Specifically, emulators work best with the real controller. And feature sets across controllers are not 1:1. Like, a Switch Pro has an accelerometer and is used in Zelda games.
I have a switch pro for switch games.
I have a dualshock ps4 controller for PS/PS2/PS3/PS4/PS5
I have a steam controller as well for non-emulated games with Steam.
PS4 controller also has these features and works out of the box with emulators.