I bought my Turbo setup several years after I had everything emulated on the Wii. And I actually really like the Wii classic controller. Rondo of Blood plays like a dream on the Wii. But I still wanted original hardware, because to me there's something about playing on the original hardware. It's like this was what the developers intended, even though I know it would be more accurate to say this is all the developers had to work with.
In other news, the Gamecube D-pad is indeed awful, because it's about half the size it should be. I used to use a PS2-to-GC controller cable, but there was a little bit of input lag so it really wasn't much better. That Hori GB Player controller looks amazing though. I'm sure I'll end up hunting one down, because I won't have the good judgment not to.