Battle of the GTAs

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We've rated the clones - now let's see how the originals stack up against each other

The town: Vice City, still warm and colorful, but now with a carnival (with full-sized Ferris wheel) and a few other additions.

The music: The soundtrack feels like Vice City: Volume Two, throwing in nearly every iconic '80s track the first game missed. Still no Take on Me, though, but you can add it to the PSP versionwith thecustom-soundtrack feature.

The violence: About the same as it was in Liberty City Stories, except that Victor Vance is a mean hand-to-hand fighter and can straddle downed opponents to beat their faces in.

Why it's the best: Vice City Stories actually introduces a new feature to GTA: empire-building, which enables you to buy out illegal rackets and then rake in cash without really doing anything. It also gives players the chance to buy back all their cool weapons after they're killed or arrested, something that's long overdue. It also features one of the series' most intense firefights -which happens to be against a platoon of bikini girls with assault rifles -and a big chunk of its story is dedicated to doing favors for Phil Collins. Awesome.

Why it isn't: Buying up businesses here feels less personal than Vice City's model, in which every place you buy comes with its own short storyline and unique missions. And speaking of missions, the difficulty here is all over the map; one mission might be a cakewalk, while the one right after it will kill you with its mind.

Does it hold up? Yes, but the PS2 version isn't as good.

Mikel Reparaz
Mikel Reparaz
After graduating from college in 2000 with a BA in journalism, I worked for five years as a copy editor, page designer and videogame-review columnist at a couple of mid-sized newspapers you've never heard of. My column eventually got me a freelancing gig with GMR magazine, which folded a few months later. I was hired on full-time by GamesRadar in late 2005, and have since been paid actual money to write silly articles about lovable blobs.