News and Updates

Article Date: 29.08.2025

RATED - "Drag x Drive"


Realistically, Drag x Drive should be the type of game I should be ecstatic to write about. However, I think people generally understood everything they needed to know about the game from trailers and pre-release footage, and so there's no truly enlightening information I can present to you after having played through the game. Still, I did have a fairly good time with the game, so let's talk about what worked and what didn't.



Let's talk about the core of Drag x Drive, the multiplayer 3v3 mode. It's great! It's basketball but with less rules, what's not to love? There are three types of character to play as, one with balanced stats, one that's fast but easy knocked around and one that's slow but difficult to displace. I ended up gravitating towards the fragile speedster, since I found that a lot of matches could be decided by whoever gets the ball at the start of the match. Goals score 2 points by default, or score 3 points from extra far, and you can score additional 0.1, 0.2 or 0.3 points by performing tricks before scoring. These additional decimal points can really help you edge a win in a close game, so it really pays to find opportunities to be stylish in your shots.



So aside from the main multiplayer mode which the game, by default, tries to throw you into as soon as the game is started, there's really not much to Drag x Drive that you wouldn't have seen in pre-release footage. While waiting for games to start, you have an opportunity to race around the hub area which is composed mainly of two stadiums where the 3v3 multiplayer games take place, but there are also various obstacle courses, time trials and minigames found on the outer area of the hub. If you're looking for actual game objectives, these are going to be the main meat of the game for you. There are 25 trophies for you to collect, which unlock a few customisation options and ultimately the credits. 9 of these trophies are gotten by beating the 9 levels of AI in the Bot Match mode, and the 16 others are from the previously mentioned obstacle courses, time trials, etc. A lot of these objectives are surprisingly reasonable but the harder ones will really test your skills with the unique control scheme and you'll be racing around to shave milliseconds off of your previous records.

About those controls, the game uses a mix of mouse controls and motion controls. The mouse controls are used to mimic how you would actually control a wheelchair. Glide the controllers forward, lift slightly and place the controllers further back on the surface, rinse and repeat, like a real wheelchair. Even if you've never had to use a wheelchair, these controls come very naturally and you'll soon find yourself zooming around the map in no time, a fun experience thanks to the game's great sense of speed. The motion controls are used to throw your hands in the air, either to shoot hoops, wave at people, high-five teammates or to perform tricks. The controllers detect when they have been lifted far enough from a surface to transition from mouse controls to motion controls, however, I found this detection to be incredible finnicky at times. Not so much in multiplayer games, I guess because I was taking a lot more care in how I was moving around the arena. However, in time trials where you're desperately trying to move as quickly as possible and take sharp turns with perfect accuracy, it's very frustrating when you're executing some of it perfectly, just to have your character start randomly waving his hands in the air even though you still have both controllers firmly placed against a surface. This never felt like I was controlling the game wrong, more that the motion detection was simply failing me at the worst of times. And after enough squandered attempts at a challenge, the shabby controls would make me stop playing the game to focus on something else. Which is sad because when the controls work, the game is absolute bliss to control.


I spoke about gaining extra points earlier by choosing to be stylish and performing tricks before shooting hoops. Despite how the game looks on the surface, with its rather dull, faceless characters, the game does have a fair amount of style to it. The hub area is a dream arena for extreme sports fans, with half-pipes, ramps and obstacle courses littered all over the place, accented with neon signs and a night-time skyline that can be seen from the windows. The 4K visuals allow for a lot of neat visual details, my favourite of which being the subtle scuff-marks present under the middle of the jump rope. The soundtrack contains the type of punchy, courtside hip-hop music you'd want from a game inspired by urban sports. No particular standout tracks, but the music was pleasant enough.


I appreciate that Nintendo priced this at £16 as it's clearly a much smaller-scope game, but even still, it took me just over 4 hours to master all the singleplayer content AND play a good amount of multiplayer games while trying to get three park rings for a cosmetic. Considering that I did almost everything in the game aside from the "brutal AI bot" mode, it doesn't quite feel like I got my money's worth here. Maybe this would have been a better pack-in game contender than Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. If it had been packed-in, it would have good for the sake of keeping the multiplayer modes fuller for longer. Alas.


Verdict:


+ The gameplay is fast, frantic and highly replayable

+ The singleplayer content is appreciated in a game that's obviously more geared towards multiplayer

+ The visuals and the soundtrack are good for a lower budget game

- The controls make or break enjoyment of the game and will leave you enraged when they fail you

- Unique content is exhausted within five hours, so there's little to do if you're not interested in improving your multiplayer skills


62/100


A promising smaller project from Nintendo, but it feels like the controller technology isn't precise as the developers would have liked it to be. That and the relatively tiny amount of things to do outside of the main game leave me slightly disappointed and wanting more.