You may have seen this on the store shelf and wondered "why would I ever need that with my awesome WiiMote?" or "Way to try and sucker people into buying a 'normal' looking controller, Nintendo!" Either way, you probably did not know what in the world you would use the Classic Controller for - well have no fear! I will go through everything below!

What Is The Wii Classic Controller?
The Classic Controller is an add-on that plugs into the back of the WiiMote (in the space where the Nunchuk plugs in), and can be used as a standard controller (if that's what you prefer to use). It is compatible with most games, as well as all of the Virtual Console games that are available to download, and looks like the classic SNES controller with a two growths (read: analog sticks).

How Does It Look And Feel?
The controller looks like the classic SNES controller - D-Pad on the left, four buttons on the right, L and R buttons up top - and has two analog sticks towards the middle (basically the same way the PlayStation controllers are set up). It feels very light and like it would not be very durable, but this is how the original SNES controllers felt to me too. I'm not sure if they were going for the classic feeling, but since technology has improved, I'm not impressed. The buttons are very responsive, and the analog sticks are easy to use too.

So Why Get A Classic Controller?
There are a couple of reasons why you would get a classic controller. First, you don't like the WiiMote (but why would you even have a Wii then??) and feel like you can get better control in some games using a Classic Controller. Second, you really like old-school games and have been downloading them nonstop on VC. Or third, you just want to try something different. As you can probably tell, I'm struggling to come up with a reason to buy the Classic Controller, which you may understand better in the Alternatives section below...

Alternatives To The Classic Controller
Really the only legitimate reason to buy the Classic Controller from the above section is that you use it to play VC games. You do have other options, though! For example, you can use the WiiMote horizontally - so if you are playing a classic NES game and only need the D-Pad and two buttons on the right, you're good to go (D-Pad on the WiiMote held in your left hand, the 1 and 2 buttons being used with your right). But then you start to get into the more advanced games - SNES, N64, GameCube (just because you have GameCube games that you can play directly - I'm not sure if any of them are available via VC) - so what do you do then? You need more than a sideways WiiMote for those games! For the same price that you can pick up the Classic Controller, you can find GameCube controllers (you can even find them cheaper in some instances), and the GameCube controller works with all of the VC games and, more importantly, is necessary for any GameCube games that you want to play on your Wii. So the best alternative to the Classic Controller is the GameCube controller.

Is The Classic Controller Necessary?
This is the question that you should really ask yourself before you buy anything - especially if it's just an add-on. If the Alternatives section didn't give it away, I do not think that the Classic Controller is a necessary investment for you to enjoy VC games on your Wii, just buy a GameCube controller if you don't already have one!