Gamers and motor heads alike can be happy this week as Forza Motorsport 2 hits Xbox 360.  The most realistic, the most crazily customisable and above all one of the greatest racing games available, there’s no better way to put the pedal to the metal on a console right now.

There are lots of people who play driving games - there are the die-hard motoring nuts who must have every feature available to them that they would expect in real life.  There are those who want to paint a Ferrari pink, put a smiley face on it and then take it on Live for a few races after a trip to the pub. There are many who just want to dip in and out occasionally like in an arcade, do a few laps in a Lotus Elise and call it a day.

With all of these people to satisfy, Forza 2 has done a remarkable job of appealing to just about everyone that's ever wanted to jump in a sports car.  Featuring over 300 vehicles from 50 manufacturers, there is no shortage of cars to choose from. They range from your run-of-the-mill production Golf right up to an impressive set of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other top-end racing cars.

Motor heads can look forward to an unrivalled level of customisation, the likes of which does not exist outside of the Forza series.  You can customise every individual part of your car from upgrading to fine tuning until you have her purring just as you want.  You can even track your changes while taking the car for a spin thanks to a detailed racing computer set up that you can access from the d-pad.  You're one button away from looking at the tracking, tire wear, torque and performance statistics of your creation at any time.

Terrifying as that may sound for gamers like me who dare to use automatic gears, the more casual players amongst us will be happy to hear that we're looked after too.  You don't have to change your tire compound if you don't want to - you don't even have to drive if you don't want to as you can hire a driver.  What there is for us is a great racing game under that bonnet with a roar that would make Michael Schumacher giggle with delight.

Real-world tracks abound and 12 racing environments promise to keep just the right balance between variety and lap mastery.

Forza 2 doesn’t even stop when you’re not playing – thanks to Forzamotorsport.net, you can track your auctions and statistics online.  You can even get a peek at what cars are available over Xbox Live right now so that you can get the best deal when you get home.  We’re going to be playing Forza 2 for quite some time – then we’ve got PGR 4 to look forward to...

By Mark Eveleigh, Xbox.com Editor, Gamertag: Making Sparks