2005 is back baby as a car racing game becomes this year’s most acclaimed title

For the longest time now, car racing games haven't really been in the spotlight. There used to be a period in video games where these sorts of titles were everything your friend group talked about.

The genre sort of faded alongside the 2000s and their signature underground racing scenes, of which today only fragments remain. But in 2005, and a couple of years before and after it, we had so many good racing titles that I can't even begin to name them all. We had two Need for Speed: Underground games in 2003 and 2004, the masterpiece that was Most Wanted in 2005, as well as Gran Turismo 4. and the first Forza Motorsport that same year.

Of course I have to also mention 2006's FlatOut 2. Now that was an incredible game.

However, while we did get some solid racing games in the 2010s and these wretched post-pandemic 2020s, I fail to recall a moment where one of them was the best-reviewed game of the year. And while we're only at the halfway point of 2026, Forza Horizon 6 has already cemented itself as likely the most acclaimed game of the year, with a Metacritic average of 92.

That puts it above some of this year's heavyweight champions like Resident Evil Requiem and Pokémon Pokopia both at 89, Saros at 87, and my personal favorite, Pragmata, at 85. It's incredible when you think about it.

For the longest time, the Forza franchise stood as a more casual, laidback experience that combined all sorts of side activities and relatively solid vehicle handling and graphics without really doing anything too out of the ordinary or even revolutionizing the genre to any significant degree. To see a game precisely in that series really makes me eager to play it, because I am now genuinely intrigued to see what Horizon 6 offers over its predecessors (or other games in the genre, for that matter).

The one thing I always thought was missing from modern racing games is a proper storyline. Most Wanted really emphasized the narrative and was thus significantly more memorable than if it had just given us some solid racing.

Nevertheless, our Arka Sarkar gave the game a 9/10, praising its handling and the incredibly picturesque setting that is Japan. No mentions of story, sadly, but I guess the driving is just so good that you don't even need one.

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