For you youngsters out there, this might come as a shock, but game controllers didn’t always come with analog sticks.
Even when games started venturing into the realm of 3D, it would take a little extra time for the dual-analog setup we know to manifest.
One way for 3D games to circumvent this limitation was the implementation of tank controls.
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This simple control style controlled the character relative to their position, moving forward and back or turning left and right with digital button presses.
By today’s standards, tank controls are… clunky, to put it politely.
In spite of that, there are quite a few games that either utilize them or have them as an option, and depending on who you ask, they can change your experience substantially.
10Resident Evil
The Game That Made Tank Controls Scary
Resident Evil
When you’re talking about tank controls, the first game that almost always comes up is the original 1996 Resident Evil.
The game launched on the PlayStation a good year before the original DualShock controller was released, so analog control wasn’t even on the table.
Tank controls were used to navigate the game’s 3D environments, rendered with fixed camera angles.
It wasn’t the most user-friendly way to play a game, but the reduced control efficacy actually did make it scarier.
Subsequent releases and remakes of Resident Evil have added full analog control support, though tank controls always remain an option for those seeking an authentic experience.
9Grim Fandango
On Tim Schaffer’s Insistence
Grim Fandango
In the late 90s, while you could theoretically play PC games with a controller, it wasn’t nearly as intuitive as it is today. As such, 3D games needed more accessible workarounds.
In the case of Grim Fandango, the chosen solution was tank controls.
You couldn’t very well navigate a full 3D environment with thetraditional point-and-clickLucasArts was used to, after all.
In a 2015 interview withEurogamer, director Tim Schaffer said that tank controls were the best option the devs had for preserving the game’s cinematic camera without making the controls awkward.
The 2014 remaster of Grim Fandango has analog controls, though you can also toggle on tank controls in the settings.
There’s even an achievement for playing the whole game this way, which was apparently a demand from Schaffer.
8Tomb Raider
The Game That Made Tank Controls Cool
Tomb Raider
Compared to something a little more claustrophobic like Resident Evil, the original Tomb Raider was a much more high-octane action game, incorporating both 3D platforming and running gunplay.
However, technical limitations of 1996 being what they were, the only real way available to control all this was tank controls.
You would need to press a button manually to draw your weapon, then shoot with the action button while aiming with the D-pad.
The 2024 remaster of Tomb Raider adds full analog stick support along with its graphical touch-ups, but you can switch to classic tank controls if you feel so inclined.
7Silent Hill
Makes It Even Scarier
Silent Hill
The original Silent Hill was released for the PlayStation in 1999. By this point, the DualShock controller was out and about, andquite popular at that.
Even so, it still wasn’t the default configuration, so Silent Hill needed to accommodate players without one. Once again, the solution was tank controls.
In a similar vein to Resident Evil, many old-school fans of the franchise believe the tank controls to be the best choice for really maximizing the unsettling, oppressive atmosphere of the game.
Interestingly, Silent Hill 2 also included tank controls as an option despite being a PS2 game, though apparently, the game’s director, Masashi Tsuboyama,wasn’t a fan.
6Croc: Legend Of The Gobbos
He’s Green Like A Tank
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
The general imprecision of tank controls can feel antithetical to a platformer game, something that generally requires a high degree of finesse to keep yourself from falling down a pit.
Much like Tomb Raider before it, though, 1997’s Croc sought to break into 3D even when we weren’t quite equipped for it.
The tank controls give Croc a very distinctive flavor, requiring you to aim and commit to your jumps in a much more focused way than something like Super Mario 64.
Thankfully, most of the platforming bits are constructed with this in mind.
Theupcoming remaster of Crocis slated to have analog stick support, though you’re able to also keep it tanky with the D-pad if you want to preserve the vibe.
5Mega Man Legends
A Tank With Legs
Mega Man Legends
Mega Man Legends was the very first 3D Mega Man game, a series that was previously an exclusive denizen of 2D.
Unfortunately, it was released only a month after the DualShock, so it wasn’t developed with analog sticks in mind.
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Capcom opted for tank controls for this game, though with a few extra wrinkles to give you a greater degree of mobility.
In addition to the usual front, back, and sides approach, the game also used the shoulder buttons for strafing and dodge-rolling left and right.
There was also a lock-on feature, wherein Mega Man would stand in place and fire continuously at a locked enemy.
Tank Controls? In My Character-Action Game?
Even well into the 2000s, when analog control had become the definitive norm, you still had some games that tried to experiment with older control paradigms.
2006’s God Hand is an unusual attempt to mesh tank controls with the burgeoning character-action genre.
Fun fact, this game wasdirected by Shinji Mikami, who also directed Resident Evil.
Compared to games like Devil May Cry, God Hand’s control scheme definitely takes some practice to wrap your head around.
If you’re able to get into it, though, it’s the kind of game you’ll absolutely never forget.
Tank Controls And Fixed Cameras
Tank controls went dormant starting in the mid-2000s, their purpose in the biz more or less served.
In more recent years, though, they’ve been revived by indie game developers looking to capture the magic of those pre-analog days.
One game to do this was 2021’s Alisa.
In a clear homage to games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill, this game features both tank controls and fixed camera angles.
Interestingly, this gameonlyoffers tank controls, no analog toggle. You wanna do this, you do it all the way, apparently.
Top-Down Tank
2022’s Signalis is another game that displays its retro-horror influences quite clearly, particularly in its puzzle design and map layout.
This also extends to the user interface, including tank controls.
However, unlike those classic horror games, Signalis has a zoomed-out, almost top-down camera perspective.
Controlling a character in this manner is a distinct feeling from the fixed camera days, easier in some ways and harder in others.
It definitely preserves that slightly panicked feeling that comes from having to manually line up your shot.
In the interest of user-friendliness, you can also opt for streamlined analog controls in the game’s settings.
1Crow Country
The Classic Experience
Crow Country
2024’s Crow Country is something of ahappy middle groundbetween the nostalgic gaming vibes of the past and the user-friendly sensibilities of the present.
When you start a new game, you can choose between “Classic” and “Modern” control schemes.
Classic controls are tank controls, controlling your movement with the D-pad, while Modern controls give you full analog movement.
However, no matter which movement scheme you use, Crow Country still incorporates a lot of those classic horror control staples, such as manually raising and aiming your weapon.
It still has that same unsettling vibe; it’s just a bit easier to actually play.
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