Hot Topic - Best GTA Game

[Old Skool 75]

It's gotta be Vice City. Not only did it have great gameplay but the 80's music and setting was superb. Rockstar captured the atmosphere and feel of the 80's. Who can resist cruising as the sun starts to go down with the sound of A Flock Of Seagulls playing on the car stereo. Solid game!

[Limbrooke]

If I could sum up my feelings of the Grand Theft Auto series it would this - sequels are created for a reason.

Yes, the answer is for profit but that profit exists since the precursor or initial game sets the bar for all games to follow.

The result is exponential as demonstrated by each core title selling more than the previous installment. I don't insinuate that the newer games aren't due this financial acclaim but I think the original formula is to thank for the series longevity and success.

Personally, GTA 1 and it's expansion London 1969 are the only GTA games where I've managed to complete the missions and actually stay interested with the progressive difficulty and duration. Given the pick and play emphasis on the London expansion, that was the first game I completed thanks to the shortened experience. Of course, just because the set number of missions are clear to the player does not mean the experience ends there. The real joy is simply doing whatever you want, relatively speaking, in the city and while the jump to full 3D environments along with ever more powerful hardware provides so many more possibilities I feel more compelled to explore and run amok in the original somehow.

GTA 1 has always sat well with me and perhaps it's next and final 2D outing, GTA 2, didn't really provide the same feel I was looking for. I've always been partial to the progenitor since it was the first game in the series I experienced and as far as I'm concerned, I don't mind at all.

[sirclive1]

Vice City - just loved drifting round the city listening to Jan Hammer and Bryan Ferry.

[Sel Feena]

This is a tough one; I'm tempted to plump for Vice City for the stonking soundtrack and memorable characters, but ultimately it has to be the original for me. Great controls, huge maps and little to no plot to get in the way of what the series should be about: tearing sh!t up!

Such a shame IV decided to disappear up its own backside. Rockstar, take note:

Mowing down lines of krishnas > Nico Bellic's 'kaziin'

[noobish hat]

GTA 1 has always sat well with me and perhaps it's next and final 2D outing, GTA 2, didn't really provide the same feel I was looking for. I've always been partial to the progenitor since it was the first game in the series I experienced and as far as I'm concerned, I don't mind at all.

May I suggest you check out:

GTA (Game Boy Color)
GTA 2 (Game Boy Color)
GTA Advance (Game Boy Advance)
GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)
GTA: Chinatown Wars (PSP)

[Limbrooke]

May I suggest you check out:

GTA (Game Boy Color)
GTA 2 (Game Boy Color)
GTA Advance (Game Boy Advance)
GTA: Chinatown Wars (DS)
GTA: Chinatown Wars (PSP)

GTA Advance doesn't look too appealing but I'll give it a look. Chinatown Wars is in similar perspective but doesn't feel the same at all and is entirely 3D, could be alright though, looks interesting. GTA and GTA 2 are modified versions of the core originals (GTA 2 less-so) and in general I speak mainly of the prime series so 1, 2, 3, 3B(VC), 3C(SA), & 4.

Suggestions noted and I still stand by what I wrote since all the games you mentioned are portable, which is fine. I know portable games can rival and in many cases exceed home console versions but to me, GTA home and "away" just aren't the same to me. It makes sense, the developers over the years have changed significantly, especially from the original DMA team. It's only natural something gets lost/tweaked/changed over time.

[boggyb68]

Love all the GTA games, but Vice City is my favourite, and the only one I've finished. I particularly love the way when the lights come on in the tower blocks sometimes the pattern of the lights are in the shape of a giant kn0b..

B.

[AmigaJay]

The first two were great for the time and felt right, i remember thinking god going to 3D will ruin the series! (this was after censored like Castlevania N64 and Metal Slug 3D!) but i was proved gladly so wrong!

Now the 2D games pale in comparison, whilst still fun, GTA 3 and Vice City are the best imo, GTA 3 is still the best for handling/steering, but Vice City just hit all the right buttons, storyline, graphics, stunts and some of the best music (and radio chat) soundtracks in gaming history! GTA SA and IV just didnt do it for me going down the ghetto/gangstar route is boring and i dont hold high hopes for GTA V.

[RetroMartin]

Vice City for me, we're all retro heads here so a GTA that specifically EVOKES nostalgia of an era surely wins through! Plus it's the 80's, who wouldn't love it?

[Megamixer]

The only thing I hate about going back to GTA III now is that I keep forgetting that you can't jump out of moving vehicles so escaping a burning wreck before it blows isn't as easy! However it was one of the last games in the series that I played so considering it was obviously dated in comparison to the others, the fact that I still enjoyed it immensely speaks volumes about GTA III's quality.

[webding]

Vice City, by a mile. I basically bought a PS2 to play it, and didn't regret spending a penny (of money - I know the games were realistic, but they don't go that far do they?) Perfect feel, perfect soundtrack, perfect...well, you get the picture.

[deadpan666]

For me, it's San Andreas...initially it didn't do much for me with it's gangster setting, but once you reach the other islands and the game opens up, the sheer amount of stuff to do and find makes it by far my favourite!

I love all the GTA games though! And people who prefer GTA 3 or Vice City would do well to pick up the "Stories" sequels to those games on PSP or PS2 as they're also pretty good games....

[lanky316]

GTA 2, I liked that it wasn't so much "story based" and fairly free roaming but with the element of you playing the gangs off against eachother was great fun. Still enjoyed Vice City and San Andreas a lot but 2 edged them out for me.

[PubZombie]

Tough choice. For me it boiled down to either GTA 1 or 4. I loved 1, it was so cool at the time and felt new but retroesque. 4 was fun too and I loved the fact that it was story based with rounded characters and was wonderfully satirical. However, 4 got dull quickly and the demands of characters to continually play repeated mini games detracted from the actual core game. In the end I have to chose 1, it was innovative and I played it for much longer, playing the different gangs against each other. In one sense though they are not really comparable one is a shump and the other a driving game and 3rd person shooter.

[mrmarvelxiii]

I used to think I liked GTA games, but I don't, I just love Vice City. It uses one of my favourite films ever as its inspiration (Scarface); it's just the right size so that you can get around without constantly checking a map or having to drive cross country for an hour; it's pink! and it has some of the greatest music in all of the GTA games with some excellent talk shows. And it's Ray Liotta! Perfect.