Getting your hands on Drag x Drive for the first time, the instinct is to make fun of its absurd control scheme. Essentially gliding two mice around to move and pantomiming the act of shooting a basketball to score is admittedly not the primary way any logical person would imagine playing a wheelchair basketball video game. But if you give it a little time and move past those initial skepticisms, what you find is a game that is surprisingly functional and is unique. Ultimately, however, it’s not particularly fun to play even after getting a grasp on the controls, and there isn’t much to do.
Drag x Drive’s strange control scheme is its selling point, and moving the Joy-Con 2 mice along a table in front of you (or your thighs, which ended up being my preferred playstyle) works quite well. Driving both Joy-Con 2s forward to gather speed, hit ramps, or bang into another player to knock the ball out of their hands feels surprisingly good.
The controls also allow for nuance when turning and quickly spinning. Pulling the brake on one wheel to do a quick 180 when your teammates manage to steal the ball and start heading to the opposite end of the court is a fun moment I experienced often. Shooting the ball, which involves approximating the real-world act, also feels good. The Wii left a bad taste for motion controls in many players’ mouths, but the technology has come a long way since then, and Drag x Drive serves as a reminder.
Loitering around the park also does a good job of feeling like you’re hanging around a big set of courts just waiting your turn to jump into a pick-up game, and amounts to what is basically Drag x Drive’s only mode. You can see other games happening in real time while you wait for yours to start, or play nearby minigames while you’re killing time. I am grateful the minigames exist, but it does not take long to experience all they have to offer, like speeding between cones or hitting markers as you stunt off the side of a half-pipe.
Between the primary basketball games, you also occasionally opt into a change of pace game that gathers everyone on the server to pursue one goal, like fighting to grab a rebound or competing in a race. It all makes the lobby area feel active, even in the moments you’re just sitting around waiting.
Playing the actual basketball games is quick and straightforward. I had occasional intense moments of intercepting passes, pulling off last-second three-pointers, and generally enjoyed the basics of the game. However, I never had the desire to dominate or wish I were just a little better for next time. Not much exists in the way of incentive to keep playing. Customization options for your player are limited, and beyond having stats worth looking at, there is little reason to hop into that one more game.
Playing for extended periods also hurts my wrists and thumbs. I haven’t found an entirely comfortable way to grip the controller while still being able to hit the shoulder buttons, and my wrists get sore from the frequent and required back-and-forth movements. This makes me less than eager to start a new game, and more often, I look forward to stopping.
For all those complaints, however, I do admire that Nintendo tried and arguably succeeded at creating something unique that could not really be ported to another platform even if Nintendo wanted to. Nintendo does not automatically get credit for making something different, of course – the game still needs to be fun to play and give you reason to play – but I will always appreciate Drag x Drive for being unlike anything else and working better than I expected.
