On this day in 2005, the first entry in the Forza game series released and seven follow-ups plus five open world spin-off games, we at OverTake have plenty of memories with the franchise.
When it comes to the console market, there may have been many circuit based racing games but realistically, only three have had major staying power. The F1 games by Codemasters, Gran Turismo on the PlayStation and finally, the Forza games which have been exclusive to Xbox.
Many people have played these games, including us on the OverTake team. So to mark this porcelain anniversary occasion, we decided to share our memories of playing the games over the years, both the Motorsport and the open world Horizon titles.
Back in the day, Ferrari cars were not in many PlayStation titles for whatever reason, something to do with licensing disputes. The trouble is, it was not contained to just titles that had a release on PlayStation, Ferrari cars appeared in games on other platforms like the Xbox, just not the PlayStation. In the first Test Drive Unlimited for example, you could drive Ferraris and motorcycles in the Xbox and PC version but not on the PlayStation versions.
I had sort of made peace with it, until I went to a youth group one day and played on an Xbox for the first time.
For a time, Ferrari road cars were not found on PlayStation, so Forza was one of the few games where they could be found. Image: Turn 10 Studios
When I discovered the first Forza Motorsport, I felt like a dog in a butcher's shop with all these supercars I could drive, and then I found it.. the Enzo. From then on, I was hooked and my parents got me an Xbox of my own to play the game at home. Being able to drive my favourite car was huge for me, and I will always appreciate Forza Motorsport for that.
But.. when the Enzo was announced to be coming to Gran Turismo 5, I quickly jumped back to where I was most familiar. Since the Forza franchise finally made the leap over to PlayStation with the PS5 release of Forza Horizon 5, I have been enjoying it immensely. Even with my relatively miniscule experience with the series, it made an indelible impact on me and my experiences with racing games.
From that moment, I dedicated myself for the next six months or so to getting odd-jobs from neighbours, tracking my piggy bank and cutting the sweet intake all to save up those 50€. It’s fair to say that from the first moment of loading the game, it all felt worth it.
From its Clarkson cameos to wide-ranging car list and stupendously gorgeous tracks, I’m pretty sure it contributed greatly to my car obsession as an adult. If it didn’t, then the first Forza Horizon entry certainly did. Once again, from that first trailer, I knew I wanted it on release day and managed to nab it after school.
To this day, I still get giddy when pressing play on a Horizon Pulse Spotify playlist behind the wheel of my own car – a car I fell in love with from Forza Motorsport 4 I might add.
This continued with Forza Motorsport 4, which I pre-ordered the Collector's Edition of. Still have it - the steel book casing and actual book that it came with were nice touches. While FM4 wasn't too revolutionary different compared to 3, the Top Gear tie-in, the highly-detailed Autovista (now Forzavista) mode for select cars, plus the ALMS partnership were really cool during a period when PC sim racing was far out of reach for me financially.
The Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S is a major favourite of Yannik's. Image: Turn 10 Studios
I still remember a little Nürburgring hotlap challenge I had going on with a friend: Who could lap the Nordschleife faster in a Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S? The sound of that car was vicious in the game, and the motivation to one-up my buddy was rather motivating. Another fond memory includes recreating a livery of the Saleen S7R that Anthony Lazzaro, Paul Gentilozzi, Scott Pruett and John Miller drove in the 2001 24 Hours of Daytona in the livery editor, as I own a slot-car model of it - the design may not have looked perfect, but man, was I proud to have created that as closely as my limited artistic talent allowed.
I did play Forza Motorsport 5 when I got an Xbox One, and the first two Forza Horizon games as well when they were free as part of the Games with Gold program -and found those two to be massively enjoyable as well. Nothing like tuning a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T way beyond what it should be capable of and compete against Ferraris or Lamborghinis, both in Motorsport or Horizon - that's what the Forza experience was all about for me.
Happy 20th, Forza Motorsport!
My first experience of a racing game was Gran Turismo 4 at a family friend's house, basically to keep me out of trouble whilst the adults did adult talk! However, Forza Motorsport 4 was the first game that I bought with my own money and really got stuck into when it came to completing the career mode and taking my racing seriously.
YouTubers like AR12 Gaming inspired me to keep trying to win those elusive 'Unicorn' cars. I failed at this challenge when I was a child, but one day, I aim to attain at least one of them when I eventually dig out my old Xbox 360. The other two memorable aspects of Forza Motorsport 4 that have stuck with me for all these years are making liveries and recreating the silly challenges that I would see on YouTube.
My group of six friends and I would recreate, to the best of our ability, hours and hours of car football and full-contact banger racing in Suzuki Lianas, plus hour-long 'Tag' mini-games in which one of us would have to keep chasing the others down!
Happy birthday, Forza, you will forever hold a special place in my heart!
Even all these years later, the game still looks good, the visuals were mindblowing ten years ago, but after that game, the series got worse, more cluttered, less heart & soul, and even fewer good ideas.
My special shoutout goes out to the famous Forza Aero and the horrible Forza spoiler on hatchback cars. Just one element that shows how much they stagnated over the years. Things have seemed to pick up with FH5 and the 2023 Forza Motorsport, though to be fair.
What are your fondest memories of the Forza games? Let us know in the comments below, and join the discussion in our Forza Motorsport forum!
When it comes to the console market, there may have been many circuit based racing games but realistically, only three have had major staying power. The F1 games by Codemasters, Gran Turismo on the PlayStation and finally, the Forza games which have been exclusive to Xbox.
Many people have played these games, including us on the OverTake team. So to mark this porcelain anniversary occasion, we decided to share our memories of playing the games over the years, both the Motorsport and the open world Horizon titles.
Luca
When it comes to the console war, for the vast majority of my life I was on the PlayStation side and got into racing games with the likes of F1 04 and Gran Turismo 3. The reason I fell in love with cars was because my brother had a copy of a DVD from a certain former Top Gear presenter, and in it was the Ferrari Enzo. That was it, I was hooked. Only problem, there were a noticeable lack of games with that car that I could play.Back in the day, Ferrari cars were not in many PlayStation titles for whatever reason, something to do with licensing disputes. The trouble is, it was not contained to just titles that had a release on PlayStation, Ferrari cars appeared in games on other platforms like the Xbox, just not the PlayStation. In the first Test Drive Unlimited for example, you could drive Ferraris and motorcycles in the Xbox and PC version but not on the PlayStation versions.
I had sort of made peace with it, until I went to a youth group one day and played on an Xbox for the first time.
For a time, Ferrari road cars were not found on PlayStation, so Forza was one of the few games where they could be found. Image: Turn 10 Studios
When I discovered the first Forza Motorsport, I felt like a dog in a butcher's shop with all these supercars I could drive, and then I found it.. the Enzo. From then on, I was hooked and my parents got me an Xbox of my own to play the game at home. Being able to drive my favourite car was huge for me, and I will always appreciate Forza Motorsport for that.
But.. when the Enzo was announced to be coming to Gran Turismo 5, I quickly jumped back to where I was most familiar. Since the Forza franchise finally made the leap over to PlayStation with the PS5 release of Forza Horizon 5, I have been enjoying it immensely. Even with my relatively miniscule experience with the series, it made an indelible impact on me and my experiences with racing games.
Angus
My journey with the Forza franchise started rather late compared to my colleagues. I was predominantly a Gran Turismo kid. But after getting my first Xbox at the age of 10, I was on the hunt for racing games soon after. That’s when the first trailer for Forza Motorsport 4 was released—you know the one!From that moment, I dedicated myself for the next six months or so to getting odd-jobs from neighbours, tracking my piggy bank and cutting the sweet intake all to save up those 50€. It’s fair to say that from the first moment of loading the game, it all felt worth it.
From its Clarkson cameos to wide-ranging car list and stupendously gorgeous tracks, I’m pretty sure it contributed greatly to my car obsession as an adult. If it didn’t, then the first Forza Horizon entry certainly did. Once again, from that first trailer, I knew I wanted it on release day and managed to nab it after school.
To this day, I still get giddy when pressing play on a Horizon Pulse Spotify playlist behind the wheel of my own car – a car I fell in love with from Forza Motorsport 4 I might add.
Yannik
My main Forza memories are from the days of Forza Motorsport 3 and 4. I had just bought an Xbox 360, and after playing Forza 3 at a friend's place previously, the game was one of the first I got for the console. I remember the photo mode looking absolutely insane back then, and I spent hours either taking cool shots of cars or grinding through the career mode events.This continued with Forza Motorsport 4, which I pre-ordered the Collector's Edition of. Still have it - the steel book casing and actual book that it came with were nice touches. While FM4 wasn't too revolutionary different compared to 3, the Top Gear tie-in, the highly-detailed Autovista (now Forzavista) mode for select cars, plus the ALMS partnership were really cool during a period when PC sim racing was far out of reach for me financially.
The Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S is a major favourite of Yannik's. Image: Turn 10 Studios
I still remember a little Nürburgring hotlap challenge I had going on with a friend: Who could lap the Nordschleife faster in a Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S? The sound of that car was vicious in the game, and the motivation to one-up my buddy was rather motivating. Another fond memory includes recreating a livery of the Saleen S7R that Anthony Lazzaro, Paul Gentilozzi, Scott Pruett and John Miller drove in the 2001 24 Hours of Daytona in the livery editor, as I own a slot-car model of it - the design may not have looked perfect, but man, was I proud to have created that as closely as my limited artistic talent allowed.
I did play Forza Motorsport 5 when I got an Xbox One, and the first two Forza Horizon games as well when they were free as part of the Games with Gold program -and found those two to be massively enjoyable as well. Nothing like tuning a 1969 Dodge Charger R/T way beyond what it should be capable of and compete against Ferraris or Lamborghinis, both in Motorsport or Horizon - that's what the Forza experience was all about for me.
Happy 20th, Forza Motorsport!
Connor
The Forza Motorsport series means a lot to me, especially Forza Motorsport 4. From the Autovista to the packed deck of challenges and career modeMy first experience of a racing game was Gran Turismo 4 at a family friend's house, basically to keep me out of trouble whilst the adults did adult talk! However, Forza Motorsport 4 was the first game that I bought with my own money and really got stuck into when it came to completing the career mode and taking my racing seriously.
YouTubers like AR12 Gaming inspired me to keep trying to win those elusive 'Unicorn' cars. I failed at this challenge when I was a child, but one day, I aim to attain at least one of them when I eventually dig out my old Xbox 360. The other two memorable aspects of Forza Motorsport 4 that have stuck with me for all these years are making liveries and recreating the silly challenges that I would see on YouTube.
My group of six friends and I would recreate, to the best of our ability, hours and hours of car football and full-contact banger racing in Suzuki Lianas, plus hour-long 'Tag' mini-games in which one of us would have to keep chasing the others down!
Happy birthday, Forza, you will forever hold a special place in my heart!
Michel
The Forza Horizon 2 intro is maybe one of the best starts of a racing game ever, this festival stuff still felt new, the music transition to the Huracán V10 still gives me goosebumps. Plus, I have way better connection to these roads and this map than to other Forza Horizon games, as I experienced the region in real life.Even all these years later, the game still looks good, the visuals were mindblowing ten years ago, but after that game, the series got worse, more cluttered, less heart & soul, and even fewer good ideas.
My special shoutout goes out to the famous Forza Aero and the horrible Forza spoiler on hatchback cars. Just one element that shows how much they stagnated over the years. Things have seemed to pick up with FH5 and the 2023 Forza Motorsport, though to be fair.
What are your fondest memories of the Forza games? Let us know in the comments below, and join the discussion in our Forza Motorsport forum!
