There’s always at least one odd-ball game that Nintendo releases around the start of a new console generation, looking to take advantage of new controllers and inputs. For the Nintendo Switch 2, it’s Drag x Drive, and while it’s not filled with the same kind of ostentatious characters and flamboyant style, its all-new control scheme could make it the Switch 2’s ARMS.
Now obviously they’re two very different games – ARMS was a third-person fighting game, while Drag x Drive is a gritty-looking take on wheelchair basketball – but they are both games that take the fact that you can very easily have two Joy-Con in hand, and then use motion controls and other sensors for inputs. They’re also a real physical workout for your upper body!
Drag x Drive is all about mouse mode, using the Joy-Con 2’s optical sensors in tandem with gyroscopes and accelerometers to track the physical motions needed to propel your character around the court, and shoot the ball for a score.
The simplicity of the inputs disguises just how difficult this can be to get your head around manoeuvring a wheelchair. Placing the two Joy-Con edge-side down on the table to engage mouse mode – your trouser legs can probably do almost as well – you can propel yourself directly ahead by pushing both controllers forward. Push fast enough and you’ll hit maximum speed with little lights gleaming at the back of your chair. When you need to come to a halt, you engage the brakes with both triggers.
Straight lines are easy, but turning needs a bit of thought, as you push the left wheel forward (and the right wheel backwards) to turn to the right. Getting used to this is a bit like trying to figure out if you need to invert or un-invert your axis, or paddling a boat down stream by paddling on either side. Except, of course, here there’s a lot more pressure to spin yourself around, race up and down the court, and play B-ball!
Once you’ve run through the tutorial, Drag x Drive is all about 3v3 matches, passing the oversized ball back and forth between you and dodging past your opponents to get a shot at the hoop. This is as simple as lifting a hand and flicking the ball to try and score, or as complicated as racing up the quarter-pipe ramp at the end of the court to let you pull an audacious spinning slam dunk – something I couldn’t get the hang of in my limited time with the game. Pull off a cool dunk and you’ll get a couple bonus decimal points to your score, which can be the difference between winning and losing.
In defence, positioning and tracking back will be key – thankfully there’s always an on-screen indicator for where the ball is, while the camera remains fixed behind you – and the key defensive move is to ram into the ball-carrier and knock the ball free.
There’s all the regular rules of basketball at play here, so there’s 2 points awarded for a shot inside the half circle, and 3 points from outside, and there’s a shot clock as well, so you can’t keep hold of the ball for too long. Once it times out, the ball will just ping from your lap and give the other team a chance to grab it.
The two issues that I feel Drag x Drive will face are that initial accessibility for new players. Motion controls are all well and good, but it’s just not as intuitive or gratifyingly snappy as Rocket League, and the skill level between a good and a not-so-good player in simply getting around the court will likely be easy to see.
Secondly, it’s all just a bit… drab. There’s some neon lights around the hoop’s backboard, and the scoreboard is built into the ramps on the end of the court in an attractive way, but everything’s just very, very grey. The court is grey, your wheelchair is grey, your character is wearing grey clothes and a grey helmet. Hopefully this is just down to the demo, because this game deserves and needs to have so much more character. There should be an arena set right in the middle of Rio de Janiero, a futuristic London or on Mars, your avatars should have an over-the-top hairdo and brightly coloured sports vests, and you should be able to race around to celebrate much more than just waving your arms around in real life.
Again, I hope we’re just seeing a tiny snippet of what this game can offer. With a bit more flair to the visuals, multiple modes, and just more built around this core concept, this could – could – be a niche hit, just like ARMS was.
Also, can we maybe get ARMS 2, Nintendo?
