When I was making my predictions for the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, I made a point to say that we wouldn’t see a left-field invention like Arms. I expected that Nintendo would instead use games like Mario Kart World to show off its mouse controllers rather than making a new IP that stood in as a tech demo. That was the one prediction I got very wrong, as Nintendo revealed Drag X Drive early in the showcase. The new sports game is explicitly designed to show off what its new Joy-cons can do with their mouse capabilities and gyroscope integration.
Will that be enough to do what Arms never could and create a whole new series for Nintendo? Based on my demo time with it, I don’t think so. Drag X Drive, in some ways, does feel like this console generation’s Arms, acting as a neat tech showpiece that’s bound to have a short lifespan. That’s completely fine, though, as it’s a great proof of concept for what the Nintendo Switch 2 “mouse-cons” can do that no other controller, or even a normal mouse, can. Its success won’t be measured by how many people are still playing it in a year, but by how many developers it inspires in that time.
Learning the court
Drag and Drive is Nintendo’s version of three-on-three basketball, but the twist is that players are in wheelchairs. It would be my first test of the mouse functionality in Nintendo’s new Joy-cons, as the entire premise of the game is built around them. I sat down at a demo station with a table attached and threw the wrist straps on. I was ready to struggle with the new control scheme, and I did initially. I was plopped into a misleading tutorial at first that was designed to teach me the basics of movement.
Each of my Joy-cons controlled a different one of my wheels. To move forward, I’d have to push both Joy-cons across the table simultaneously. When I wanted to turn, I’d have to gently hook one of my Joy-cons accordingly. I simply couldn’t get a feel for it at first. The controllers felt responsive and all, but I just had trouble juggling two controllers at once. Turning and then moving forward in a straight line just felt difficult and it soured my hopes for the tech immediately.
Thankfully, Drag X Drive isn’t a racing game, so the initial tutorial that had me sailing down a winding path was kind of irrelevant. Everything made much more sense when I was dropped into a small arena built for six players. I only had to move in short spurts here in order to dash into the ball to grab it, or to smash into an opponent head-on to knock the ball out of their hand. Those more deliberate movements meant that I could focus more on positioning. The key to victory would be to push myself where I wanted to be, carefully turn, and aim myself where I want to go next. It almost felt like human air hockey in practice.
I took to the controls much more in the context of an actual game. Within seconds, I was grabbing the ball, zooming in front of the net, and taking my shots. One fun detail here is that Drag X Drive uses the Joy-con gyroscopes in tandem with the mouse functionality. To shoot, I could lift my right hand off the table and do a layup motion to release the ball. I could place it back down on the table just as quickly and start moving again. It may sound small, but it’s an impressive feat that Nintendo has found a way to mix and match multiple ideas at the same time rather than treating them as separate control schemes.
The actual round I played was legitimately fun. My two teammates and I naturally coordinated with one another, passing the ball around by pressing down L and R. I eventually learned how to effectively play defense by smashing into an opponent as they sped towards my teammate. It’s more physical than your average basketball game, both in how the wheelchairs can clash and in the actual movements I need to put in. It’s a legitimate workout, something that bodes well for developers looking to make the next Ring Fit Adventure. Imagine used the mice to determine how far someone is stretching their arms out in a yoga pose.
Is Drag and Drive bound to be the next great esports game? Absolutely not. In reality, it feels like a Nintendo Switch Sports minigame spun out as its own thing more than the next Rocket League. Unless there are more courts with gimmicks or extra game modes that Nintendo hasn’t revealed yet, I can’t imagine that it’ll get much playtime once more games start hitting the console. It’ll be a fun time while the Switch 2 is still building its library of multiplayer games, but Mario Kart World and Super Mario Party Jamboree’s expanded edition will fill that gap quickly.
But I don’t really think it has to be a long-tailed game. It almost feels more aimed at developers, showing them the kinds of games they could dream up with new control options. In that sense, it already feels more effective than Arms, which didn’t make a great case for gyroscope-controlled fighting games. This, on the other hand, does invent something fresh and fun that is sure to get the wheels turning in someone’s head. I had a blast trying it out, and even if I don’t play too much more when it launches, I’ll be excited to see where that starting point leads.
Drag X Drive launches this summer for Nintendo Switch 2.