With Forza Horizon 6, Playground Games has finally given many fans of the series what they’ve been asking for. This latest high-speed playground is the series’ largest, featuring a metropolitan area several times larger than any that has become before, as well as a diverse selection of Japan’s most eye-catching and picturesque landscape for you to soak in as you explore its hundreds of streets.
Nailing down the exact size of Forza Horizon 6’s map is tricky, but several keen-eyed fans have made some good approximations. Driving from one of the map’s most southern points all the way to its most northern is around 21 miles long, which is longer than a similar comparison to Forza Horizon 5’s approximately 10-mile-long stretch between its most eastern and western points. It took me around 12 minutes and 30 seconds to drive this route, in one of Forza Horizon 6’s fastest Toyota Supra variants, just to give you a rough idea of what to expect. Given how each map is laid out differently in each direction, it’s hard to get an exact area figure for comparison, but this difference in distance suggests Forza Horizon 6 is considerably larger.
That’s true too when comparing its Goliath race distance. These are grueling endurance races where a single lap spans the entire perimeter of the map, giving a good estimation of overall size. Forza Horizon 6’s Goliath race features a lap distance of around 50 miles, considerably larger than the 29-mile lap in Forza Horizon 5. Again, this isn’t an exact comparison given different road layouts, but it’s quite clear that Playground Games has expanded these Japanese regions in as many directions as possible.
Like previous titles, Forza Horizon 6’s map draws from several inspirations and amalgamates them into a single, cohesive space, deftly letting you move from the bustling streets of Tokyo City to the serene, snow-capped tips of the Japanese Alps. Japan has a rich automotive history and its distinctive car culture has seeped into all forms of entertainment, with Playground Games drawing from as many of these sources in key locations around the map. Here are just a few that you shouldn’t miss on your journey through Japan.
Tokyo City
It would be impossible to have a Forza Horizon set in Japan without representing the neon lights of Tokyo City in a big way. And Playground Games has delivered; the metropolitan is the largest urban area in the series by a wide margin, featuring some of the city’s most distinctive features while transforming it into an asphalt playground that is actually fun to drive through.
While widening the roads might divorce it slightly from the real thing, it’ll be easy to forget when you’re whizzing past landmarks like Shibuya Crossing, the tree-laden Ginkgo Avenue (which is likely to look stunning in Autumn), and a close approximation of the C1 Inner Loop Expressway that wraps around the city.
Mount Haruna, Hakone Nanamagari, and Initial D
If you’re familiar with the cult classic anime and manga, Initial D, you more than likely picked up some references to it in Forza Horizon 6’s first showcase earlier this year. Rest assured, too, that this wasn’t just for show either. Mount Haruna, the real-life mountain pass that the anime’s Mount Akina is based on, can be found in the northeastern region of Forza Horizon 6’s map. At least, a very close approximation of the twisty pass, that is sure to be a delight to drift down.
Speaking of famed drifting spots, you can also expect to find a reference to Hakone Nanamagari in the far south of the map. The distinctive flowing hairpins made the spot immensely popular for drifting, with its recreation in Forza Horizon 6 featuring even tighter angles to navigate at speed. With the inclusion of touge battles as a race event, you can expect to find yourself on this historic piece of tarmac relatively frequently.
Izu Skyline
Forza Horizon 6 was announced with a short teaser that ended with a view of Mount Fuji, so you owe it to yourself to seek out this exact view in-game. The Izu Skyline, a stretch of road that travels along the Izu Peninsula, is the perfect way to observe this sublime mountain, especially since you won’t be able to drive to it yourself. The long stretch of road begins as you exit Tokyo City from the west side, and takes you all the way to Forza Horizon 6’s version of Lake Ashi. It’s a long stretch that is perhaps best experienced behind the wheel of a quick, but not incredibly fast, car, so that you’re not robbed of the splendid views along the way.
Tsukuba Circuit
A mainstay across several Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo entries, and one of the most distinctive Japanese racing tracks of all time, you can find what looks like Tsukuba Circuit in the northwest area of the map, just below the area demarcated for The Estate (once you’ve progressed far enough to unlock it). The layout here looks more like the condensed Tsukuba Short layout rather than the full thing, but is nonetheless just as recognizable, given its long, sweeping corners and aggressive hairpin at the end of an even longer straight. Forza Horizon 6 doesn’t name it as such, however, with the track instead called the Shimanoyama Drift Circuit.
If you’re more into Formula 1, you might wonder why this is featured rather than a circuit like Suzuka. But Tsukuba, established in the late 1960s, is just as important to Japanese racing, especially with local formats that have run nearly weekly at the prestigious track. Expect to lose a lot of time attempting to perfect its technical lap.
Japanese Alps
To the north of the map, you’ll find the sweeping mountain passes of the Japanese Alps, recognizable here in Forza Horizon 6 by their crisp white and snowy mountaintops. The roads here get a little narrower, with only one lane for each side of traffic, injecting the drive up and around the pristine pass a little bit of danger. As you may have noticed during the game’s initial gameplay reveal, there are sections of the pass where the road is entirely flanked by two high walls of snow and ice. This pass, known as Yuki-no-Otani (or the Great Valley of Snow) is just as surreal here as it is in real life, and best enjoyed during Forza Horizon 6’s winter season once it rolls by.
Airstrip Races
Switching to locations that are more about racing than heritage, Forza Horizon 6 has two distinct strips of land that look primed for short, technical drag events. These airstrips specifically are found near the center of the map, with the Ito Airfield on the eastern side and the other to the west, incorporated with the Horizon Festival site. You can partake in a drag event as soon as you arrive to either, taking your spot in a starting block before launching yourself out of it and deftly timing your gear shifts to reach the end as fast as possible. These are the perfect stretches of tarmac for trying to hit the absolute highest speeds your vehicle of choice can offer, without the dangers of oncoming traffic to dissuade you.