Fans of Microsoft’s long running racing franchise, Forza will be happy to note that the series has made the jump to mobile with its debut title, Forza Street. This is a game that promises “real cinematic racing” along with tons of cars to collect and modify. The question is, does it provide that true racing excitement that the Forza series has come to represent over the years, or is it just another dumbed-down game for mobile? Read on and find out.

Let’s start with the good stuff. Graphically, the game looks very good. The environments look very realistic as do all the car models. It’s set in the cit of Miami, though you wouldn’t really be able to tell by looking. The city itself is supposed to look like various parts of Miami with many of its locals set in very touristy areas. Of course if you’re not familiar with these areas, most of it just looks pretty generic. There’s a generous amount of neon colors used, and most of the game takes place at night. Overall it does have that Miami feel. Audio in the game also quite good. Lots of great music which I guess the Forza series is known for and fairly decent sound effects.

Next up, if you’re a car fan, there are around 50 cars you can collect, which is a generous amount. It seems like a lot of the really popular cars are represented. That’s honestly one of the main reasons I play these games is to collect cars that I love. You can also upgrade each vehicle for better performance and speed.

Now let’s get to the racing. Here is where the game just completely lost me after the first few races. This isn’t racing, at least not for those who love racing. This is racing for the casual player who is too lazy to race.

In Forza Street, you don’t have to worry about steering, crashing, accelerating, or really braking. All the fun parts have been oversimplified to the point where all you have to do is hold down the accelerator, let go to brake on a certain part and then hold down the accelerator after you hit another part. Basically, this is like racing with QTE (quick time elements). There’s no actual skill to this. You’re basically just racing on rails. After a few races, it becomes apparent just how boring this is.

There are other racing games much more exciting and making the races look exciting isn’t the same as it actually being exciting. This game is not even close to what a Forza game should be and that’s a shame. It could have been so much deeper than this, but in the end, the developers chose to make this too casual of a game. Despite this, some people might enjoy the simplicity of this and if anything, at least you can collect Xbox achievement points.

Google Play Store: Forza Street
Apple App Store: Forza Street