For the longest time, I had thought that the default controls for controller was jump being mapped to R, and spin being mapped to L. When I revisited the tutorial and Amy was mentioning the face buttons instead, I realized this may not have been SRB2's actual default, but instead, heyjoeway's Switch port's default, as that had been the majority of my experience, and I simply carried over it's configuration to PC and Android. Now I see why the Automatic playstyle is the way it is, if the face buttons were intended to be used for actions.
If this really wasn't the default, I don't know if this is a common setup, or niche, but controlling more like a first-person shooter is not just neat 'cause SRB2 was made from Doom, it's genuinely become my favorite way to control a platformer period. By setting the actions to the shoulder buttons, this frees your right thumb to control the camera 100% of the time, which is perfect for Strafe/Manual playstyle, so I never felt the need to go Automatic. I also found I was able to react faster, but it may depend on the controller and player on where your fingers rest in proximity to the buttons. With uninterrupted camera control, and actions like thok always facing the camera direction rather than the character direction, you always have full view and focus wherever you want, no blind leaps of faith and less accidents.
I highly, highly recommend playing this way, and hopefully encourage this to be the default in the future if it wasn't already.
If this really wasn't the default, I don't know if this is a common setup, or niche, but controlling more like a first-person shooter is not just neat 'cause SRB2 was made from Doom, it's genuinely become my favorite way to control a platformer period. By setting the actions to the shoulder buttons, this frees your right thumb to control the camera 100% of the time, which is perfect for Strafe/Manual playstyle, so I never felt the need to go Automatic. I also found I was able to react faster, but it may depend on the controller and player on where your fingers rest in proximity to the buttons. With uninterrupted camera control, and actions like thok always facing the camera direction rather than the character direction, you always have full view and focus wherever you want, no blind leaps of faith and less accidents.
I highly, highly recommend playing this way, and hopefully encourage this to be the default in the future if it wasn't already.