Drag x Drive is a complicated game. On one hand, it’s an inventive approximation of wheelchair basketball that’s fun to play with friends. On the other, it’s as barebones as a new game can be. Even at its $20 price point, the decision to not include basics like a tournament mode or single-player campaign seems uncharacteristic of Nintendo.
Despite the disappointing final package, Drag x Drive does succeed as an excellent example of how developers can create experiences that theoretically can’t be played anywhere else. It should be the opening salvo for these weird, one-off ideas that haven’t been possible in gaming until now.
As of now, Drag x Drive is the only Switch 2 game to force players to use both Joy-Cons’ mouse functionality in tandem. It’s a steep learning curve. Literally no game before it has been controlled this way, let alone while demanding quick reflexes under the pressure of a shot clock. But once you get the hang of it, it makes Drag x Drive a showcase worth playing. Its multiplayer sessions marked the most fun I’ve had with multiplayer and GameChat since the Switch 2’s launch.
Before Drag x Drive, the Switch 2’s mouse capabilities had only been used in obvious ways, with Cyberpunk 2077, Civilization VII, and Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess giving players a cursor for more precise control. That’s a welcome (and potentially game-changing) feature, but there’s so much untapped potential here. Back in April, Nintendo’s senior vice president of product development, Nate Bihldorff, told Inverse that using dual mouse control to play Drag x Drive got his imagination going about the new console.
“I didn't even know if there was an entire genre on PC of dual mouse control games. I don't even know if that exists,” Bihldorff said. “Why doesn't it? That's a perfect example of what I'm excited to see — what we've already got cooking on this system, and what will happen over the life of the system as other developers start building on these ideas.”
I hope other developers take note of Drag x Drive, as the possibilities seem endless. While I expect Nintendo to incorporate these controls into a new WarioWare or Mario Party game, I’m more excited to see what ideas smaller teams or familiar third-party partners come up with. Imagine a flying sim like Ace Combat that lets you finely control an aircraft with two mice and the face and analog sticks together, or a climbing game like Peak that incorporates fine hand motions into scaling a mountain.
Considering how inventive some developers were with the Wii’s motion controls and the DS’ touch screen, this could be another distinguishing factor for Nintendo’s console. When I look at hardware like the PlayDate, whose creators commissioned developers to make games that would feel great to play on its unique crank controls, I imagine the same possibilities for Nintendo’s most gimmicky new feature.
Even on a console starved for games, Drag x Drive isn’t a must-buy new release. But what it does succeed in is offering a promising look at what can be accomplished with the hardware. If we’re lucky, it will be just the beginning.
