Drag x Drive review roundup: 'a dearth of content limits the game's long-term appeal'
Is Drag x Drive a slam dunk? Or a real drag?
🤔 Drag x Drive has a Metacritic score of 63 after 51 critic reviews
😬 The game has 15% positive reviews, 80% mixed and 4% negative
👑 The game is controlled using the Switch 2’s mouse controls
📆 Drag x Drive is out now exclusively on the Nintendo Switch 2 eShop
The reviews for Drag x Drive are in – and they’re not as glowing as we’re used to from a Nintendo title. The game is currently on a Metacritic score of 63 after 51 reviews, which means the response has been ‘mixed or average’.
The innovative wheelchair basketball game, which sees players use both Joy-Con 2 controllers in mouse mode and motion controls, seems to suffer from a lack of content at launch. Most reviewers seem to agree there’s fun to be had with Drag x Drive, but there simply isn’t enough to do right now.
Here’s what critics had to say about Drag x Drive for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Nintenduo was one of the most positive outlets about Drag x Drive, and said:
Drag & Drive is a modest, original way to test the mouse mode of the Joy-Con 2 on Nintendo Switch 2. Intuitive yet hard to master, it offers limited but polished content and serves as a convincing proof of concept: a seemingly wild idea that, when well executed, is genuinely entertaining.
Digital Trends was also impressed and gave the game 7/10, though noted the game’s unfinished feel.
Drag X Drive feels like an excellent prototype more than a full package. The control scheme proves to be more than just a gimmick and makes the act of moving engaging. Combined with the twist that playing basketball in wheelchairs has on a familiar sport, the result is a very solid and enjoyable time. But with only that one mode to hang its hat on, I don’t see Drag X Drive rising above a novelty.
Nintendo Life gave the same score to Drag x Drive and said:
Drag x Drive may lack options with regards to online modes, and its controls take a bit of getting used to. However, if you can give up some time to engaging with this one, if you can get past the barriers in terms of controls and the early frustrations as you find your rhythm, you'll be rewarded with a unique and very well-made sports game that deserves to find an audience of dedicated fans. Add in some pals, and you've got a solid bit of fun for the price.
IGN was less impressed with Nintendo’s new sports game, awarding the game 6/10. Again, the lack of content was the major criticism.
With the proper setup, Nintendo’s take on wheelchair basketball is a lot of fun and controls surprisingly well, but Drag x Drive sadly lacks enough content, variety, and personality to build around those fundamentals.
Game8 was the harshest critic of Drag x Drive. With a score of 48/100, the outlet said:
A clever control scheme and flashes of competitive brilliance can’t hide the fact that the rest of Drag x Drive is running on fumes. The basketball matches are fun, but they’re weighed down by awkward hardware ergonomics, lopsided AI, and a hub world that is just devoid of anything fun. There’s a potential here for something great, and I wish Nintendo explores this some more in the future. But right now, it plays too much like a really polished tech demo.
Drag x Drive feels unbaked in modes and content, then, though the consensus is the foundations are solid. Hopefully, Nintendo can swiftly bring new content to the game to give players something more to sink their teeth into.
Check out the upcoming PS5 games and upcoming Xbox games lists to see what’s up next for Sony and Microsoft’s consoles.
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Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.