iPhone game of the day: GTA: Chinatown Wars

Game: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (rated 17+)
Price: £5.99/$9.99
Size: 232MB
Buy it now on the iTunes Store

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars was always meant to have touchscreen controls, starting out as a DS exclusive title. The later PSP version gave it better graphics but lost the game's most unique features.iPhone not only gives you the best of both worlds - it then gives it all to you for the lowest price out of the three. Epicwin.

There's nothing compromised here. The streets are full of cars, there's been an update that added even more in-game music... heck, you can listen to your own music here. The touch-screen d-pad may not be the greatest interface in the world, but everything else here is world class. Brilliantly funny scripting, varied and explosive missions, a huge top-down 3D environment... it's a proper GTA game. Rockstar could probably have given us a cut-down version for iPhone and we'd have bought it. Luckily they gave us the real deal - and it's magnificent.

Above: The day/night cycle is seamless and looks great on iPhone

Above: Tanks! Explosions! And about two thirds of GTA IV's game world

Above: The cut scenes use static images, but you won't want to skip them

18 May, 2010

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Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.