Drag X Drive – Nintendo’s Wheelchair Basketball Experiment
Nintendo has never been one to shy away from trying new stuff, but it feels like its latest platform, Drag X Drive, is pretty up there where surprise goes. Now available for Nintendo Switch 2, August 14th, 2025 Mixes motion-controlled wheelchair basketball with hall-style play in a concept that is as fun as it is bizzare. The game is also fun, buried in piles of weird controls and odd design choices and an undeniable lack of the patented Nintendo style.
Gameplay and Controls
Drag X Drive is an intense game of wheelchair basketball. Players navigate their wheelchairs using two Joy-Cons, faking the push-and-turn mechanic by moving each controller one at a time. The triggers are for braking, and turning is done with the left and right Joy-Con in between “pushes.” Shooting involves picking up one of them in a bird-flinging motion; the game’s in-game accelerometer translates your movement into an attempt to take a shot at the basket.
The concept is clever, but the concretion can come across as heavy-handed. The game also requires more physical teamwork than I ever would have anticipated, and it takes longer to pick up the basics than many other Nintendo sports games. It’s not the grab-and-go experience you’d expect out of a party-style game, and its challenging learning curve might leave casual players wanting.
Game Modes and Mechanics
The beta included tutorial, one match and online battles. The rules are loosely basketball, with some arcade twists:
- Players have the ability to ram into opponents in order to get the ball.
- Slam dunks by launching themselves off ramps
- Do trick shots for bonus points.
While these additions provide some spectacle, they can at times seem at odds with the sport’s underlying simplicity and lend themselves to chaos more than strategy.
The online matches work OK, but not great. And with no in-game voice chat, and a very small selection of emoticons for communication, conversation is bare-boned. Matches quickly devolve into low-scoring scrambles, with beginners and experienced players alike flailing at the controls.
Presentation and Style
While it has a strong premise, Drag X Drive kind of lacks the typical Nintendo personality. The lack of flavor is one surprising con for me when it comes to Drag X Drive. The courts and characters are scrubbed clean, but sterile; a mechanical, almost clinical design. There are no themed arenas, no cartoonish characters, and little personality to make the game visually memorable.
You can’t help but compare it to Nintendo’s rash of other off-kilter titles, such as Arms or Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball, which were just as weird with oodles more flair and personality. But Drag X Drive feels stripped down in its delivery.
Potential and Replay Value
There are teases that the final version may expand upon what the game has to offer. The beta hinted at potential side conditioning, customisation and new courts. Unless Nintendo decides to invest more in it with personalization or themed content, like crossover courts or character skins. Could Drag X (or Drive) fade right into obscurity after launch?
Final Thoughts
Drag X Drive is the sort of unconventional experiment that shows Nintendo is still occasionally willing to take some chances. It’s a new …thing and there is something almost ironically poetic about how the motion controlled game of basketball leaves even some ready-abled players feeling as helpless as they would if they had just watched their legs get crushed by a car and have no way to stand up. The only thing holding it back from being mandatory is awkward controls, a steep learning curve and a distinct lack of personality.
It has its merits — committed players will probably savor the chance to wrap their heads around it’s quirky control mechanics, though, for most gamers, novelty will likely wear off in quick order. Right now Drag X Drive seems to be a weird side project from Nintendo more so than “the next super big Nintendo sports mega hit”.
Grade: 5/10 – Good, but at some point too long to use or cite.
Check out the official Release trailer:
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