If accessibility or wheelchairs are your thing then you are out of luck here, because these ‘wheelchair-like vehicles’ as Nintendo calls them left me sore and absolutely exhausted. While they did help me to appreciate the pain wheelchair users experience doing the same motions, I mourn for players with other limb difficulties.

If motion controls and wheelchair-like racing are your thing however, get ready for 20 minutes of fast-paced fun! (And then a rest, and then 20 more minutes, etc…) 

The Motion Controls Are Great

Yes, I really enjoyed Drag X Drive’s controls. As I zoomed around during the tutorial and dunked on a bunch of CPUs for the first time I felt wonderful. Spinning the ‘wheels’ felt great, and lifting one arm to shoot a hoop felt glorious.

Once I had mastered propelling myself forward with the tiny joy-cons and shooting the ball, I then focussed on trying to launch myself from ramps, jumping up and dunking the ball into the hoop with a scream.

The haptic feedback on the switch 2 joycons is also fantastic, making this a far better tech demo of the motion controls than any other switch 2 offering I have tried.

The Aesthetic Is… Bland

On the other hand, the game really does feel aesthetically like just that; a tech demo. As I zoomed around the hybrid skatepark/basketball court world I was reminded of a 14 year old gamer boy’s bedroom, mostly grey apart from some LED lights and lacking any personality whatsoever; even more surprising considering the high standard Nintendo brings to the look of its other titles.

The map is reminiscent of the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series, but contains none of its charm. The music in this game is jazzy, but basic, repetitive and unmemorable. Just now, as I write this, I had to go remind myself if the game even contained a soundtrack.

I got a small amount of joy from the incredibly basic character customisation options that include a hat with cat ears and the ability to change the colour of different parts of your body. It did, however, make me miss being able to create a Mii, Nintendo’s previous simple answer for any sports game in need of a customisable character. Compared to Miis, the customisation of these wheelchair-like racers is a somewhat laughable step backward.

I Hope You Aren’t Colour-Blind

I have EDS, and as I finally got somewhat of a grasp on the controls and finished the tutorial, the ache in my shoulders was already forcing me to take my first break. My partner is able-bodied but also felt physically exhausted after learning the controls, so I feel like I’m not alone here and that this game is meant to be taxing. Once I returned to play an actual match, I found that the best way to play the game while keeping my arms/shoulders from hurting for as long as possible was to use the joycons on my lap. 

While I mourned the lack of accessibility controls (the only alternative control scheme is only usable in menus), I do understand that the motion controls are really the only thing this game has going for it. What truly disappointed me was the lack of even colour blindness options for its prominent use of red and blue lights. Even Rocket League, which I would say this game resembles and uses the same blue and red team system, has a colour-blind mode.

Making 0 Friends

Continuing the trend of Nintendo forcing their players to play this game their way and their way only, this game doesn’t have a local multiplayer feature. What did surprise me though was that when a friend and I tried to join a server together online with other real people, there was no way for us to queue as a group. This meant that if my friend joined a lobby that was full, I had to keep trying to join until there was a free spot. While I understand that this will get easier as the servers die down and players lose interest in the game, surely this isn’t Nintendo’s goal. Less players also wouldn’t completely solve this issue however, as it would make games become harder to find.

Once we were finally in the same lobby, there was no option for us to choose to be on the same team, which was fine for us but may annoy some people. What wasn’t fine was the fact that you can’t even guarantee you’ll be in the same game. In Drag X Drive when you join a server or ‘Park’ 2 3x3 games are played at the same time and we could be picked for either team in either of those games. 

Playing these 3x3 games was incredibly fun. I am naturally very competitive, so I was really trying my hardest to get the occasional serotonin-inducing 3 point shot. In reality though, I was mostly that one member of the team that just chased the ball while my teammates picked up the slack. The basic controls, while tiring, are simple enough, but defensive moves like bunny hops require a lot more practice. If I were to continue playing I would be sticking to the bot games - which are still quite enjoyable - as well as the time trials around the map that provide a good challenge for those learning. 

During the online games I also noticed the absence of a chat feature. One of my favourite parts of this game is that you can use both arms to clap at other players so, in lieu of anything else, this is how we managed to communicate.

If I were to be generous, I would say that this lack of visuals, customisation, sound, chat and accessibility options highlights how cool the motion controls are. If I were to be more brutal, I would say Drag X Drive is merely a tech demo, disguised as a progressive wheelchair, sorry, ‘wheelchair-like’ racing game. 

A copy of DRAG X DRIVE was provided to SIFTER for the purpose of this review.