The Quickshot II, one of the most popular controllers of all time, is making a return
The joystick was used by many Spectrum, C64 and Amiga players, among others
One of the most iconic game controllers is making a modern day comeback.
The Quickshot II, which was extremely popular among computer game players in the 1980s and 1990s, is being re-released by Retro Games Ltd.
In recent years the company has released modern recreations of the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amiga 500 and Atari 400 home computers, as well as various controllers and gamepads.
Now it’s bringing back the Quickshot II, the joystick that many Commodore 64 and Commodore Amiga players swore by, and which was also popular among ZX Spectrum, Atari ST and Amstrad CPC users.
Like the original version, the new Quickshot II features two prominent red fire buttons on the joystick, but it now adds six extra function buttons on the base, for games which require more than two buttons.
The joystick’s popular auto-fire feature has also been retained, as has its suction cups which allow the joystick to be attached to a flat surface.
All the movement and fire buttons feature use microswitches, for improved accuracy and responsiveness, and the cable is longer than the original (it’s now 1.8m) to ensure players can sit far back enough to use it on modern, larger televisions.
While the original Quickshot II featured a DE-9 connector – the 9-pin port that was used on various home computers and the Mega Drive – the new version has a USB connection instead.
This enables it to be used on any of Retro Games Ltd’s previously released systems, as well as a variety of other devices which support USB controllers (such as Raspberry Pi emulation setups).
Next year Retro Games Ltd will be releasing The A1200, a full-size replica of the Amiga 1200 home computer with a fully working keyboard, 25 pre-installed games and USB support for loading ROMs.
