Prior Offenses: A Grand Theft Auto Retrospective

by Justin McElroy { Apr 17th 2008 at 11:30AM }

From its beginnings as a top-down crime sim to the fully 3D Public Enemy Number One we know it as today, Grand Theft Auto's history has been marked by constant evolution. Before GTA IV is dropped on us later this month, we thought we'd take a look back at all the games in the series that have come before.

So sit back, relax and drive over a hooker as we present the prior offenses of Grand Theft Auto.

GTA Retrospective

Tags: grand-theft-auto, grand-theft-auto-4, grand-theft-auto-iv, gta, gtaiv, rockstar

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

WiiSports Machine...Fernandos in disguise PSN: Killjebus @ Apr 17th 2008 11:33AM

DMA design baby...the name that started it all.

OOOHHHHHKKKKAAAAYYYYYYY

I still remember the smile on my face the first time I ran down all of the Harry Fishnutts (Hari Krishna)

Mo @ Apr 17th 2008 11:37AM

One of the best franchises ever...Heres to many more

Adam @ Apr 17th 2008 11:40AM

funny how all these sequels really did feel like big leaps forward for this series, and now in 2008, we're getting the "official" numerical successor to GTA 3

WiiSports Machine...Fernandos in disguise PSN: Killjebus @ Apr 17th 2008 11:47AM

GTA1 GTA London GTA2 were all top down perspectives with very little difference other than the missions. Even the Dreamcast vesion of GTA2 was basically the same.

ThePremierAssassin @ Apr 17th 2008 11:57AM

I agree...

I hate when a game series does this. Sorta like DMC and Resident Evil.

Just keep it simple folks...1 followed by 2 by 3 and then 4. None of this side quest/story stuff.

vidGuy @ Apr 17th 2008 12:19PM

I think if developers are going to make expansion-like games, they should subtitle them rather than number them, like they did with GTA. A lot of games deserving of subtitles aren't worth the full price.

How'd you like Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the '80s to be called Guitar Hero 3? Or Final Fantasy X-2 to be FFXI?

Khaeos @ Apr 17th 2008 11:59AM

correct me if im wrong..but i remembr when i first played GTA3 at a friends house, you could also change the view to a top-down view by pressing select..can anybody confirm this for me? i cnt find my copy of GTA3 atm

Khaeos @ Apr 17th 2008 12:04PM

frgt to mention that this was the original ps2 version im talking about..not sure if this was possible on the other versions

Kael @ Apr 17th 2008 12:13PM

It sure was an option. I remember that, too.

Ninjakamster @ Apr 17th 2008 12:14PM

Yes you could, but they removed it in the subsequent games.

Ninjakamster @ Apr 17th 2008 12:22PM

Who's your most favorite 3D GTA protagonist? Mine has to be Tommy Vercetti, love ya Ray Liotta!

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Apr 17th 2008 12:31PM

Claude, hands down. You never forget your first.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Apr 17th 2008 12:33PM

Mine is CJ. It's not because he was black. I thought he was a much more interesting character than Tommy.

Knight Marquise @ Apr 17th 2008 1:14PM

Mr. Carl Johnson. Hands down my favorite.

required @ Apr 17th 2008 12:22PM

"ported to the Game Boy Color"

joystiq, it's clear that you have no idea what a port is. Note it's more than name carry over.

cjshrader @ Apr 17th 2008 12:50PM

"Besides being the first GTA on the PlayStation Portable, LCS was also the first to introduce a multiplayer mode."

I hate to be "that guy" (No I don't), but I'm pretty sure the first Grand Theft Auto was multiplayer. If I'm wrong, certainly someone will correct me.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Apr 17th 2008 1:07PM

Kinda. There was no official multiplayer mode. But I believe you could technically play with other people using some kind of mod for the pc.

cjshrader @ Apr 17th 2008 1:14PM

Actually, I just looked it up. Here's what Wikipedia said:

"The PC releases of the game allowed networked multiplayer gameplay using the IPX protocol."

I'm certain I didn't mod it. I was too young to do something like that.

Maxwell Ash @ Apr 17th 2008 1:36PM

San Andreas had multiplayer too. It was a hidden pick-up thingy, and then a second player could join in. It kinda sucked cos you had to stay close to each other, but it was there.

Justin McElroy @ Apr 17th 2008 2:15PM

Those are both good points. I'll update.

McWeen @ Apr 17th 2008 1:09PM

GTA 1 was the second playstation game I bought.

nmezib @ Apr 17th 2008 1:16PM

Great retrospective piece. I was kinda hoping Gametrailers would do something like that, but they're too wrapped up in their epic Star Wars Retro (which is awesome too, I'll admit) to bother with a little franchise called GTA.

You filled the void, Justin McElroy, you filled the void in MY HEART!

xFenixKnightx @ Apr 17th 2008 2:22PM

W00t!!! Cant wait!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV-4kxATHD0&feature=related

driven2sin @ Apr 17th 2008 2:33PM

all these retrospectives

can someone keep these people in their scrapbooking classes? Please?

Stephen @ Apr 17th 2008 5:40PM

i still love the thing released a while ago that showed the evolution of GTA hand. the first games had such terrible graphics for the hands. they were pretty much just blocks, it was so funny.

GameMan @ Apr 20th 2008 5:20PM

Hey my favorite GTA is the old NES version. But what is cool is I just a free wii from
http://wii.megafreebie.com/
so now i'll be able to play it again. You guys should really check out that site.

jared13000 @ Apr 21st 2008 5:12PM

GTA:I ,GTA:London ,GTA:II ,GTA:III ,GTA:Vice City ,GTA:San Andreas ,and now GTA:IV .Whats with London ,Vice City ,and San Andreas? Well someone said they were side stories but thats not it.Games have engines programed in to them and GTA:I and GTA:London share an engine. Also GTA:III,GTA:Vice City,and GTA:San Andreas all use the same 3D game engine.GTA:IV uses an all new engine which explains the name. Note a game engine is the software the runs the game.

Ikespawn @ Apr 30th 2008 1:10AM

You's a dumb mutha fucka

jared13000 @ Apr 30th 2008 6:42PM

Ikespawn - there is a difference between me being "a dumb mutha fucka"(which would be"your a dumb mother fuc*er") and me communicating on a level of intelligence you can not understand

Big words for dummies
1.difference-the quality of being unlike or dissimilar
2.communicating-the activity of conveying information
3.intelligence-the ability to comprehend

ikepsawn @ May 1st 2008 4:47PM

You're a dumb mutha fucka. You should fix that.

jared13000 @ May 1st 2008 8:17PM

ikepsawn-You're a dumb mutha fucka. You should fix that.

fix what, "your" to "you're"? well i think it's "your" but I'm not the one that tried to use "you's" instead.(Which even the spell check on this site picks up as wrong.) and its mother not mutha and fuc$er not fucka, both of which are mispronunciations.

Big words for the stupid
1.mispronunciations-Incorrect pronunciation