Forza Motorsport is to Xbox what Gran Turismo is to PlayStation. But the one thing the PlayStation 4 and 5 had been missing for so many years was the Forza Horizon games. These tone down the hardcoresim-racingmechanics of the Motorsport games and replace the real-life tracks with a picturesque open world of any of the various countries, ranging from the diverse landscapes of Australia to the sunny beaches of Hawaii.
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Playground isn’t showing signs of slowing down the production of Forza games and these are all there Forza Horizon games, ranked.
6Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox 360)
A Shell of the Real Forza Horizon 2
Forza Horizon 2
Forza Horizon 2’sXbox 360version is the one entry in the series that most players don’t even remember and for good reason. This wasn’t just a watered-down version of the Xbox One release, it was practically a different game altogether, built on the aging Forza Horizon 1 engine rather than the vastly-improved ForzaTech used on newer hardware. What resulted was a bland, lifeless open world that lacked the dynamic weather and cutting-edge physics that made the Xbox One version shine. The world felt eerily static, the lighting looked outdated, and even basic visual details, like reflections and road textures, were severely downgraded. Worse still, the map was significantly smaller, and entire car customization features were missing.
Forza Horizon 2barely even felt like a Forza game. Reviews at the time highlighted how it felt like an afterthought, a quick cash grab to please players still stuck on last-gen hardware. And with the majority of the Forza Horizon community moving onto the Xbox One version, online functionality was barren, making the longevity almost nonexistent.
5Forza Horizon 5
The Perfect Open-World Racer That Lacks a Soul
Forza Horizon 5
On paper,Forza Horizon 5should be the best in the series. The map is bigger than ever, the visuals are stunning and the car handling is tighter than it’s ever been. Yet, despite all that, it’s also the first Horizon game that feels like it lacks any real personality. Set in Mexico, the game boasts breathtaking landscapes, but the festival atmosphere that defined previous games feels strangely corporate and sterile. The radio stations, once filled with unforgettable soundtracks that defined each entry, now blend into a forgettable mix of generic tunes. Even the over-the-top characters that used to give the festival life are reduced to awkward, repetitive dialogue deliverers who lack the charm of earlier games.
Then there’s the problem with content. Yes, there’s a lot of it, perhaps too much. Forza Horizon 5 floods the player with races, events and side activities, but few of them feel distinct or meaningful. There’s little progression beyond unlocking more races, and the seasonal updates, while packed with content, often feel like recycled versions of past events rather than exciting new experiences. It’s still one of the best open-world racing games ever made, but compared to its predecessors, it feels more like an algorithm-driven checklist than an exhilarating road trip.
4Forza Horizon 4
The Beginning of the End
Forza Horizon 4
Forza Horizon 4is when the series truly went mainstream, and while that brought in millions of new players, it also marked the start of some troubling trends. The game’s biggest innovation was its dynamic seasons, which changed the map every week, offering a new way to experience its stunning recreation of Britain. But beyond that, it introduced the live-service structure that would later define Horizon 5, and not often for the better. Instead of a well-paced campaign, progression was tied to a rotating schedule of online events and challenges, making it feel like players were on a treadmill of content rather than embarking on a journey.
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The car list was expansive, the online features were robust, there were truly unique and enjoyableshowcase events, and the festival atmosphere was still present, but something about Forza Horizon 4 felt less like a celebration of car culture and more like an always-online engagement machine. It was more like a mobile live-service game than a successor to the Forza Horizon games that came before it. It’s still one of the best Forza Horizon games, but it’s also where the franchise began leaning toward quantity over quality.
3Forza Horizon 3
The Sweet Spot Between Chaos and Charm
Forza Horizon 3
If there’s one game that perfectly balances the wild, over-the-top energy of Horizon with the depth and structure of a proper racing game, it’sForza Horizon 3. Set in Australia, this entry featured some of the most diverse terrain in the series, from sun-soaked beaches to dense rainforests, all while offering a level of player freedom that wasn’t bogged down by an overstuffed live-service model.
What truly made Horizon 3 special was its festival-building mechanic, which let players expand and customize their own festival sites across the map. This gave the game a sense of progression that later entries lacked, making every race and achievement feel like it contributed to something bigger. The handling was tight yet forgiving, the vehicle selection was vast and theDLC expansionsHot Wheels and Blizzard Mountain were some of the best in the franchise. It was the last Horizon game that truly felt like it was about the cars first and foremost before the series leaned too far into being a mass-market live-service experience.
2Forza Horizon
The One that Started it All
Forza Horizon
Forza Horizonwas a gamble. At the time, the mainline Forza Motorsport series was known for its strict simulation-style racing and an open-world spinoff sounded like a risky move. But Playground Games knew exactly what they were doing, blending the high-quality driving physics of Motorsport with the freedom and excitement of a massive festival-driven open world. Set in a fictionalized version of Colorado, this game introduced everything that would define the Horizon series: festival energy, expansive car lists and an emphasis on sheer driving enjoyment.
Unlike later entries, Forza Horizon had a much stronger focus on the racing community, with rival drivers and street-racing culture playing a more significant role. The world was an integral part of the experience, with hidden barn finds, illegal street races and a soundtrack that became instantly iconic. While it might feel limited compared to later games, it laid the foundation for what would become one of the best racing franchises in gaming history.
1Forza Horizon 2 (Xbox One)
The Ultimate Horizon Experience
Forza Horizon 2took everything great about the original and expanded on it tenfold. Now set in a gorgeous recreation of Southern France and Northern Italy, it featured a seamless open world with no loading screens between events, dynamic weather for the first time in the series and a car handling model that struck the perfect balance between realism and accessibility. It was the game that many PlayStation users drooled over.
More importantly, this was the last Horizon game before the series started to feel like an always-online service. There were no seasonal gimmicks, no overwhelming live-service mechanics, just a beautiful world, a perfectly-curated car list and an atmosphere that made every race feel like part of a grand road trip. Even today, it’s still considered one of the best Forza Horizon titles, offering a level of purity and charm that later entries would struggle to replicate.
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