We tested … “Drag X Drive”, the Video Game of Basketball Armchair that makes gesticulate

“End your wrinkles well” et “Make sure you have enough space not to hit the people or the objects around you”. The first instructions of Drag x Drive (The “X” is pronounced “and”), available Thursday, August 14 on the Switch 2, remind us of the brief golden age of the video game game, started with the release of the Wii in 2006.

As for the golf or bowling games of the game phenomenon Wii Sports (and its nearly 83 million copies sold), the new Nintendo game asks to mimic a sport with the detachable controllers of its console. Except that the discipline in question is unprecedented in video games: Basketball armchair. Apart from a mobile game launched for Tokyo’s Paralympic Games in 2021 and withdrawn online stores since, we are not aware of another video game featuring a handisport.

Gourmet basket

To move forward, you have to push the armchair wheels with both hands holding the controllers. We extend our arms by rubbing on any surface (a desk, a sofa or your thighs if they are dressed) the computer mouse sensors located on their slice, then we bring them back to you by lifting them.

The trips are bicycle as long as we wave our arms with ardor. But beware of turns! They are difficult to negotiate when you start. To do this, you have to move one of the two arms more quickly or play brakes. Another challenge: to know how to stop in the right place and in the right axis to send the ball to the basket by raising an arm and breaking the wrist.

Time to learn to tame the chair and perform the different technical gestures (take the skate-park ramps Installed by the field, make dunks Or small jumps to hinder opposing shots), we opt for games against bots, characters played by the machine. But the absence of a real solo mode or interesting challenges to progress is quickly felt in this game fully turned towards the online multiplayer, available by subscribing to the Switch Online subscription.

Once faced with real players, the shocks between the buffer cars, the small size of the field and the limited duration of the games (no more than three minutes) create a frenzied pace. We can easily get on board for a dozen games before realizing that our arms are heating up and it’s time to take a break.

Known land trip

It is also difficult to impose our parts for too long on our entourage. Scratt, Scratt, Scratt … Our colleagues had to bear the acute noises of the controllers that rub at a speed our office in the open space during sessions during the day. Not to mention the regular blows on a small lamp, our keyboard or even our coffee cup (fortunately empty).

We also tried to play with us on our sofa in the evening, but our partner quickly put his off: “You can’t stop gesticulating in all directions, I can’t focus on my reading!” »» It is therefore better to have a reserved part if you want to immerse yourself in the experience permanently.

The decor that remains unchanged, the helmeted characters without real identity as well as forgetful mini-games did not encourage us to linger too much in the world of Drag x Driveeven if we will come back from time to time, that’s for sure, as the experience is unique. It remains to be seen if Nintendo will be generous in the addition of new content to increase the lifespan of a game which is likely to be reduced to its concept, however innovative.

Pixels’ opinion:

We liked:

• Make “Scratt, Scratt” on our thighs or our office to move forward;
• The rhythm of play, which requires combining the speed of movements to the precision of the shots.

We liked it less:

• the absence of over-line content;
• the fairly limited visual universe;
• The aches in the arms.

It is rather for you if:

• You like arcade games with fast parts;
• You are nostalgic for the Wii movement detection game.

It is rather not for you if:

• You do not have an internet box;
• You have already broken the screen of a TV with the controllers of the Wii.

The pixel note:

Three players in the team/5 points scored + 0.1 bonuses for a dunk.