Forza Horizon 2

It's a racer informed by many others but, when it comes to open-world racing games, Forza Horizon 2 is best-in-class.

There's a party in Forza Horizon 2, and everyone's invited.

It's going to be a busy season for racing games, with sim hopeful Project Cars, ambitious online "CarPG" The Crew and the social score-attack of DriveClub all jostling for attention. Horizon 2 sets an intimidatingly high bar for those games to meet on every front, but in one aspect it seems unbeatable. I can't imagine any of them are going to feel this happy.

Forza Horizon 2's foundation is stronger than the underwhelming tracks built on top of it

By combining open-world thrills with simulation racing and letting you customize the experience to your liking, Forza Horizon 2 is an excellent entry in the series.

This sequel is a good showing for the series on the new system, but it won't blow your doors off

The game's only issues are minor – a reliance on a race discipline it doesn't quite master, and the fact that it really only builds on what we knew from the first game without ever striking out too far on its own. The Horizon offshoot has unshackled the Forza franchise, letting it run free into the wild, and this new adventure ensures that we don't take that freedom for granted.

Every element in Forza Horizon 2 adds up to an exceptional experience. The story isn't over the top so as to get in the way of racing, driving feels as good as it ever did in Forza Motorsport, there's a ton of things to do, and the game looks absolutely beautiful -- especially the long-awaited dynamic weather system. Forza Horizon 2 is a must-have on the Xbox One.

Whether your favourite is Stunt Car Racer, Out Run, Ridge Racer, Burnout, Project Gotham Racing, Blur, any Need for Speed game, Gran Turismo, or good old Metropolis Street Racer, there's something for you here. In terms of excitement, fun, style, and a sheer wealth of things to do, Forza Horizon 2 can stand proudly up against any of the games in that list, despite the trifling imperfections that we've noted.

Forza Horizon 2 successfully captures the feel of the original Horizon title, and in fact, surpasses it in every way. Forza Horizon set out to give racing fans the opportunity to enjoy the Forza series in an open-world environment, and with the addition of a vast and beautiful locale, multiplayer options, both online and in single-player mode, and all of its activities, Forza Horizon 2 is yet another sequel that vastly improves on its original.