Drag x Drive: Nintendo's Brutal Basketbrawl Is Wild, But Its Accessibility Irony Is a Real Head-Scratcher
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Nintendo's new Switch 2 title, *Drag x Drive*, offers surprisingly brutal and deep wheelchair basketball gameplay with unique physical Joy-Con controls, but its in-game accessibility representation is tragically undermined by a control scheme that still locks out many wheelchair users.
Right, so Nintendo, bless their quirky hearts, just dropped *Drag x Drive* on the Switch 2. And let me tell you, I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared. On the one hand, it’s this surprisingly bloodthirsty, tactical take on wheelchair basketball. On the other? It's got an accessibility hiccup so ironic, it almost feels like a cosmic joke. As Christian Donlan, over at Eurogamer, brilliantly laid out after an afternoon with the game, it's a real mixed bag of magic and mild mayhem.
First off, let's talk about the absolute core of this thing: the controls. Nintendo's clearly trying to get us used to their new 'mouse-style' Joy-Con shenanigans for the Switch 2, where you place them flat and move a pointer around. But for *Drag x Drive* itself, they’ve gone full-on physical. Each Joy-Con becomes an 'arm,' and you use them to propel your wheelchair. Imagine trying to pilot a particularly stubborn digital broomstick using only your elbows, and you’re halfway there. Push the left, you steer right. Push the right, you go left. To go forward, it's a bit of a frantic pull-lift-pull-again motion with both. It sounds simple, mate, but it genuinely takes some getting used to. There are triggers to 'grip' the wheels, which lets you pull off sudden turns, tilt for fancy moves, and even execute a deeply satisfying bunny hop. These higher-level manoeuvres feed into a trick system that gives you bonus points for style. The very edges of the court even curve upwards so you can catch some air and show off. It’s wonderfully tactile, and as Donlan pointed out, surprisingly knackering. My digital forearms are aching just thinking about it – feels like I’ve just finished a virtual swimming lesson!
Now, the gameplay itself: it’s three-on-three wheelchair basketball, mostly, though the best games seem to emerge from two-on-two. There’s a delicious moment right after your team scores where you're shunted away from the hoop, but you’re still right there, staring down the incoming enemy team as they try to bring the ball out. What do you do? What do *they* do about what *you’re* doing? This is where the strategy, the gamesmanship, truly starts to simmer. I reckon the meta is going to be deep, fast, and fascinating. Collisions have real heft, you develop proper rivalries, and there’s even a lovely system for high-fives and shrugging off sleights. It’s properly brutal stuff on the court, and you can already see players emerging who are thunderously good. It’s got that early *Splatoon* vibe, where the skill ceiling is sky-high, and you just know you’re going to be left in the dust by the truly obsessed. But unlike *Splatoon*, the intensely physical control scheme means the player base for *Drag x Drive* is likely to be a bit smaller, more niche, and even more dedicated. And if you’re thinking of chilling with bots offline, well, Donlan warns that it's 'a bit rubbish,' even if they do at least pass the ball.
Here’s where we hit the bit that genuinely makes a digital wizard like me scratch my glowing head: accessibility. Nintendo has, historically, moved at a glacial pace when it comes to making their games broadly accessible. So, when *Drag x Drive* comes along with legitimate in-game representation of wheelchair users, it's a genuinely lovely sight. It’s a start, a belated one, but a start nonetheless. The Switch 2 itself even has some console-level button-remapping, which is a step in the right direction. You think, 'Great! Nintendo’s finally getting it!'
But here’s the kicker, the bit that makes you want to spontaneously combust a tiny pixelated rage-fireball. As Christian Donlan wisely quoted a wheelchair user on Reddit, there’s a profoundly disappointing irony in all of this. A game centered around wheelchair sports, celebrating this amazing athletic discipline, is *still unplayable for many of those who actually use wheelchairs*, all thanks to the very nature of its control scheme. Bloody hell, you couldn't make it up, could you? It’s like designing a game about flying and then making it impossible for people with wings to play because the controls require perfectly functional flippers. It’s a classic case of 'representation without true access,' which, while visually heartwarming, is ultimately a frustrating barrier for the very community it seeks to champion. Nintendo, you’ve still got quite some way to go here, mate.
Outside of the brutal court action, the game’s a bit bare-bones, with some forgettable mini-games between matches. But the retro-futuristic, liminal sports centre setting is actually quite cool – that echoey hall feel is a nice touch, even if it’s not quite as charming as a bookstore that’s also a coffee shop (a man can dream!).
It’s still early days for *Drag x Drive*, and like Donlan, I reckon in a week I’ll probably be too useless to have a great deal of fun against the burgeoning pros. But there's genuinely something special bubbling under the surface here. It’s a simple template with deep potential, a testament to how unique mechanics can spawn fascinating metas. If Nintendo can somehow square that circle on the accessibility front – perhaps with alternative control schemes or genuine hardware innovations that bridge this gap – *Drag x Drive* could really turn into something quite extraordinary. Until then, it's a brilliant, brutal, and paradoxically frustrating ride. A copy of *Drag x Drive* was provided to Eurogamer by Nintendo for their review.
Tags: Nintendo Switch 2, Sports Game, Accessibility, Multiplayer, Gaming Industry
Original article: Eurogamer