It was with some trepidation that I patiently stood in the queue waiting to play Drag x Drive (which is pronounced Drag and Drive). I’m not that into sports, and I was worried about how disorientating the dual mouse controls with the Joy-Con 2 would be. I didn’t expect to come away surprised at just how much I enjoyed the experience.
When the game was revealed in the Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 presentation, my mind flickered back to Metroid Prime: Blast Ball on Nintendo 3DS. Both games challenge you to participate in three-on-three arena-based multiplayer matches, but where one trains you up to be in the Federation Force by blasting power shots at a comically-sized ball with the hope of scoring a goal, the other is wheelchair basketball-inspired.
This is no Wii Sports. Even though it is demonstrating the hardware’s potential, Drag x Drive is more than a tech demo, but the experience won’t be for everyone. The game’s controls are intuitive, as Nintendo has stated, but there is a larger adjustment barrier here than simply swinging a Wii Remote like a tennis racquet or hurling a bowling ball down a lane.
The controls are straightforward enough, though. With the Joy-Con 2 held like a mouse on its side in each hand, you slide both controllers forward (or backwards) to move in such direction. You slide one Joy-Con to turn your vehicle in a specific direction, you can hit the L and R Buttons to pass the ball to your teammates, hit the ZL or ZR Button to brake and sharply turn, and to shoot, you simply raise one hand and flick your wrist. Build your confidence up, and you can soon use the arena’s half-pipe to perform tricks and dunk the ball into the hoop. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves so soon.
Practice tutorials teach you the basics, guiding you through movement, challenging you to speed your way through checkpoints, and pitting you against bots to show that slamming into your opposition is the only way to retrieve the ball from their clutches. Tutorials complete, I was then thrust into a competitive match against the other five players at the surrounding consoles that neighboured mine.
Drag x Drive is something different and new, but this was where the cracks started to show. Under the pressure of a timed demo, some players hadn’t quite grasped the controls and were left stuck trying to turn themselves around in corners of the arena, unable to help our team’s cause. Others like me, fortunately, had picked it up much quicker and were left to race back and forth across the arena, competing to scoop up the ball and take our best shots at the hoop to score points.
Despite the inconsistent playing ability across each team, we still experienced all the competitive highs and lows. Those near-miss shots that bounce back off the hoop’s rim, the ball being stolen by an opposing player as you’re picking up speed to perform a slam dunk, and the pressure felt as the last 30 seconds on the timer ticked down and we needed to score one more goal to regain the lead. Our matches weren’t without their thrills, and I had more than enough fun to want to play more upon release.
Far from the neon ink-soaked battlefields in Splatoon or the Mushroom Kingdom’s primary colour palette, I have to add that Drag x Drive is uninspiring to look at. Dark. Dull. Grey. It’s not packed with the visual flair that we have come to expect from Nintendo, which is a shame. Especially as a brand new IP that’s been positioned to showcase the portable home console successor pre-launch.
There are too many questions that remain about Drag x Drive to deliver a definitive verdict this early on. The dual mouse controls work better than I ever could have expected, but my predominant concern is whether it will be able to find and sustain an audience that actively plays it.
Drag x Drive will be released at retail and digitally on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch 2 worldwide in Summer 2025.
