Ready for October? It's almost time for the next big first-party release in the Xbox calendar, and that's Forza Motorsport! The game releases in early access on Thursday, followed by the full Xbox Game Pass launch five days later.
Before we get to all the reviews and the impressions of this latest entry, we're interested to know what you think about Forza as a franchise right now. Obviously that incorporates not only the Motorsport titles but also the Horizon titles, making it surely one of the best racing franchises of all time across any platform.
That said, there's a lot of competition! Gran Turismo on PlayStation is a notable example, and then you've got the likes of Need for Speed, Burnout, Project Gotham Racing, the F1 games... heck, even Mario Kart if you're counting that!
Ultimately, there are going to be a lot of different answers coming out of this depending on what kind of racing games you typically prefer, so we're not running a poll or anything like that... it's not something to be taken too seriously! Nevertheless, feel free to give us your own list of the best racing franchises of all time in the comments below.
Is Forza the best racing franchise of all time? Tell us!
Comments 65
Forza 4 for me was best, being British and having game set in England was great. Was a fan of GT back on old playstation 2 but forza 7 was also a strong game. Reminded me of toca from codemasters. The crew festival is just forza 5 in different package but good effort.
The burnout franchise is my favorite overall. I would give it to Forza for the "sim" category.
Side note: I have always found Nascar games surprisingly fun. Dirt to Daytona on PS2 was and is still very fun. Nascar heat 5 with a steering wheel is great too.
I love Forza and it’s basically what got me into Xbox back in 2014. As a sim, it’s probably my favorite, but Gran Tourismo has its virtues too. Not in the same class, but Mario Kart is probably my favorite racing game.
Personally, I’d put Mario Kart and Gran Turismo above Forza for sure. Mario Kart is the king of racing games. Diddy Kong Racing too. I’d place that above Forza.
I’d potentially put Wipeout above Forza and potentially Road Rash also… if we are only talking the Sega Genesis titles and if we are being nostalgic instead of objective.
I spend almost all my time gaming on PlayStation, but I always come back to Xbox when a new Forza title comes out as I personally find that the series is unmatched by Gran Turismo, the closest competitor.
There's been some stand out racing games that really engaged me hard with names like Test Drive, Need for Speed, Burnout and Gran Turismo among many others. Titles that really pushed forward the genre or were just simply mind blowing for me. But yeah overall as a franchise forza has been reliable, consistent and excellent (except FM5). Forza motorsport 3 and 4 + horizon 2 + 4 are definitely in my top racing games of all time. But it's been a while since I really enjoyed it. If it wasn't for the UK setting in FH4 you would have to go back a decade to find one that really grabbed me. I feel as though it's been degraded by live service crap a lot over the years. So early access isn't on my radar.
For me, Gran Turismo is way better than Forza Motorsport,
BUT, Forza Horizon 4 along with the Lego expansion is my favourite racing game of all time.
Shout outs to Mario Kart and Wipeout too
Forza MS is as much sim racing that I want. My favorite was 4 and is still the one I reach for.
Favorite arcade racer is Burnout 1,2,3 and revenge. The speed and action was masterclass
Far as multiplayer goes its Mario Kart. On the couch with friends/family is always good for laughs and the only online game I play anymore.
As far as sim racers go, I’ve played both Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport over the years but honestly have to say Forza comes out on top for me.
Think it’s kind of silly to compare sim and arcade racers so not gonna go there.
Gran tourismo is wothout a doubt but forzas a close second I kean jcwr the years bot just now
As a 'franchise' with two distinct styles of Racing games - the much more Sim style with Motorsport and the more Arcade style Horizon, I would say its probably the 'best' right now as it caters to a 'wider' range of people - not just those who want a Sim or an Arcade Racer.
Burnout Paradise was one of my Favourite racers and I prefered Project Gotham and Rallisport Challenge to Forza Motorsport back on the OG/360 era consoles. I also enjoyed Motorstorm (Playstation) more than Sim racers. However, as those IP's don't really exist anymore, its really left Forza, and in particular, Playground's 'Horizon' games as my favourite 'current' Racing IP.
I'm sure that if you were to ask someone who is very much into the Sim style, especially those who may also have real world experience of racing, they may have a completely different opinion when it comes to having the most accurate 'simulation', but I prefer more Arcade style and the more 'sim' they get, the less I want to play...
Gran turismo lacks so much atmosphere yes graphics are good but menus are shocking, grind if you dont wanna pay and not everyone wants to do the licences
@BBB Agreed. I just switched to PC sim racing, and it's not even a close debate. But even when I was a console sim racer, I already knew this to be the case. Articles/opinions like these are pretty ignorant or uneducated.
Nope. It's somewhat apples to oranges, but Forza doesn't come close to the likes of Mario Kart or Midnight Club for overall enjoyability and playability.
If the new Forza is better than last years Gran turismo and doesn’t lean too heavily on microtransactions then for me it will be a resounding yes. I loved the old Forza motorsports and I love the horizon games. Too early to crown it best racing franchise though.
I love Forza, but “best of all time?”
Lol, no.
Mario Kart for me. But Forza is a close second.
I really can’t split Forza Horizon 4/5 an Gran Turismo 7. Complete different type of racing game but both fun, depend on my mood which i play. Lookin forward Forza M, never played a Forza M game before. I guessin it similar carry on Gran Turismo 7 which great!!
Between Forza and the Dirt games, I'm happy. I couldn't get into Gran Turismo. It looks good, but the menus suck and it feels stale.
It's good, but it's no Mario Kart.
As for sim racers, I think it holds it's own in the console space, but some PC sims are really next level by comparison.
Personally I think forza could benefit from VR, but we all know micrsoft has no interest in this.
I will agree with most people that Forza (more Horizons than Motorsport though) has been the best overall...but has been getting more stale.
Mario Cart holds its own, still even gets the top 10 in sales weekly many of the times, to this day!. I will say I like Mario Cart for just fun. However, even it has been running out of ideas.
Burnout 2 is the best driving game made of all time !!!
Too bad they killed the Burnout franchise with open world Paradise City.
Burnout, Mario Kart, Wipeout, F-Zero are all above Forza for me. Forza is good but it doesn't have the fun factor of those franchises in my opinion. I remember vividly playing those over the years but nothing really sticks out about Forza.
Nope, it's still PGR.
Going by length of time played which is a good measure for me.
Mario kart series
Forza Horizon series
Need for speed series
What about Driveclub ……….or we not allowed, what with it being on that console.😂😂😂
Ha not a chance. It's a good franchise definitely, but not the best. Project cars, Assetto Corsa & Gran Turismo are better.
All I need for Forza to improve is quali sessions. I love them, but I find Forza is lacking in this area.
Forza is alright, but for me I think the best was Need For Speed, I had great fun with Need For Speed 2 Underground on PC back in the day. Also Gran Turismo and Ridge Racer on PS1. Drive club was also good.
I played through one of the Forza Motorspot games on Xbox 360 and that was good, think may have been the third one?
PGR was peak racing without the flash. That game holds up well for today times.
Is Forza The Best Racing Franchise Of All Time?
ABSOLUTELY!
@x3King84
You said it best!
The pinnacle for me was Forza 4 followed by Forza Horizon 3.
The cars, the entire presentation, the tracks, just stunning.
@FakeSunkist yes it does!
FM6 was the last super proper Forza game. I love Horizon, but see it as a different series (though it's obviously much more commercial than the original series). As for it being the best series of all time, there's a valid argument but FM7 was a LONG time ago and so if Forza is to retain its crown this new entry better be good.
For me GT1-4 are my favourites. But since then FM has probably edged it. But also there is stuff like asseto that is also very very good.
There is barely anything between, other than being a fanboy of one console or another.
Forza is good for features and single player but the physics are always a bit off for me and it’s not very good to play on a wheel.
GT7 has terrible menus and single player but the online is better, physics are way better and it plays really well on a wheel and is well balanced against others who play on controller.
In terms of graphics they both look good but just have different styles. I think the attention to detail in GT is usually a bit better. But that just my opinion/preference.
Assets Corsa Competizone is better than both of these games it’s just not very well optimized on consoles unfortunately.
To answer the question of the article though, No Forza is not the best racing franchise of all time. I think that would have to go to iRacing, rFactor, ACC or Live For Speed. Obviously this is just my opinion though.
Also, why is everyone comparing Forza with Mario kart and Burnout??? Totally different games 😂😂😂
I guess so considering how Forza Horizon is a part of the series, but I would rank Gran Turismo above it in terms of pure racing sims. That said Forza was undoubtedly the best franchise during the Xbox One era, PS4 had nothing that could compete with it.
Forza-Anything has become my favorite racing series. Admittedly, I don't think I have played a Gran Turismo game since GT3 A-Spec or maybe GT4. Got to give credit to the original GT. Rally-sport Challenge 3 was great on OG Xbox. I own Asetto Corsa on PC, though I never got into it.
I will never understand the Mario Kart love. Could be I was too old when it came out. At the time I was 15, and I can remember a friend going on about how fun this "Mario Kart" game was. I looked at him like he was crazy, partially because Mortal Kombat had come out that year.
Rideg racer series for me but forza a close second
A funny note;
When describing Padel Tennis compared to normal Tennis to people, the easy explanation is:
No, it's top 5 definitely but absolutely not the best.
For slightly more serious racing I'd nod to GT7, though obviously if you want full on sim there are several pc titles well worth considering.
The new Motorsport may take this crown, but right now Im concerned about it being a live service game, and im disspointed it cant match gt7s performance (no 120hz, not 4k 60hz) and the taa aliasing is not giving the best results. Im still looking forward to trying it though.
Arcade racing, its a close call for me between the burnout series and Forza Horizon. I still believe Forza horizon 4 is the pinnicle of that series, but I love em all! Right now Im thinking Crew motorfest might have horizon beat as im loving it, but im only partially through playing that title, so not fair to call it now.
PS. I still keep a PS3 plugged into the telly to have Motorstorm available. Shocking that this ip remains dead.
Favorite racing game: Sega Rally on Sega Saturn
But since the question is franchise, I'd say Gran Turismo 1-4 is best, but Forza 4 and up (except 5) took the crown for me.
I love both GT and Forza, and since I own both consoles, I have the best of both worlds.
@somnambulance surely the point of using the word “franchise” means you have to take every game available as part of that series. In that case, much as I love Mario kart - it really has stuck to the same genre.
Mario Kart and Forza probably have the best ratio of quality across every title. I love Burnout but I felt Paradise and Crash didn’t work.
Mario Kart as I have said hasn’t diversified although every game is great, and Ridge Racer is in that same category.
Road Rash? Interesting. Great games, but again didn’t diversify,
So I think for the very nature of having horizon and mainline, Forza is probably the best.
Diddy Komg racing is one of my favourites, but one game doesn’t make a franchise. Needs to come back though.
I’d say it’s the current king, but i have two scratches I can’t itch and forza just won’t cut it: pgr and daytona games… those are among some of the best, even though I have fond memories of other titles like destruction derby, wipeout and ridge racer, at the moment forza is the best. Just not a replacement for all the great memories I have with all those racing games.
@Dan1283 Grand Turismo is not even close, and I love those games. Microsoft has a lock on the best racing games with Forza.
I’d have to say that OutRun is the king of racing games.
But that’s probably my inner 6-year-old speaking from noatalgia for the old Chuck E Cheese Arcade.
Glad I got to experience that as a kid before it became…whatever it is now
I prefer sega arcade racing games. They are truly the best racing games.
Forza for Sim, Burnout for Arcade, Mario Kart for Kart.
It's the best racing sim for sure.
@Baler if only they would re-release Sega rally 95. That game was epic. Sega were pumping out the hits back then. Xbox needs to buy sega, crack open that back catalogue and make it happen
New forza looks really good, just seems really safe or something, kinda like corporate and sterile. Not hating on it, just after starfield which was quite serious too think I need something different
Forza Motorsport is right up there with Gran Turismo for best console sim racer series. Forza Horizon is right up there with Mario Kart for best arcade race series. So Forza is the king overall, no one comes close.
@LordFunkalot easy right! Maybe? 👍
@Baler One can only hope, back in the day on the original Xbox, Sega and Microsoft were very close and there were lots of sega games out for the OG Xbox 🤞🏻
I don't know for certain how good Forza is. They certainly make a lot of them, but are they really all worth playing? Sometimes it feels more like a sports title to me.
Meanwhile, you have series like Wipeout or Mario Kart that have quite a few completely original games in them that don't simply overwrite (or attempt to overwrite) what was done before. I do think Forza probably has some of the best traditional racers in there somewhere, but so does Need for Speed and one-offs like Driveclub or Quantum Redshift. So, while I'm sure Forza as a series easily beats out Gran Turismo or The Crew or games like that, I don't think it's as good as the best in the genre when taking the whole series into account.
My personal choice is honestly Mario Kart, but Wipeout has slightly higher highs and lower lows, so is a great runner-up. Honorable mention to Driveclub and F-Zero X.
@LordFunkalot I honestly think sega rally has never been beaten to this day! What a company sega was back then man! So innovative. Old sega is what is lacking in the industry right now!
@Baler big time, still go back and play on it from time to time. Those old arcade racers were perfect for 10 min blasts or hour long sessions trying to shave the time down. Most of them only had 3-4 tracks but they’re still remembered fondly for how they played, music was mostly pumping too as the CD medium was new and flashy lol
Old racers like that were so ‘cool’ at the time, that whole period of mid to late 90s gaming was my favourite. The young edgy, experimental and fun late teenage years of gaming. It feels like to me anyways by comparison gamings now just clocking in and out on the old middle age corporate 9-5, wanting to making a profit and focusing on the numbers, micro transactions and season passes instead of the immediate awesome in your face fun.
Old gamer rant over lol
@norwichred Regardless if it’s changed much, I still think Mario Kart has got the edge on Forza. That course design is simply undeniable and, even without considerable change, you know you’re getting a flawless and fun racing experience with them. I legitimately prefer Mario Kart to any racing game, but I’m a casual for racing games. I typically play them for palette cleansers or to de-stress.
While I prefer Gran Turismo because it has hit greater highs for me, I would definitely argue that Forza has been more consistent as a series… though we shall see how I feel about the new one with the bizarre decision to remove split screen mode. That’s seriously a huge wrench in the gears for me, who plays racing games mostly with my wife and kids, you know?
Road Rash just didn’t succeed in the transition to 3D for me, but the first three games were huge on the fun factor. I had so much fun with those first three titles that it felt necessary to namedrop them.
Has it had good ideas yes, the series has had ups and downs though. But after playing other racing games with interesting ideas I struggle to have a 'best racing series' agreement when left behind ideas are more compelling then GT/Forza for me right now and aren't the 'best' racing series.
When is my PGR2 garage/walkable dealership returning? Ah PGR 1-4 were so fun. Outrun and Ridge Racer, Sega Rally and more hmm.
F1/MotoGP/WRC are fine but it's just not the same. The other smaller racing games are good but hit and miss and the other big ones try but I don't know. I like them but not sure (Grid Legends not 2019, Project Cars 1 playing recently as well as Shift 1 and comparing to PC3 has been interesting then only Shift 2 before.
I haven't played many other modern ones of the digital range like Horizon Chase Turbo or others but I'm looking forward to some like Hot Lap Racing for Switch or others to 'see' how they do, while no idea about Drift CE on console compared to the PC user reviews).
Even Forza Motorsport 6 & 7 having GT4-6 style minigames (Sprint is 1 lap magic basically, we don't have a fuel challenge in Forza games do we?) are nice with the showcases in 6 (or 5 doing it's part with a few like signature, the class ones and more from Forza Motorsport 3 & 4 we don't even have touge/hillclimbs anymore, whatever of speedway events and such).
I'd rather probably enjoy Auto Modellista, Apex, (Group S Challenge and Driving Emotion Type S sure are lacking), Stuntman/Ignition as great action movie film set obstacle courses.
Sega GT 2002/Online, R Racing, Enthusia Professional Racing, the forgotten GTI Club (bomb hot potato, car soccer (bit different then Rocket League/Rocket Powered Hypercars the RL predecessor) or tomato events anyone? Besides level ups and cosmetics), the Thrilldrive games or others then Forza Motorsport 1 even for as good as it is.
Flatout (or Wreckfest for a modern example) have their appeal of unlicensed cars, crazy vehicles, fun minigames and just destruction derby games in general.
Road Rash or other bike games have their appeal. Other racing games for cars/bikes exist out there, that are forgotten/still hold up. Many Jet Ski/Snow related too. Not counting kart racers or sci-fi racers (even if I like sci-fi racers in their own way).
For sim, kart racer, sci-fi or arcade or open world or whatever categories to give fairness to.
In terms of open worlds I think the Horizon series is 'fine' is it lacking maybe but I've never played them (I own 3 and played a bit of 1 or 2 and didn't think much of them, I played Burnout Paradise more than Horizon not because I like it just because I was curious, got Burnout 1 & 3 since and their fun for more street circuit racing in an arcadey way and fun modes/damage like Black 2006 is for shooters) can only go off what other players say and the directions it has gone over time.
I enjoy Sega GT's car builder idea and custom events.
(Apex having a story/building up a bunch of concept cars in races and being a manfuacturer or low to higher rank racing team maybe? Which other games have but just the 'you do this in cups menu to menu' then actual dialogue and cutscenes and more actions to 'prove' it.
I enjoy GT4's B spec manager mode. I enjoy Gear Club Unlimited's upgrade and cosmetics stations/garage customisation. Tokyo Extreme Racer Drift 2 for it's touge, it's talking to other people to see what they think on the courses, the gymkhana.
The story modes of Grid Legends, TOCA 1 sixth gen, R Racing Evolution.
Alfa Romeo Racing Italiano was the first to offer the rewind mechanic and allow you to increase it which no other with a rewind system offers for some reason? But it also had an RPG focus for handling and other stats too. (Forza 3/Grid 2008 popularised the rewind system of course. Just like Killswitch/another Namco game Dead to Rights created the cover based third person shooter direction which Gears 1 and Uncharted 1 popularised and have noted the inspiration from Killswitch, which as Namco had rail shooters prior I can see how the shooting gallery to cover based shooting angle can be close of ideas).
Forza Motorsport 1 & 2's region idea was cool but Ride 4 pushed it further (I can't play Ride 4 for how hard it is but I appreciate the idea being continued).
It's not as far for me to pick a favourite puzzle game many on PSP are but racing it's getting tougher the more I discover then just the surface level popular racing games when the others ideas are so good to me their more fun/impressive then current gen racing games lacking in areas and the things their doing don't really appeal to me or are so minimal of what cars offered, what tracks (where the originals these days), what driving/physics model detail, damage models and more that I just don't care really.
Again I care more about the position payout system out of all the Forza Motorsport 8 has to offer. The RPG system is 'fine' (can you put points into the rewind system like Alfa Romeo Racing Italiano I assume not) or the career mode may be fine if it's designed well I hope.
That says how much I want to like the game (besides the online requirement) yet I'm not excited, when I want to be. I want a decent modern racing game to like.
Yet Grid Legends I did enjoy it has it's own issues but I wasn't bored even if it's stage 2 unlocks for car use level ups were a bit tedious, the skills tree like thing was so easy to fill in and I got no trophy/achievement but I have the platinum and I noticed no difference between the car, the teammate AI or any discounts or whatever so to me they did absolutely nothing their so minimal and forgettable what they even offer.
Project Cars 3 I have issues with not so what other people have just different issues with it. Playing Shift 1 recently compared 2 & PC3 that I had to compare has been interesting I'll say.
Gravel was fun rally Point A to B, figure 8, elimination and more for a rally tv show experience. OnRush was a fun different modes multiplatform MotorStorm I guess.
Playing FM6 & 7 probably doesn't help but it filled in the gap of what the series has down over the years. From 3 & 4's excellent career mode to 6's were linear and so newcomer friendly you'll be bored or fine with it (what a FM5 remix idea, and FM7 changing it).
I get fans want customisation and all that I get it yet I've played Gear Club Unlimited 2 and gone yeah..... NFS garages right? Yeah hmm. Many mobile games or past console games are outbeating some racing games if your looking for desired features.
Depends from player to player but still.
So best, I can't say I've played too many to narrow it down as such.
Forza is now miles ahead of GT, GT has fallen from grace and been replaced with Forza!
@Ashadelo Agreed... GT7 left a real sour taste in my mouth. I don't know if it's changed, but the way they left out the microtransaction feature on review copies, then they suddenly appeared after launch... a bit naughty that.
PGR. Kudos to me.
@Baler Ah - memories of Saga Rally!
I worked for a while at Bullfrogs offices in Guildford, Surrey, England. We had a Sega Rally machine set on free play in the chill out room. As a result , at one stage we had 5 out of the top 10 drivers in the world league - or so I was told I spent many an hour...
@Titntin nice that must have been awesome!
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