Forza Horizon 5’s latest update celebrates the 1990s with four new cars

I can remember the 1990s, and now they are being packaged up as a ‘retro-inspired’ game update for Forza Horizon 5.

In other news, I’m old.

Back to the 90’s Festival Playlist

No, that’s not a Traxion typo, the grammar for this month’s Forza Horizon 5 Festival Playlist is a bit wonky…

The Back to the 90 is ‘90s playlist includes four new cars to unlock, alongside Backstages Passes (more on those later).

Before then, here are the two series reward vehicles:

• Mercedes-Benz 500E  – 80 points
• GMC Typhoon – 160 points

Then there are the all-new cars to the open-world driving video game.

The third-generation Toyota Soarer (also sold as a Lexus in some markets) is a big, laid-back cruiser. Power comes from a 2.5-litre turbocharged engine with exactly 276 hp. No really, honest.

This was the ‘90s after all, when Japanese manufacturers had an agreement to not exceed that level of horsepower. So every top-end vehicle perfectly hit the limit… except on a dyno, perhaps they put out a bit more.

One sports car that didn’t need to worry about that restriction was the Mitsubishi FTO. Horizon 5 players will be treated to one of the more extreme specs, with the limited-slip stiff, firmer suspension and aggressive aero kit that came with the GP Version R.

Rounding out the Japanese cars is the criminally overlooked Subaru SVX. This was Fuji Heavy Industries’ first and last attempt at a luxury coupe, with unorthodox looks, an unorthodox 3.3-litre boxer engine and the unorthodox “window-within-a-window” profile. 

Basically, it was a bit weird and the mandatory four-speed automatic gearbox robbed it of any sporting pretensions.

While you may expect the fourth car to also be from the Land of the Rising Sun – it is in fact, British. It’s also not really from the right era. The Aston Martin Lagonda was really from 1976. The last year of production for the wedge-shaped failure was 1990. Just squeezed it in there, Playground Games…

• Toyota Soarer 2.5 GT-T 1997 – summer wet season – 20 points – new
• Horizon Backstage Pass – summer wet season – 40 points
• Mitsubishi FTO GP Version R 1998 – autumn storm season – 20 points – new
• Horizon Backstage Pass – autumn storm season – 40 points
• Aston Martin Lagonda 1990 – winter dry season – 20 points – new
• Horizon Backstage Pass – winter dry season – 40 points
• Subaru SVX 1990 – spring hot season – 20 points – new
• Horizon Backstage Pass – spring hot season – 40 points

Horizon Backstage system returns

This is an area within the Festival Playlist where cars can be unlocked that you may have missed.

For those out of the loop, you must unlock certain cars within Forza Horizon’s time-limited challenges. If you missed on month’s set of events, hard luck. This ‘FOMO’ mechanic is designed to keep players dipping back into Forza Horizon 5.

After nearly three years on the market, Horizon Backstage has now been added (live on the 10th October 2024) – much like it was with the Horizon 4 predecessor.

In this iteration, two pairs of cars will be presented to players alongside a vote. The two that win the week-long vote will appear in the Backstage area. That means, eight cars will be added each Festival Playlist season.

In order to pick up one of said vehicles, you will require a Backstage Pass. These are earnt though… completing Festival Playlist challenges, of course! They will be part of the main roster of weekly prizes and the Forzathon shop. You will also receive one for free on 10th October 2024.

Below is the initial list of available cars:

• 1980 Fiat 131 Abarth

• 2021 BMW M4 Competition Coupe

• 2013 Cadillac XTS Limousine

• 1967 Mercedes-Benz 280 SL

• 2016 Pagani Huayra BC

• 2022 Rivian R1S

Achievements, collectables, cosmetics

As ever, there is another collectable (a VCR) and more clothing (a garish Mr Motivator-stlye get-up) alongside five new Achievements.

These are all for the Hide and Seek game mode which was added last month – but strangely these have been added a month later.

• Hider and Seeker – Complete a match of Hide & Seek as both the Hider and the Seeker – 10
• Bounty Hunter – Complete 25 matches of Hide & Seek as a Seeker – 20
• The Hidden – Complete 5 matches of Hide & Seek as a Hider – 20
• Dedicated to the Cause – Reach a Streak of 20 in Hide & Seek – 30
• Never Back Down – Reach a Streak of 50 in Hide & Seek – 50

The update will be rolling out across PC and Xbox consoles, before the new 1990s-themed Festival Playlist begins Thursday 10th October 2024. Below are the notable quality-of-life changes the update will also bring.

Forza Horizon 5 October 2024 update changelog

Cars

• Fixed an issue with the 1994 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III GSR where the yellow color was missing from the paint selection screen

Hide & Seek

• Fixed accolades not being localized correctly in German, Danish, Spanish, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Russian and Swedish
• Fixed an issue in which players’ license plates weren’t resetting after exiting the game mode
• Fixed an issue in which players could activate the reset car feature while moving
• Fixed issues in which players weren’t able to join games of Hide & Seek through the Festival Playlist while on a Convoy
• Fixed an issue in which players starting Hide & Seek from a DLC map would be sent to the main map instead of starting the session