We knew that Forza Horizon 3 would be receiving two sizable pieces of DLC as part of the game’s expansion pass. The first of that DLC was Blizzard Mountain which released on December 13th 2016. Following that, no one really knew what to expect from the team at Turn 10 with the second DLC. Seemingly out of nowhere Turn 10 announces something we didn’t know we wanted until right now: Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheels.

Real quick, the music and graphics remain largely the same as the base Forza Horizon 3 game. The soundtrack is still stellar and the game is still gorgeous. However, the sight of several islands surrounded by the bright orange Hot Wheels tracks is just incredible. The first time you enter the new area makes an immediate impression. Massive loops and winding tracks go around buildings and over water like an amusement park for cars.  The sight of it all is a treat but the real fun starts when you drive. Oh and fire loops because why not.

Forza Horizon 3: Hot Wheels is fun. Like the most pure type of fun you can have in a game. There is an unparalleled joy to driving these tracks. Even more than the roads of Australia from the base game. Hot Wheels follows Blizzard Mountain in how you progress. Instead of stars this time though, you earn medals from completing races, winning races and a 3rd special objective in each race. Doing each in that order (you can’t obtain the medal for the objective if you’re not in first place) nets you 3 medals and when you earn a certain number of total medals then the next set of races and activities unlock. However earning medals was much easier in Hot Wheels than in Blizzard Mountain. The extra objective ended up being much less demanding to complete so I found myself earning 3 medals more often. This means you’ll reach the final race much faster as you only need 100 (out of 177) medals to unlock it, which was the same number needed in Blizzard Mountain.

Forza Hot Wheels actually takes a cue from the original Forza Horizon and has you move up through the car ranks as you progress through the campaign. So races are limited to B class, A class, S1 class and S2 class cars respectively. While the freedom of using any car in any race is nice in the base game, I also appreciate going through the classes and working up towards the best cars. Also, this method gives you good reason to try the new cars in the DLC including iconic cars directly from Hot Wheels themselves. These include personal favorites like the Bone Shaker and Twin Mill.

Like your Hot Wheels tracks when you were a kid, Forza Horizon 3 also lets you customize certain sections of race tracks. You can swap in and out stunts like loops or a figure 8 road in your own custom blueprints if you decide to create races for you and your friends to play. Other bells and whistles return like Drift Zones, Danger Signs and Bucket List challenges. There is also a Barn Find out there to discover. And after completing the final race you can then set up Championship races which extends gameplay for those who like to complete everything. And the final race was absolutely spectacular this time around. Once again, Forza Horizon 3 knocks it out of the park with a big race to send you home happy.

Forza Hot Wheels is a dream come true. Every kid at one time or another wished their Hot Wheels set was life size. Now you can experience it without the danger of going 250 mph into a loop. Forza Horizon 3 was already one of my favorite games from 2016. But this DLC has become one of my favorite pieces of content ever. If you weren’t in the market for the expansion pass, I would still encourage you to purchase Forza Hot Wheels. It is absolutely the most fun I’ve had with the Forza Horizon franchise yet.