that is so lazy its main cast of characters are well endowed skinny anime girls whose outfits, when all sewn together, can barely cover a dining table. It’s like the exact opposite of Samus Aran from Metroid, the Metroid in Metroidvania.

The thing is I like MetroidVanias, but Castlevania Symphony of The Night costs as much as an Apple Arcade subscription (RM20) and Shantae is available on Apple Arcade.

Anyway, get a game controller for your smartphone. It’s worth it.