A ho-hum b-ball game that isn’t as fun as its concept<\/b>
\nFrom Wii Sports to Arms, Nintendo has a long history of releasing offbeat sports games to spotlight new console features. Drag x Drive ($19.99) is an arcade take on wheelchair basketball that leverages the Switch 2’s innovative dual-mouse controls. It’s a fascinating idea with a deceptively high skill ceiling thanks to a neat trick system. But a successful experiment doesn’t always equal fun gameplay. On top of that, the game’s lackluster presentation and annoying limitations make Drag x Drive feel more like a fleeting tech demo than your next multiplayer obsession.Mouse-Based Controls: The Only Way to Play
Drag x Drive is a 3v3, Rocket League-esque sports game. Whereas Rocket League is about cars playing soccer, Drag x Drive is a riff on the real sport of wheelchair basketball. You still pass, shoot, and shove opponents like in traditional basketball. However, you move around the court by using your hands to spin your wheels in the proper direction. You do this by physically dragging both Joy-Con mice independently across a flat surface. Motion controls are a must; you can’t play Drag x Drive in typical controller fashion.
How much you enjoy Drag x Drive will come down to how much you enjoy this design decision. Developers have tapped single mouse controls for decades (especially in the shooter and strategy genres), but using two mice to simulate wheelchair controls is genuinely inspired. And the concept is technically functional. The controls are accurate, allowing you to adjust your speed and turns with satisfyingly analog finesse. The rumble feels great, too. This is the first time I’ve opted to use the Joy-Con mice on my lap, since the game doesn\u2019t require pointer precision. I ended up staining my controllers with denim colors during especially heated matches.
Unfortunately, the constant dragging requires too much effort for the basic and uninteresting action of simply moving from one place to the next. I’d prefer a dedicated acceleration button and to use the mouse controls for other actions; it would cut back on much of the tedium. A game like Nintendo Switch Sports understands that motion controls shine when you use them to act out dramatic and exciting moments, like swinging your tennis racket or golf club. Similarly, I loved getting nothing but net when shooting the ball with Drag x Drive’s motion controls. But the boring, laborious movement mechanics sully the experience.Matches, Mini-Games, and Mastering Tricks
Drag x Drive’s controls are the game’s biggest hurdle. If you can get past that, you’ll find a decent sports title given its budget price. Want to play with other people? You must join public or private online parks, as there’s no local versus play with humans. For something that approaches the local multiplayer experience with friends, fire up GameChat and turn on your webcam. However, you can play against bots offline with various difficulty levels.
The parks also invite you to play various mini-games and compete for high scores. These are shallow diversions that task you with navigating obstacle courses as fast as you can or catching a bouncing ball. That said, they help you grasp the controls. The winners receive championship rings to wear even during actual matches.
Rolling around the parks also helps you better understand the game’s nifty trick system, the source of much of its depth. A normal shot rewards you with two points, but if you roll up the ramp and spin around before dunking, that score increases to 2.1 or 2.2 points. Other tricks include tilting your wheels to the side and bunny hopping off the ground. This is an intriguing way to greatly increase the skill ceiling, even if it is a little half-baked (this isn’t a Tony Hawk title, after all). Also, pulling off these awkward and difficult tricks during a real match rarely seems worth the trouble for such a marginal score boost. Still, simply messing around doing tricks shows that the system has cool potential. Maybe it could be fleshed out into a separate mode.Drab Presentation
A compelling presentation may have distracted me from Drag x Drive’s deeper issues, but the game is surprisingly lifeless for a Nintendo release. It has a vaguely futuristic urban skatepark aesthetic that’s mostly just gray concrete. The music isn’t memorable, either, and there’s no enthusiastic, NBA Jam-style announcer. The most stylish moments are the slow-motion shots for potentially game-winning baskets. Drag x Drive could use more flair.
The playable characters, a group of generic robots, aren’t exactly Super Smash Bros. material in terms of eye-catching design. You can change their colors, and winning matches unlocks new headgear and other cosmetics. The specific baller class you choose, like the quick guard or powerful center, also affects the look of your wheelchair. But compared with the iconic like Mario and Link, or even newer mascots like the Arms crew or Splatoon kids, Drag x Drive’s athletes don’t visually stack up. If this were just a new sport added to Nintendo Switch Sports, you could at least use your Mii, and that would also be an improvement.<\/p>\n