Drag X Drive hands-on preview: What did I just play?

When the Mouse Mode for the new Joy-Con 2 Controllers leaked months ago, many of us started coming up with potential uses. The most obvious were for party games (as it will be the case with Super Mario Party Jamboree, for instance), for strategy games (as it will be the case with Civilization VII), or for first-person shooters (as it will be the case with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond). But Nintendo needed a piece of software to truly showcase an innovative core use for what is the biggest new feature of the Switch 2 when we talk about gaming possibilities, given how everything else is an evolution of what came before.

And I'm not talking about the controversial Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, a non-included title consisting of several different demos, but about a fully-fledged game, which has been built around the very feature, even considering how you can go Mouse Mode with the two Joy-Con 2 at the same time, hands in parallel laying on the table - or on your lap, or on your couch arms, or on your sofa.

Evidently, I'm talking about Drag X Drive, a sports game that was unveiled during the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct and that takes a couple of notes from the books of other hugely successful sport titles such as Rocket League and Nintendo Switch Sports. And one has to admit that the main premise is nothing short of brilliant: it's all about futuristic wheelchair basketball, which means you will have to "drag" in order to, well, ehm, "drive". By sliding the Joy-Con 2 controllers' magnetic side on a surface, you will control each hand and arm of the characters, moving either the left or the right wheel of the chair forwards or backwards. One if you want to turn, both at the same time if you want to move straight - or at least try to.

Now, let me add some personal background here, as I think it's important to consider for the context. I love motion controls and controller innovation. I literally started writing about video games out of fascination about their possibilities almost 20 years ago. I've been enjoying them when they've been done right for all those years, up to the point we're now with devices such as VR controllers, in-phone gyroscopes and accelerometers, the DualSense haptic features, and of course Nintendo's Switch and Switch 2 motion-powered controllers. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was a dream come true, if you know what I mean. In other words, I'm not a hater, never been.

Yet in this case, and much as the controls make total sense in terms of design, then work flawlessly for the purpose, they didn't feel good for any single moment of the 15-20 minutes I spent with Drag X Drive. I didn't feel in full control of the player's character, even after going through the full tutorial before a supposedly exciting 3v3 match. Again, controls are responsive when you slide-lift-slide, and I guess it's a matter of training and getting used to it for accurate manoeuvrability, but I was quite far from that. In fact, the controls felt unnecessarily complex and above all... just not fun.

Was I secretly polishing the table? Kneading pizza dough? I think I struggled with the whole scheme. It's intuitive, don't get me wrong, but if you have to slam into another player head-on to steal the ball, or drive faster back and forth to either defend or find a better space for shooting or passing, it became too frustrating too fast, even infuriating. ZR or ZL work well too as brakes, L+R for pass, and then you lift your hand and make the basketball-throw flick with your wrist in a very natural way to take a shot, which gave me a little glimpse of satisfaction, but even that was dragged off my experience when I had to drive again.

The problem is not, then, the awkward, not so ergonomic posture I didn't like for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond as you don't have to press so many buttons nor aim around the screen, it was more about how it felt: like I was wasting part of my very tight, very valuable time with the machine, much as my curiosity dragged me to this game. It made me a bit angry, I have to admit, and I'm not so sure I want to play it again.

It wasn't a looker either. With so many games, first and third party, showcasing those beautiful 1080p HDR portable screens, those 4K/60 graphics on TV for the first time on a Nintendo console, this one appeared dull and ugly. No personality, no fancy futuristic sports effects, all grey and generic sci-fi. For a title that, let's not forget, releases in the summer launch window already.

Anyway I'm aware there are differing opinions here. I know of a colleague who was engaged by the controls and enjoyed his time, perhaps even mastering the traversal mechanics. And I'm pretty sure some people will be extremely good, perhaps even pros, and that this could have competitive potential as the controls themselves do work. Plus, one more time, you gotta love the ingenious premise and the accessible, inclusive message behind it. But when it comes to the literal, pick up the controller and play type of accessibility we've come to expect, it's just not there for now.