Nintendo Switch 2 Hands-On Preview Part 3: Drag x Drive, Cyberpunk 2077, and More

Welcome to the third and final part of SUPERJUMP's Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on preview coverage. In the previous update, we undertook a deep dive into Donkey Kong Bananza and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond. Today I'm going to touch on Drag x Drive, Cyberpunk 2077, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, and a few other tidbits. Here we go!

Drag x Drive

Despite the numerous heavy hitting franchises on display at the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience event, I must admit that I was most intrigued by Drag x Drive (pronounced Drag and Drive). This game is essentially wheelchair basketball, which is both an interesting premise for a game as well as being awesome from a representation standpoint. It's also a fascinating demonstration of the Joy-Con 2's capabilities.

I first played a brief tutorial that introduced the control scheme. Each Joy-Con controls one of the player character's arms. When you place the Joy-Con flat in mouse mode, you roll backwards and forwards to move the wheels independently. Rapidly glide forward to accelerate and glide in opposite directions to turn. You can also raise the Joy-Con to lift your arms, which is how you catch the ball and shoot goals. While it takes a little getting used to, you'll quickly find yourself rolling around like a pro. Drag x Drive is also a nice demonstration of the enhanced force feedback in the Joy-Con 2 controllers; as you roll the wheels you can feel the different surface textures as you move over them.

This game is essentially wheelchair basketball, which is both an interesting premise for a game as well as being awesome from a representation standpoint. It's also a fascinating demonstration of the Joy-Con 2's capabilities.

After the tutorial I played a regular versus match involving two teams of three. From memory there was a time limit and whichever team scored the most goals within that limit won the match. Multiplayer is, as you might expect, pretty chaotic, owing largely to the deliberately imprecise controls. I would say that Drag x Drive feels like a souped up party game from the Mario Party series; from what I played, the mechanics aren't particularly deep and opportunities for strategic play are pretty limited. The fun here is really in the hectic nature of the experience, where players are yelling and laughing because they overshoot their mark, run into teammates by accident, or pull off unlikely goals. This might sound like a criticism, but it really isn't; Drag x Drive very much delivers on the chaotic party game vibe. It's one of those games that seems to exist to demonstrate what the Joy-Con 2 controllers can do, and I think you'll get the most out of it if you play with friends in the same room (or using the in-built GameChat functionality).

Cyberpunk 2077

I was really curious to check out Cyberpunk 2077, largely because it's been something of a performance benchmark for video game graphics since release. There's something special about seeing the game running on handheld devices in particular, even if it's naturally something of a stripped-down experience.

The playable demo on Nintendo Switch 2 drops players into the Dogtown neighbourhood, which is the centrepiece of the Phantom Liberty DLC. I only played the demo in TV mode; as far as I know, there was no option to play in handheld mode. I must admit that I'd be more interested to see how the game runs in handheld mode thanks to the resolution and power constraints required by handheld play.

I must admit: I don't have too much to say about this demo. My time with it was very brief and I came away feeling that it must be quite an old build; the experience was stuttery, blurry, and I detected a fair amount of input lag. Given CD Projekt Red's incredible work on the first-generation Switch, I have no doubt they are capable of delivering an impressive Switch 2 port of Cyberpunk 2077. The demo at least indicates there's a playable build up and running, but it seemed far from finished to me.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour

Ahh, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. This game has received a fair amount of attention primarily for its price tag (A$15 here in Australia), with many folks believing it should be a free pack-in experience. I'm going to say at the outset that I'm not really in a position to weigh in on this debate because I haven't explored the full experience. But the demo certainly gave me a good sense of what it's all about.

The first thing to say is that I'm not really sure I'd describe Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour as a game per se. It's more like a very elaborate interactive educational experience; a digital exhibit that you can explore at your leisure. There are multiple "levels" to this experience, each corresponding to different aspects of the hardware and technology. You control a tiny avatar that runs around on top of a massive Switch 2 console, which itself is set up with information kiosks and interactive demos that showcase specific concepts. One example involved manipulating a pair of on-screen maracas using the Joy-Con 2's motion controls; the maracas were filled with sand and demonstrated the more nuanced haptic feedback in the new controllers. Another example was a multi-step quiz that would display an animation at different frame rates and have you guess the appropriate frame rate. Thinking about it now, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour feels like something you'd expect to see at the newly-opened Nintendo Museum in Kyoto. I'm not sure how broad or deep the overall experience really is, but if it's mostly similar to the parts I played, then it's definitely focused on information and education rather than actual gameplay. It's certainly an immersive approach to a product showcase and I'm definitely curious to check out the final version.

And the rest...

I played a couple of other demos during my time at the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience. These included the Switch 2 Editions of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which I was able to play in glorious 4K in TV mode as well as a Switch 2 port of Yakuza 0. Yakuza played smoothly and seemed roughly equivalent to what you might see on Xbox Series S. And Tears of the Kingdom looked fantastic; the difference here isn't enough for me to re-play the entire game, but I'm slightly jealous of Switch 2 owners whose first experience with the game will be in its enhanced form.

Conclusion

I've been thinking about how best to sum up my thoughts after spending a few hours with the Nintendo Switch 2. The hardware is certainly impressive; I was pleasantly surprised by the pretty huge improvement in build quality across the board and I really like the new Joy-Con. Mouse mode works seamlessly and the slightly larger and sturdier Joy-Con feel so much better in general. The LCD screen is vivid and sharp, and even though these are just the first batch of games for the new console, it's clear that the extra headroom is already being put to use. Mario Kart World is definitely the stand-out game for me, but Donkey Kong Bananza looks extremely promising. Nintendo are going into this generation with extremely strong third-party support, including some awesome exclusives like The Duskbloods (that's a game I can't wait to get my hands on).

In just a couple of weeks, you'll be able to see for yourself just how impressive the Nintendo Switch 2 really is. I think you'll be pleased. And I can't wait to see what other surprises Nintendo have in store for this new generation.