Grand Theft Auto Advance

Many people think that Grand Theft Auto Advance is just a GBA port of the original Grand Theft Auto. This is not the case and this is actually its own game and it is a pretty fun one too. Taking the original GTA formula and modernizing it a bit really does make this a fun time.

You Killed Vinnie

The story in Grand Theft Auto Advance is not as strong as it is in the 3D games. You play as Mike an up and coming street tough and your mentor, Vinnie is slain and you are going to get revenge. The story is told through text so it is not as easy to get as invested as the 3D GTA games. However, the story of revenge is kind of cool and if you actually read all the text you can tell a lot of effort went into the story.

Top Down GTA

Rather than try and emulate GTA III, Grand Theft Auto Advance instead looks to the first two games in the series. As a result, the game is played from an overhead point of view and it looks pretty good. It is mostly 2D, but there are some 3D models that kind of stick out like a sore thumb. In all honesty, I do not think the visuals look as good as Grand Theft Auto 2 on the Dreamcast did, but they are fine for the Game Boy Advance.

Walk Like A Person

Many people have forgotten just how awkward the original GTA controls were. You had to actually hold a button to walk! Thankfully the controls in Grand Theft Auto Advance have been given a facelift. Now you just use the d-pad to walk and as a result, it makes navigating Liberty City much easier. As well as changing the walking controls, a lot of work went into the handling of the vehicles and this is awesome. You have a handbrake which you can use to just fly around corners and it is very satisfying to do so.

So Much To Do

You will be very impressed with just how much content this game has. You can just play through the story if you want, but Grand Theft Auto Advance offers so much more than that. You can work as a paramedic where you drive people to the hospital. You can work as a vigilante where you kill crooks and drug dealers and of course you can do many side missions for random people. There is always something to do in this game!

Many people overlook Grand Theft Auto Advance, but it is a solid entry in the series. It may look outdated compared to the GTA that appeared on the PSP, but this is a solid top down GTA game. I feel that the changes they made to the controls alone actually make this the best of the top down Grand Theft Auto games. It has a ton for you to do and it is worth taking a look at.

7.5/10

Pros:

• It has lots of missions to do
• It plays better than GTA 2!
• Driving is a lot of fun
• The side missions are even more fun than the main story
• It is not just a port of the first game

Cons:

• It is not the best-looking game
• Some may find it a bit boring in comparison to 3D GTA games