Drag X Drive Review – a little resistance

Drag X Drive is in an interesting moment in the Nintendo Switch 2 release lineup. Instead of many first-party distributions that may cover each other, they will be released once a month, once a month. First, we have the Mario Kart world – Anongside Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome to tour, kind of Count – by Donkey Kong Bananza and now, drag the X drive. Unconventional sports games are unique in the lineup because they are not centered on known franchises. Instead, its hook is almost the focus of multiplayer games and is also a new control solution based on the system's mouse functions. But while this is a neat showcase of how Two-Rat Control creates a new gaming experience, in fact, it’s mostly uncomfortable to play physically and barely to keep your interest.

Drag X Drive is in the footsteps of games like Rocket League, blending various influences to create something new. In this case, its closest analog is wheelchair basketball, a Paralympic sport that allows athletes with disabilities to make some modifications. However, by doing it inside the skateboard bowl, this brings some slight changes to the foundation, allowing players to accumulate speed and do trick shots to win the scoring bonus. It's a neat concept that pays homage to the athletic ability of real things while giving it a wild difference. The hub area even has the look and feel of a basketball skate park, and the court lives with ramps and stunt areas.

The real hook is its control scheme. Other games can be easily used Switch 2 mouse controlsDrag X drive is completely centered on it. You can detach the Joy-Con controllers, then turn them to the side, and slide them forward approximately to pushing the wheels of the wheelchair. Going at a pace for a while to get you to the top speed is what allows you to get rid of the ramps and do the tricks, or just rush to another player to steal the ball. You raise your hand, flick your wrist and throw the ball into the basket, the player who sticks out from the side or back for a moment can throw away their attempted shot. Pressing the shoulder button acts as your brakes, and the HD Rumble feature allows you to feel the tire's tread as you roll. In theory, you can even pull the development clip turn by using one wheel to brake or slide the hairpin in the opposite direction while pushing the other direction. And, because the controller maps it to your hands, in the hall you are free to control the waves or five waves.

However, in fact, the Whizbang concept is blocked by its control. I've tried all kinds of surfaces, from tables to my knee tables to my pants, and I've found the controls stubbornly inconsistent. It performs basic functions well to show the concept, but when the game starts testing your skills, it encounters limitations of its precision. A handful of single-player mini games in the hub area allow you to pass through a narrow checkpoint or stunts in the bowl, and aiming the vehicle can be frustrating very quickly. The back view in a basketball game means you don’t always have a clear understanding of the ball’s position, relying on the metrics to point you know who owns and where. Meanwhile, if you're just heading in the right direction, you can shoot automatically that seems very generous, which will sink, too, but it also means you don't understand the reasons for the occasional disappearance. Since theft relies on crashing into other players, but only from the front line, playing on a relatively small field in 3V3 games will lead to a lot of awkward players.

Even if the controls do work, you can constantly push the Joy-Con mouse for every small action. Having to physically exercise and shooting is a quick way, a fast way to wear out, which illustrates the impressive physical abilities of the actual athlete, but does not bring a very fun or relaxing experience at home. I found myself wishing for a standard gamepad option, but I also knew that this would hurt the focus of the game and put players into very unbalanced areas. But even just being everywhere in the lobby can be a tedious thing, as you have to bring yourself to the wheels for different options and game modes. I took a few short classes and ended up with my arms taking a break, so it really wasn't suitable for a sustained, long session.

To a certain extent, the clever control scheme makes it a neat display of the Switch 2 mouse controls, which works. The lobby where you line up for the competition is scattered with mini games, as well as props like automatic rope skipping to practice rabbit hops or steep hills that you can actually climb up if you push yourself hard. But even then there are strange limitations. There is a place where bowling is scattered, obviously to get you down, but even in a solo single hall, it won't let you take the basketball out of the court and throw it on the pin. Why? It seems to be just arbitrary and can make the X drive avoid making your own fun.

Dragging the X drive is not very visible, which doesn't help. Thanks to Nintendo's art-style trick, the Switch 2 has been used to achieve impressive graphics feats. It's not the most powerful system, but Nintendo can make the game look great and stylized. The Drag X Drive has some very lightweight style elements – essentially a clean, nearly close-up extreme sport aesthetic, with exaggerated arms and hands on the player of your robot look – but their push isn’t enough to make it look different. It looks clean and renders well, but is sterile and unpleasant at the same time.

You can customize player characters with a few options, including selecting a number, body type (defender, forward or center), and customizing helmet, armor, frame, and tires. In most cases, this boils down to choosing color and texture styles, so the helmet is actually where most customizations are. You can unlock up to 12 totals for a total of 12 by winning trophys in mini games and robot competitions. For now, this seems to be the case.

When you enter the multiplayer lobby, the game will be quick and then moved with clips. Usually, you usually line up for a 3V3 basketball game – or occasionally 2V2 – for a single game lasts only a few minutes. Finally, you'll see some awards, such as “Pro Passer” or “Cheer Champ”, awarded to different styles of competition, but the honors are short-lived. They don't seem to have any permanent progress. Some of these may correspond to the trophys used for custom unlocking, but finding a list of trophys (even the icons, can tell that there is a trivial 25 in the game – but not clearly marked. Aside from that, there doesn't seem to be any meta-process or customization, so there's little to attract me. Between the two matches, the hall may automatically line you up into a quick mini game, like a race to catch a rebounding shot, which bounces through the entire hall gliding park, which is enough to add some variety.

In a moment of multiplayer game, the short burst is fun. I'm not a ballerina and in a virtual wheelchair, so my skills are limited, but I'm mostly able to hold my skills and occasionally shoot them. This element is probably the smartest thing Drag X Drive can achieve, as Trick Shots rewards a small score bonus. While your shooting percentage is a normal two to three-pointer, playing at a booming pace increases the progress of the decimals – for example, it's worth 2.1. If one side is just hitting more shots, the decimal point isn't enough to change the end result of the game, but for tight matches it can make the last few seconds exciting and encourage players to try more risky, cooler shots.

However, the focus of Drag X Drive is recently: Playback is not very interesting because of control substitution, inaccurate or both. Even a shot that brings out a skill that makes the game’s personality and nuances needs to reach maximum speed, which means navigating picky, tiring controls and avoiding crashing into other players. This is a great game to show conceptually what the Switch 2 can do, but for why you actually want to do it for a long time.