Razer Boomslang 20th Anniversary Mouse Review: For the collector

The original Boomslang game came from the era of Xbox’s massive Duke console. We’ve barely gotten past the beloved three-axis N64 abomination. At a time when “ergonomics” was a new idea to be explored rather than a defined concept, this design was much more accepted.

It’s still a gaming mouse in theory, even if the vast majority of them will spend more time on a shelf than on a mousepad, so I need to talk about whether it can play. Shockingly, it’s not that bad. The shape is unusual, yes. Compared to a standard mouse, the Boomslang is low and wide. It feels like it was designed for the elite aura To hold with their two central fingers and the thumb on each side. It feels weird and old, but it’s not bad.

When you get your hands on this mouse, you have to rethink where everything goes. Your thumb curls under the major hump, and your pinky mirrors it on the other side. There is enough space on the two main buttons for three fingers to sit comfortably. If you’re like me, and tend to place your middle finger on the right mouse button, this is very awkward. Instead, your middle finger wants to rest on the mouse wheel. It feels natural after a few minutes, but you’ll need to adapt.

To properly test this mouse, I paired it with some heavy hitters from the past. Hello C, Counter Strike, Earthquake 2and half life. To get any agility, your hand is largely forced into a fingertip grip only, with your thumb and pinky slipping into the notches of the side buttons for added stability. The mouse wheel is set somewhat further back than a standard mouse, so resting your fingertips on the edge of the mouse means your middle finger can’t use the mouse wheel as easily. Instead, with your fingertips positioned directly next to the wheel, your palm remains suspended from the back. I imagine everyone who uses this will have a new appreciation for how far ergonomics has come over the years.

The biggest struggle I had with this mouse was good control. The large head and weight mean this is a little more prone to maintaining momentum than most I’ve tested, wanting to swing like a battle ax when used with precision.

The really weirdest aspect of this mouse from a modern perspective are the side buttons. They sit in what I can best describe as the “armpit” of the mouse, curving under the front section and sitting exactly where you intuitively want your thumb and pinky to be. They both have a weird, wrinkled shape that follows the lines of the mouse halves, and require a fair amount of force to press, which means you won’t accidentally press them during regular use, but it also means they’re easy to forget.