Summary:
Drag x Drive has just been given a serious shot of energy on Nintendo Switch 2 with version 1.2.0, and this update does much more than quietly bump a number on the title screen. Survival Tag, a full chasing-style mode, lands in friend parks, local wireless parks and LAN parks, turning courts into high-stakes playgrounds where one slip can get you tagged out. At the same time, Nintendo has tuned how stats are tracked, adjusted bots, tweaked cameras around the sumo ring and tackled some long-standing quirks like bunny hop speed exploits and rare terrain issues. Players also gain more control over their own history: you can now wipe specific records on time trials and shooting contests while still keeping your trophies, which is perfect if you want a fresh climb without losing proof of past milestones. On top of that, the Drag x Drive demo has been revised, renamed and made more accessible, so curious players can drop in whenever they like. Together, these changes make Drag x Drive feel cleaner, fairer and more inviting, whether you are grinding lines in public parks or just racing around with friends.
Drag x Drive version 1.2.0 overview on Nintendo Switch 2
Version 1.2.0 is the kind of update that can quietly change how a game feels every time you boot it up. Instead of just fixing a few bugs in the background, Drag x Drive leans into its social side with a standout new mode, Survival Tag, plus a string of tweaks that touch stats, cameras, bots and even how speed works after tricks. When you hop into a park now, things behave closer to how you probably assumed they should behave from the start, which is always a good sign for a sports title that lives on momentum and split-second decisions. The patch is also a smart response to how people actually play: players have been stretching bunny hops and movement tech to the limit, and Nintendo has stepped in to bring those tricks back in line with the original design. Add in the option to clear records without losing trophies and a refreshed demo, and version 1.2.0 feels like a fresh season for Drag x Drive rather than just another minor touch-up.
Survival Tag mode and how it works in Drag x Drive
Survival Tag is the headline feature for a reason, because it reimagines what you do in a park between standard basketball matches. Instead of chasing rebounds and alley-oops, you are literally chasing players. One person is “it” and has to tag others by making contact, while the rest of the group uses the game’s movement system to dodge, weave and escape around the court layout. The mode slots straight into friend parks, local wireless parks and LAN parks, which means it is built as a social playground where everyone knows each other or is close enough to shout across the room. That alone changes the vibe: instead of focusing on tight scorelines, you get rounds filled with laughter, last-second escapes and cheeky mind games. Survival Tag also turns Drag x Drive’s motion-heavy controls into a kind of kinetic hide-and-seek, letting players experiment with angles and momentum in a more relaxed setting than a ranked-feeling match.
Survival Tag rules, flow and winning conditions
The flow of a Survival Tag round is simple to grasp, even if you have never played a second of Drag x Drive before. One player starts as the chaser and everyone else becomes a potential target, racing off in different directions as soon as the game begins. Your job as “it” is to close the distance and land a clear bump on another player, which transfers the role and puts you safely back into the pack. On the other side, if you are trying not to get tagged, your goal is to stay alive for as long as you can, using slopes, ramps and tight corners to shrug off pursuers. Tagged players can be removed from the round depending on settings, which creates tense moments as the field gets smaller and options run out. In practice, it feels like a high-speed spin on playground tag, with chairs replaced by futuristic wheel rigs and the court turning into a maze of risky shortcuts and clever escape routes.
Contact detection, latency and fair tags online
Survival Tag lives or dies on the question of contact, so the update treats this differently from normal basketball games. In regular matches, the game sometimes leans toward “no contact” when different players see slightly different things because of wireless conditions, which helps avoid arguments when someone swears they did not collide. Survival Tag flips that logic, because the whole point is to decide whether a tag happened or not. Version 1.2.0 gives the benefit of the doubt to the action by counting a tag as successful if either side’s view shows contact. If the chaser clearly sees themselves clip a rival, or the fleeing player sees a bump on their screen, the game registers the tag and lets the round move on. This makes Survival Tag feel snappy rather than uncertain, and even if wireless jitters still exist underneath, the rules are tuned so that tags feel earned and the mode keeps its quick-fire rhythm.
Updated stats, Iso Wins fixes and new Rope Jumps tracking
Beyond the flashy chasing mode, version 1.2.0 quietly cleans up how achievements and performance are recorded. Iso Wins on the Game Stats tab used to be misleading, counting the total number of Isos instead of the number you actually won. That might sound like a small detail, but for players who track progress or compare numbers with friends, it can warp how you read your own performance. The update corrects this so Iso Wins finally means what it sounds like, letting you trust that figure again. On top of that, Rope Jumps get their own slot on the Other Stats tab, highlighting a type of movement that often sits in the background of matches but still speaks to your skill and control. Together, these tweaks make the stat pages feel less like a rough sketch and more like a reliable scoreboard where every entry has a clear definition behind it.
Focus Cam tweaks, sumo ring changes and smarter bots
Camera behavior and bot tuning are the sort of things you only really notice when they go wrong, so version 1.2.0’s changes here feel almost invisible in the best way. When you get close to the sumo ring now, the Focus Cam switches its attention to the ring itself, which keeps key clashes centered instead of drifting off to whatever the last camera logic decided was important. This helps you read positioning at a glance, which is crucial when pushes and shoves happen fast. Bots in friend parks, local wireless parks and LAN parks also get a small personality adjustment: the Easy and Standard bots are slightly weaker, making them feel more like helpful extras rather than ruthless ringers that can dominate casual play. If you like filling slots with a few CPU teammates, you should find the new behavior more forgiving and less likely to steal the spotlight from human players learning the ropes.
New record deletion options for time trials and contests
One of the most player-friendly additions in version 1.2.0 is the ability to delete your own records from time trials and shooting contests. Before, a bad run could sit there forever as a reminder of a clumsy attempt, unless you managed to replace it with something better. Now you can deliberately wipe a record from the pre-event screen by pressing and holding a specific button combination: ZL, the left directional button and the right directional button on the left Joy-Con 2 for a full ten seconds. It is a deliberate, slow action, designed so you cannot trigger it by accident in the heat of setting up your next run. Once the timer is done, the record vanishes and you have a clean slate for that event. For perfectionists, speed-focused players or anyone who just likes curating their profile, this control over your own history feels surprisingly empowering.
Why trophies stay even if you wipe records
There is a crucial catch to record deletion that actually works in your favor: trophies do not disappear even when the matching records are gone. That means the game still recognises that you hit certain milestones or cleared specific challenges, even if you no longer want the exact times or scores taking up space on your record list. It is a neat compromise between flexibility and recognition. You can imagine it like taking down old posters from your bedroom walls while keeping the medals in a drawer. The visible parts of your profile can be reshaped to match your current skill level or taste, while the permanent achievements remain as proof of what you have already done. This approach suits Drag x Drive’s multiplayer focus nicely, letting you keep bragging rights without feeling locked into a messy timeline of every experimental run you ever tried.
Fixes for bunny hop speed exploits and terrain issues
Drag x Drive is built around a specific idea of speed: you should go faster on slopes, halfpipes and ramps when you pull off tricks, not by squeezing odd behavior out of bunny hops or midair physics. Over time, players discovered that they could accelerate beyond the intended top speed by landing from rotations in certain ways or by preserving velocity in midair after crossing that limit. It looked cool in clips, but it also pushed the game away from its intended rhythm, forcing anyone chasing the best results to learn oddly stiff methods of control. Version 1.2.0 reins this in so that top speed works as originally planned, making slopes and tricks the real stars again. On top of that, rare issues where players could pass through terrain in Circuit Sprint and rare level or distance values reaching their upper limits have been fixed, closing loopholes that could break immersion or make runs feel illegitimate.
Drag x Drive demo update 1.1.1 and what changes for newcomers
The update is not just for full owners of Drag x Drive. The separate demo has also been polished, and even its identity has changed. What used to be called Drag x Drive: Global Jam is now simply Drag x Drive Demo, which is much clearer for anyone browsing a store page or their system menu. The icon has been refreshed to match that new name, and the demo now lets players jump into the tutorial and certain bot games at any time. That last part matters more than it might sound. It means you no longer have to wait on specific windows or events to try out the game’s control scheme and movement quirks. Newcomers can practice on their own schedule, get used to the Joy-Con 2 motion setup and decide if the full release is a good fit, all without feeling rushed or left behind by a one-off event.
What version 1.2.0 means for casual and competitive players
For relaxed players who just want to hang out with friends, version 1.2.0 injects new toys into the sandbox. Survival Tag gives groups an instant party mode that does not require deep knowledge of plays or stats, just the basic thrill of chasing and fleeing around a court. Softer bots make mixed lobbies more welcoming, and the ability to clear records stops old experiments from cluttering your profile. On the competitive side, the changes are just as important. Iso Wins now reflect reality instead of padding, Rope Jumps get logged properly, and the top speed rules are clearer, so players can trust that the movement “language” of the game is more predictable. Fixes to rare crashes, terrain issues and upper limit values also help tournaments or community events run more smoothly, because everyone is less likely to be blindsided by strange technical hiccups during important moments.
Tips to make the most of Drag x Drive after the update
If you are jumping back into Drag x Drive after some time away, it is worth approaching version 1.2.0 with a small personal game plan. Start by opening a friend park or local wireless park and testing Survival Tag with a small group, so you can get a feel for how tags register from both sides. Pay attention to how the Focus Cam behaves near the sumo ring, because that camera tweak can make clashes easier to read than before. Check your stats screen and note any changes in Iso Wins and Rope Jumps, then decide whether you want to prune old records using the new deletion shortcut. Take a few laps in modes that used to feel “off” because of bunny hop speed exploits or odd landings and see how the new physics line up with your muscle memory. After that, if someone you know has never tried Drag x Drive, point them toward the revamped demo so they can learn the controls on their own time before joining your next park session.
Conclusion
Version 1.2.0 turns Drag x Drive into a tighter, more expressive game without losing the quirky charm that made it stand out on Nintendo Switch 2 in the first place. Survival Tag brings a completely different kind of tension to parks, one built around pressure and laughter instead of pure scoreboard anxiety, while stat fixes and bot adjustments quietly smooth out long-term frustrations. The new record deletion option shows that Nintendo is listening to players who care about how their history looks, and the fixes to bunny hops, terrain and upper limit values all protect the core design from being warped by exploits. Even the demo update fits into that same philosophy of respect, giving curious players a clear, accessible way in. If you bounced off Drag x Drive earlier in the year or simply drifted toward other multiplayer games, this is a strong moment to roll back in, explore Survival Tag and feel how much more confident the game has become.
FAQs
- How do you start Survival Tag in Drag x Drive after updating to version 1.2.0?
- To start Survival Tag, head into a friend park, local wireless park or LAN park and open the X Menu as the player who created the park. From there, move to the Players tab and choose the option to start Survival Tag. Once you launch the mode, the game switches the rules so one player becomes the chaser and the rest become potential targets, letting you enjoy chasing rounds without changing to a different application or lobby.
- What exactly changed with Iso Wins and other stats in this update?
- Before version 1.2.0, Iso Wins did not tell the full truth, because the value was counting every Iso attempt rather than only the ones you actually won. After the patch, the stat now tracks true wins, which makes comparisons between players more meaningful. On top of that, Rope Jumps are now logged on the Other Stats tab, so movement-heavy players can see their efforts reflected properly and use those numbers as another way to track improvement or style preferences over time.
- Can I really delete Drag x Drive records without losing my trophies?
- Yes, the update is built so that records and trophies are separate. When you hold ZL, the left directional button and the right directional button on the left Joy-Con 2 for ten seconds on the pre-event record screen, you delete that particular record permanently, but any trophies you earned stay linked to your profile. This lets you polish your visible stats or clear out messy times while still keeping proof that you completed milestone challenges earlier in your Drag x Drive journey.
- How did the bunny hop and speed behavior change in version 1.2.0?
- Before the patch, clever players could use bunny hops, rotations and midair behavior to climb past the intended top speed, then hold that speed even when the situation no longer matched the design. Version 1.2.0 fixes those edge cases so acceleration beyond top speed is limited to what the game originally promised, such as driving down a slope or hitting a clean halfpipe or ramp trick. As a result, runs feel more consistent and you do not need awkward control habits just to keep up with the fastest players.
- What are the main differences in the Drag x Drive demo after the 1.1.1 update?
- The demo has been reshaped to be more approachable. Its name is now simply Drag x Drive Demo instead of Drag x Drive: Global Jam, and the software icon has been updated to match. More importantly, you can access the tutorial and certain bot games at any time, without having to wait for special event windows. That makes it easier for new players to test the movement, shooting and park flow whenever they like, and it gives existing fans a low-pressure space to help friends learn before you all jump into Survival Tag or full matches together.
Sources
- How to Update Drag x Drive, Nintendo Support, December 1, 2025
- Drag x Drive Version 1.2.0 now available (patch notes), My Nintendo News, December 2, 2025
- Drag x Drive 1.2.0 update out now, patch notes – Survival Tag mode and demo, Nintendo Everything, December 2, 2025
- Switch 2 Exclusive Drag x Drive Scores Its Second Major Update, Here’s What’s Included, Nintendo Life, December 2, 2025
- Drag x Drive Update 1.2.0 Adds Survival Tag and Key Gameplay Fixes, Twisted Voxel, December 2, 2025













