Retro Fighters GameCube Accessories Nintendo Switch 2 Reviews Hardware Reviews Review: Retro Fighters Battle Dock For Switch 2 - Time To Dig Out Those Old GameCube Pads Battling 2001 style by Damien McFerran Mon 15th Jun 2026 Share: Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life 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. Images: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life 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. Images: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life 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.
Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/retro-fighters-battle-dock-for-switch-2-time-to-dig-out-those-old-gamecube-pads
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. Images: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life 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.
Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/retro-fighters-battle-dock-for-switch-2-time-to-dig-out-those-old-gamecube-pads