When it comes to retro gaming, there's nothing like using an original first-party controller. But in the maker world there's also nothing like creating a new controller out of something that wasn't supposed to be a controller at all by throwing a Raspberry Pi Pico inside of it which is exactly what maker and developer Dr. Tom Tilley has done with his latest brilliant creation.
Nobody asked him to but that didn't stop him from converting a Paw Patrol toy with steerable handlebars into a working controller for Sega's classic motorcycle racing game. According to Dr. Tom Tilley, the goal was to create a controller that would work with Sega's Super Hang-On. This is a racing game which makes the project ideal for this particular title. We wonder if it will work with Paperboy and Enduro Racer
We know what you're thinking and don't worry—no original Paw Patrol toys were destroyed to make this project. In fact, not only was it recycled from a thrift store for $5 but he also managed to design the controller so that the original functionality can be restored. This way you can go back and forth between playing Super Hang-On and handing the system back to your kid to play with when you're through.
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The main board powering the Paw Patrol Super Hang-On controller is a Raspberry Pi Pico, but the newer Raspberry Pi Pico 2 should also work. The Pico is acting as a USB controller interface to a laptop running an emulator. A hole had to be drilled to deliver power to the Pi inside but that's the only permanent modification to the design. Using another model of Raspberry Pi will work, but we would stick to the Zero form factor as they are cheap, small and plentiful.
Dr. Tom Tilley shared a video to X (formerly Twitter) showing off the Paw Patrol controller in action. In it, we can see the handle bars on the controller move the racer on the screen in real time. So far, this is the only title he has demonstrated with the controller but it could theoretically be used for other similar games.
Previously we've seen kids toys turned into games controllers, and even miniature arcade cabinets. Maker Circuitbeard has converted a Tomy Turnin' Turbo Dashboard to run another Sega classic, Outrun. That also used a Pi, a Raspberry Pi 3B.
If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project in action, you can check it out over at Dr. Tom Tilley's official post shared to X (formerly Twitter).
