Smash Box on PC

The Smash Box is an incredible alternative to a keyboard or fight stick on PC. Not only can it be used for a variety of genres like platformers and unique games like Rocket League, but the Smash Box is a fantastic controller for fighting games. This post will act as a guide to set up your Smash Box for PC and take advantage of its strengths.

Ensure you go through each section thoroughly and step-by-step.

1. Adapter Compatibility

The first thing to do is to ensure you are using a GameCube adapter that is compatible with a Smash Box.

Below is a list of adapters that are compatible with the Smash Box (other adapters may not work). For full details on the adapters that are compatible with the Smash Box, please read through our Smash Box Compatibility guide.

Once you determine what adapter you are using, follow the instructions below to get your Smash Box and adapter working on PC.

Lossless Adapter (by Input Integrity)

The recommended adapter for Smash Box!

Plug-n-play solution for nearly all PC gaming needs on Smash Box.

Purchase here: https://www.input-integrity.com/product-page/adaptateur-sans-perte
For more details on functionality and usage, join Input Integrity's Discord: https://discord.gg/s3PmWNAUbZ

Official Nintendo Adapter

Only Switch/WiiU Mode
Compatible with:

Dolphin (Section 7)
Some Steam games (Section 2)

4-port Mayflash Adapter [warning]

Functionality
- Plug in both USB cables to use with Smash Box
- Must be on firmware version 5 (Section 5)
Switch/WiiU Mode
- Requires Zadig driver (Section 4)
- PC Mode

Hit Box GC Adapter [discontinued]

Switch/WiiU Mode

Requires Zadig driver (Section 4)
Compatible with:

Dolphin (Section 7)
Some Steam games (Section 2)

PC Mode

Compatible with:

Some Steam games (Section 3)

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2. Switch/WiiU Mode Compatibility

Compatible Adapter plug-n-play:

Lossless Adapter

Compatible Adapters that require Zadig driver (Section 4):

Official Nintendo Adapter
4-port Mayflash Adapter
Hit Box Adapter

Compatible platforms and games in Switch/Wii mode:

Dolphin

For Dolphin setup, please refer to Section 7.

Steam

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
Rushdown Revolt
Slap City
Slayers For Hire

For compatibility with more games:

Refer to Section 3 (directly below) if the adapter has a PC Mode.
Refer to the Delfinovin input wrapper in Section 9 if you have an Official Nintendo Adapter.

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3. PC Mode Compatibility on Steam

4-port Mayflash and Hit Box adapter are compatible

Official Nintendo Adapter does not have a PC mode - please use the Delfinovin input wrapper in Section 9 for improved compatibility with Steam.

List of Steam fighting games that are compatible with "PC mode":

Fantasy Strike
GG Xrd REV
GG XX ACCENT
KOF '97
KOF '98
Mortal Kombat 11
Power Rangers BFTG
Rivals Of Aether
SAMSHO V
Skullgirls
Tekken 7
Thems Fightin' Herds
Ultimate Marvel V. Capcom 3
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Under Night In-Birth EXE:L[cl-r]

If you wish to use your Smash Box for a game not included on this list, please refer to Section 9 for improved compatibility.

Note: The list above is not comprehensive. There may be other games that are compatible with PC Mode. If you find a game that is compatible with PC Mode, please join our Discord and share your findings in the #smash-box channel!

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4. Zadig Driver Installation

For use with Dolphin and specific games that have GameCube controller compatibility.

Zadig is a driver that allows you to use the Nintendo adapter and the other adapters in "Switch/WiiU" mode on the PC.

This driver will allow you to play Dolphin natively and Steam games with GameCube controller compatibility (see Section 2).

Download Zadig (link is directly above)
Plug in your adapter

Set to "Switch/WiiU" mode
No controller plugged in

Open Zadig and select "Options" then select "List All Devices"
Choose "WUP-028" and then "Install Driver"

Caution: Only use the Zadig driver for "WUP" devices. Installing Zadig onto other devices may cause them to malfunction.

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5. Mayflash Firmware Installation

If you have a 4-port Mayflash adapter, you will need to install its driver to ensure that it will work properly with the Smash Box.

Download the driver: Mayflash driver download
Unzip the download
Open "W012 GC Controller Adapter 4 Ports Firmware V.05"
Plug in your Mayflash

Plug in both USB cables
Set to "PC" mode
No controller plugged in

Select "Update Firmware"

If at any point through these instructions you were not able to solve your issue, email us: support@hitboxarcade.com. Please include your name, order number, a link to this post, and a description of where you stopped in the instructions.

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6. Testing with Joy.cpl

Now that you have all of the needed drivers, you can test to make sure your Smash Box and adapter are working on your PC.

Note: This step is only applicable to adapters with a "PC mode" switch. The Nintendo adapter will not work on joy.cpl - please move on to Section 7.

First, open up joy.cpl on your computer. You can search for it in your Windows search bar. (We recommend having joy.cpl as a Desktop shortcut for easy controller troubleshooting)

Next, plug both of the USBs of your adapter into your PC and move the switch on the back of the adapter to "PC."

Four lines of "GameCube Controller Adapter" should appear in the window. These four lines represent the four ports on the adapter.

Once your adapter is showing up in the window, plug your Smash Box into the first/left-most port in the adapter, then double-click on the top controller in joy.cpl.

This is where we will check to see if inputs are being read by the computer.

Note: the port you have to select in joy.cpl - or any other program - may not correspond with the port you have your controller plugged into. Be sure to select every port to ensure you are able to test your controller.

Press the buttons on your controller to see if they are being read by the program.

If your Smash Box is not being read by joy.cpl, here are troubleshooting steps to try (in order):

Unplug and plug your Smash Box back in
Select another port to test in joy.cpl
Plug your Smash Box into another adapter port
Plug the adapter into another USB port on your PC
Unplug other devices that send inputs to your computer, then plug in your adapter and Smash Box (plug in your other devices after confirming that Smash Box is working or not working)
Restart your PC and try the above again
Test that your Smash Box sends inputs on a GameCube or Wii

If your Smash Box works on this step, then the issue is either PC or adapter related

If your Smash Box still is not being registered, please contact us: support@hitboxarcade.com

Once you have confirmed that your controller is working and interacting with your PC, then it can be used on gaming programs on your PC.

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7. Dolphin Setup

Dolphin is a popular GameCube and Wii emulator on PC, and the most used gaming program on PC among Smash Box users!

Ensure you have Zadig installed before continuing (in Section 6).

For more instructions regarding Slippi specifically, please use our other blog: Smash Box and Slippi Netplay.

Plug in your adapter, and set it to "Switch/WiiU" mode (the Nintendo adapter does not need to do this).

Open Dolphin and select the "Controllers" option.

Within that menu, choose the port that corresponds to what your Smash Box is plugged into, then click on the drop down menu to select "GameCube Adapter for WiiU" (or something similar). Dolphin will read the Smash Box natively from here, so all of your mapping and buttons should be set up and ready to go.

Once you have set up your controller configuration in Dolphin, you are ready to play your favorite emulated games!

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8. Steam Setup

First, ensure that you are attempting to play a game that is compatible with your adapter - refer to Section 2 and Section 3.

Second, if the game you are trying to play is compatible with "Switch/Wii" mode, you will not have to go through this section.

Once you are ready to setup your Smash Box for Steam, set your adapter to "PC mode." This should be a switch on the back of your adapter.

Open up the Steam program.

Go to the "Steam" menu at the top left of the window, and go to "Settings." Then go to "Controller" and then "General Controller Settings."

Once you have that open, you should see the adapter being read at the bottom of the settings options.

Turn off all of the "Configuration Support" options to help ensure Steam's compatibility system does not interfere with the adapter.

To map your buttons you will have to select the opposite adapter port that you selected in joy.cpl.

(If your Smash Box is in port 1, select the bottom port in Steam; if your Smash Box is in port 4, select the top port in Steam.)

From here you can map all of the buttons in Steam. Once you are finished, select "Save" at the bottom of the window.

Now you should be able to play games on Steam!

If you are still having issues with Steam, please read through our troubleshoot blog post: Controller Troubleshoot on Steam. Or, continue to the Section 7 section below.

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9. Improved Compatibility

To ensure you can play on as many games as possible, you may want to use an input wrapper to improve compatibility on your PC.

Below are the most used input wrappers among Smash Box users. For the most part, the input wrapper you use will depend on the adapter you have. Please read the details below thoroughly before starting the process.

Delfinovin: Emulates an Xbox 360 controller

If you have an Official Nintendo Adapter, use this input wrapper.
We recommend using this input wrapper for platform fighting games.
Delfiniovin for Smash Box guide: https://www.hitboxarcade.com/blogs/smash-box/delfinovin-for-smash-box

X360CE: Emulates an Xbox 360 controller with mapping options.

We recommend using this input wrapper for all other games.
X360CE for Smash Box guide: https://www.hitboxarcade.com/blogs/smash-box/x360ce-for-smash-box

AntiMicro: "Graphical program used to map keyboard buttons and mouse controls to a gamepad. Useful for playing games with no gamepad support."

https://github.com/AntiMicro/antimicro
Try this if you plan on playing games other than fighting games, or if X360CE did not work for you.
Note: If the game you are trying to play does have any gamepad/controller support, using Antimicro will send multiple inputs to the game.

To mitigate this issue, you can use HidHide: https://github.com/ViGEm/HidHide

Joy2Key: "Enables PC game controllers to emulate the keyboard and mouse input, so that windows applications and web games can be controlled with your favorite joysticks!"

https://joytokey.net/en/
Try this if you plan on playing games other than fighting games, or if X360CE did not work for you.

DHC: "A DirectInput/XInput wrapper DLL that implements controller hotplugging for games that don't do so themselves. It pretends that there are always a fixed number of PS4 controllers plugged in at once, and maps the inputs of real controllers onto the virtual controllers as they are plugged in."

https://github.com/jmgao/dhc

Select the "Code" drop-down menu, and then choose "Download ZIP" to download.

This input wrapper is designed to work for specific fighting games only. Determine if the game you are trying to play is on its compatibility list: https://github.com/jmgao/dhc/wiki/Compatibility

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Note: If you have a Gen2 Smash Box (received between December 2018 and July 2020) you will not need an adapter. You can follow the most of the instructions above, but can also use our other post: Gamepad Mode on Smash Box.

Tags: Features PC Smash Box Support