Grand Theft Auto’s plot takes place in the notorious Liberty City. Players take the role of Mike as he, and his crime-buddy Vinnie, finally want out of the frantic crime-world. As they’re ready to hit the road, with a bunch of money, their escape goes terribly wrong. You’ll become witness to a car bombing, and ironically enough, your friend Vinnie is the victim. As the suspicion of Vinnie’s assassination grows, Mike finds himself back in the mist of the crime-world as he tries to unravel the mystery behind who was responsible for Vinnie’s death. Each step in trying to uncover the mystery behind Vinnie’s death will find Mike running as errand boy for the local gangsters as he and his connections attempt to pull together the pieces to the puzzling death of Vinnie.
The story is told through text-based dialogue cut scenes from static talking heads of each of the characters found in the game. Although the cut scenes aren’t as dramatic as the current franchiser’s cut scenes, gamers will however get an idea of the personalities of each of the characters involved.
Grand Theft Auto is jammed packed with plenty to do. You’ll find yourself running through almost 300missions of car bombings, taking out specific enemies, carpooling important people and blowing up several buildings here and there. And if the main story wasn’t enough for you, then gamers will have the opportunity to hop in a police car and go on vigilante missions, take on the role of a paramedic and even drive a taxi in an attempt to earn some extra cash on the side. There are hidden items throughout the game that will expand your artillery and unlock certain items, which expand the game’s length slightly.
Except for rolling around in police cars, there are roughly another 15 additional vehicles to be found in the game, including trucks, buses, limos, sports cars and buggies. The nice touch on the vehicle side of the game is how each of the cars handles differently. Most of the smaller cars will be able to quickly turn around corners using the handbrake, but the larger, more bulky, vehicles will topple over and explode – meaning gamers will have to try and slow down whilst controlling the much bigger vehicles of the game. The only problem with the vehicles is their speed. At times you’ll be riding in some of the fastest cars and still seem to be going slow. Not a huge problem, but it does extract that realistic feeling that Rockstar was aiming for.
Probably the best side of the game, is how the weapon combat has been crafted. You’ll be able to have far more direct control over Mike and, instead of a lock-on, gamers will be able to simply press and hold the R-trigger to strafe. There is your usual weaponry at hand such as the pistol, flamethrower, Uzi, baseball bat and plenty more that work more effectively in certain situations.
Like past Grand Theft Auto games, Grand Theft Auto for the Game Boy Advance presents gamers with a stats screen, which keeps track of in-game data. How far you’ve travelled via vehicle or foot, how many times you’ve been busted or wasted, how many jobs you’ve accomplished, how many hidden packages you’ve uncovered and much more. Saving can be the real pain in this game though, since you can’t save during a mission – which truly destroys the whole ‘portableness of the title’. The map is another downfall. Most of the important places are highlighted on the map with their specific lettering (A for ammo shop and a spray can for the paint shop for example); although for some odd reason the map is absent of both the police station and the hospital. The map is also quite small, making it hard to know where you’re going on several occasions in the game. Again, it’s not a huge problem. Although it could’ve easily been avoided.
As mentioned earlier, Grand Theft Auto for the Game Boy Advance recreates the original Grand Theft Auto titles in a nice little portable package. The game retains the 2D overhead perspective and everything about this game cries out nostalgic. Graphically, the game is done remarkable well, considering it’s on the Game Boy Advance. Despite the 2D perspective, the city has a 3D look - usually a call for trouble on the GBA – that Rockstar has pulled off exceptionally well. Buildings are elevated to look 3D and the cars no longer look like boxes. The only problem found with the graphics of the game is the low definition of the people on the in-game screen and the vehicles tend to look a little awkward when coming into a turn, as the attempt of the 3Dness of the cars is presented.
The sound in this game is dreadful. Each car in the game features it’s own specific track, which tends to set in with the type of car you pick-up. The problem with these car-featured tracks is that they’re so repetitive and annoying that you’ll most likely find yourself turning off the music and listening to your MP3 Player or something similar. The single highlight on the audio side of the game is the dispatch reports on where you are located in the city or what crime you have just committed. It’s surprising accurate for a game on the Game Boy Advance, for example: the voice call will detect exactly what car you are driving, it’s colour as well as what part of the city you happen to be in.
Despite the minor nitpicks that plague this game, Grand Theft Auto is a spectacular game that lives up to it’s big-console cousins. A game that takes full advantage of it’s M rating with the overflown adult themes, violence, racism and much more that has defined the Grand Theft Auto series so perfectly. Most gamers will see past the below average music, slight graphic problems and the sometimes slow framerate and will see a splendid title for the Game Boy Advance that shouldn’t be overlooked by any Grand Theft Auto fan.
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