Game review: Drag x Drive (Switch 2)
Whenever I watch the Paralympics, one of the more popular sports at the event is 'wheelchair basketball'. As the name suggests, the sport is basically basketball, but every player needs to move using a wheelchair. I have a lot of respect for wheelchair basketball players because the sport looks tiring and exhausting.
Anyway, I don't recall any video game replicating wheelchair basketball in the past, until now. Nintendo has released a new Switch 2 exclusive game called Drag x Drive, and this somewhat replicates the look and feel of wheelchair basketball. Since this is a Nintendo game, there are some creative liberties taken to make the experience more fun.
The main reason Drag x Drive exists is that the game makes use of the Switch 2's new mouse controls. As some of you may know already, the Switch 2 Joy-Cons now have mouse controls built in, and this game uses both controllers.
The blue Joy-Con controls your left hand, and the red Joy-Con controls your right hand. By sliding the mouse controls forward on a flat surface, the character you control will move the wheels on their wheelchair. To simply move left or right, you just move forward with one Joy-Con to turn in a specific direction.
If you have never used the mouse controls on the Switch 2 before, they are responsive and easy to use. You don't even need to have a flat table to use the mouse controls, because they even work on your lap. I was wearing jeans, and they were flat enough to use the mouse controls in Drag x Drive.
Aside from moving around in a wheelchair, the other big thing you need to know is controlling the ball. To pass the ball to a teammate, you can just press the R and L buttons together. The game usually has 3v3 matches, although 2v2 matches are also possible in this game as well.
Lastly, the most important thing to know about Drag x Drive is simply shooting the basketball into the hoop. You can do this by flicking the Joy-Con in a shooting motion, and your character will shoot the ball into the hoop. You will need to align yourself to the hoop first, because your shot will miss the target if you're misaligned.
When you are close to the hoop, your shot will count as two points. If you are really good at shooting, you can try your luck by getting a three-pointer from beyond the arc. The coolest part of Drag x Drive is that players can even slam dunk the ball, too!
The reason you can slam dunk the ball is that the court is surrounded by a skateboard-like halfpipe. By getting enough speed, you can fly into the air to slam dunk the ball. You even get some bonus points when you do tricks in the air.
I have to admit, Drag x Drive has a steep learning curve because the controls take a long time to get used to. I found shooting the ball to be okay, but it took me ages to learn how to slam dunk. Stealing the ball from other players is hard, though, because you need to smash into them, and aligning your wheelchair to hit them is very difficult.
Apart from playing 3v3 or 2v2 matches with other players, there are some mini-games you can participate in while you wait for any available games to play. These can include shooting drills or even time trial races where you have to go through multiple checkpoints. The shooting drills are quite hard because the minimum score to achieve is 20 points!
What I do like about this game is that it does offer some offline modes for players who don't like being online. There are nine difficulty settings you can choose from that allow you to play with and against AI bots. There is even a practice court you can play on in order to improve your skills.
One disappointing thing about Drag x Drive is that the game lacks any colourful or interesting characters. You're just playing as generic robots that are boring to look at. Even all of the basketball courts look the same, too.
Another disappointing thing about Drag x Drive is that there just aren't that many game modes available at launch. Once you have played for a couple of hours, you've pretty much played the whole game.
Sadly, I don't think I can recommend Drag x Drive at its current state. The small amount of content isn't worth it at its current price. The only thing that is admirable about the game is that there are some offline modes available, so it won't be dead if online players aren't available to play with.
Verdict: 6.5/10