The shoulder buttons, analog and Z, have nothing to do with the GameCube controller. This controller feels much worse in the hand than the GameCube controller. The Y button protrudes heavily from the controller, as do the Z buttons. The buttons on the shoulders feel smaller and everything feels cramped. The buttons on the front of the controller feel nice when pressed. Analog sticks feel good. The D-Pad seems a little imprecise, but that might be okay. The feel of this controller just doesn't feel like a GameCube controller. I've spent a lot of time looking at the reviews of this controller and everyone said it looked legit, so I was surprised when I got my hands on it. I'll see how it goes with Smash.