Did you like the 2D GTA games?

[Haymansafc]

Here in the UK, the Official Playstation Magazine had a huge review of the original game and it come with a ten minute playable demo (it would just cut out after that). By god did I play that demo disc to death! After those ten minutes I’d remove the disc and slot it in again for another ten minutes… Repeat the process for around two hours! I used to drive as far as I possibly could.

I remember getting my parents to buy it me not only because it come with an '18' sticker but because certain sections of the press were wanting it banned. Fortunately, it never was.

The police acted more realistically in the original game too. If memory serves me, they'd go after you if you were going notably faster than the traffic around you and they'd also come chasing if they saw you jumping a red light.

Yes, I did have the GTA London add-on! It was more or less the same as the original game, just with slightly different cars (they drove and sounded the same) and a different map. There was something funny you had to do to get this game to work if memory serves me. Didn't you have to insert GTA and then this disc or vise-versa to make it work!? If it wasn't that, maybe it was the memory card data? I don't recall exactly what now but I remember there was something you had to do to make it work.

Strangely, I don't think I ever owned GTA2. I know a friend of mine had it that I remember playing on a few times but I don’t think I ever owned a copy… I'm almost certain I never completed this game.

It's a shame that too many people have forgotten GTA's true roots and instead seem to think it all started from GTA3… No it didn't, folks! No, I haven’t played the original birds-eye view GTA games for many years now. They probably look horrendous I'd imagine but back when they were new, I enjoyed them almost as much as I do with the current bunch. There's a lot more to games than just fancy graphics. For me, it's gameplay and how they feel to you…

As a side note speaking of the magazine, back in those days of the mid/late nineties, the Offical Playstation Magazine was about 30% thicker, always come with a demo disc with numerous playable demos and was cheaper… I've bought about two in the last three years (about half of what's left of the magazine now seems to be adverts). I used to buy them every month until around eleven/twelve years ago when it started going downhill…

 

[SeanM]

Heck no I hated them, but in their defense, the 1st GTA game I played was on Ps2, and the first 2d game I played was on Gameboy Advance so the difference was markedly clear and I just couldn't enjoy it.

 

[DrRipley]

My first GTA experience was already the 3D one, and even though I have a fascination with everything 2D including cartoons and animation movies, in this particular case I think I've been spoiled by 3D and I do think GTA is one of those games that makes the most use of the 3D format. That said, I only played the 2D version recently and aside from the excitement about the novelty, I really couldn't find much enjoyment out of it.

 

[KMJ_84]

I loved them, I got my cousin who at the time was 18 (I was 16) to buy me the GTA trilogy which was GTA, GTA 2 and GTA London. Some of the messages you got through the pager were hilarious.

Who'd have known such a basic game would have turned out to be one of the most successful series of games in our generation.

 

[SpaceTiger]

I loved London 1969 and GTA 2 (I still have it on disc). They were pretty ahead of the industry for that time. While graphics are really important in GTA becoming a popular, I think it was more that it had an actual story by the time of Vice City. I liked GTA III, but it was more of a 2D GTA 2 to me. It had just enough story to warrant making the jump to 3D.

The last 2D GTA I played was Chinatown Wars on DS which was really good.

I also recommend Retro City Rampage.

 

[Ghost_of_Crash]

Loved the 2D ones. They had a difficult level that the first two 3D ones didn't have to me. I also played Chinatown Wars and liked it. The Dope Wars-like mini-game was great.

 

[nealbo]

I did to a certain extent but it would always get to a stage where I became frustrated. The controls weren't great meaning it was so easy to crash the car and be arrested or be riddled with bullets etc. I think that the games were more to push the boundaries on what is acceptable to see in games, and of course led to the production of GTA3 and beyond.

 

[NeoTokyo]

I hated them, I could never get the controls down lol! I didn't actually start liking GTA until number 4. I just watched my friends play 3, Vice and SA, I could never get into them myself.

 

[Titan]

I hated them, I could never get the controls down lol! I didn't actually start liking GTA until number 4. I just watched my friends play 3, Vice and SA, I could never get into them myself.

Heh. I remember the 2D GTA days. Have to agree, the controls I remember being a bit to get used to. I eventually never had a problem though, like any game. I spent countless hours playing GTA. Never got 2 but remember even into the PS2 days playing this game a lot. I also remember this game taking a long time to play. I got close to the end but never finished it. I think I spent more time running around shooting people and stealing cars. Its amazing to me where it is now with GTA5 to what it started as almost 17 years ago.

 

[nealbo]

The controls would have been so much better if they simply allowed the left analog stick for movement and right analog for which direction you were facing. Or perhaps analog sticks weren't available yet on the PS1 controllers when they first came out? Either way it was a shame because I think that would have made them so much better.

 

[Titan]

The controls would have been so much better if they simply allowed the left analog stick for movement and right analog for which direction you were facing. Or perhaps analog sticks weren't available yet on the PS1 controllers when they first came out? Either way it was a shame because I think that would have made them so much better.

Nah. The Dual Shock wasn't out yet. The DS controller came out in Japan in late 1997. GTA came out in October 1997. The DS didn't make it to America until 1998. But the Dual Analog controller came out in August of 1997 but even then, it would have been too late. The game would have been either done with development or in the final stages or even getting printed onto CDs for release. They really had no choice I guess than to use the classic PS controller. From what I remember, even after it came out, you couldn't even use the sticks for any kind of movement (like the left stick as a replacement for the D-Pad).

 

[Tomba]

PS1 games didn't catch up on 3D movement until close to the middle period. By that time Nintendo had long displayed actual 3D movement with Super Mario 64 (even though a lot of the games on N64 didn't use 3D analog movement). In most cases movement was just below that awkward movement scheme Capcom used for RE, Dino Crisis, and Onimusha.

I hated them, I could never get the controls down lol! I didn't actually start liking GTA until number 4. I just watched my friends play 3, Vice and SA, I could never get into them myself.

The controls for GTA IV weren't much different from the 3D games, but drastically different that the 2D ones.

 

[NuclearDragon]

I didn't care for the 2D GTA games at all. They were a little bit on the difficult side for me.

 

[SpaceTiger]

2D and the stiff--by today's standards--controls got a lot of people. The 2D GTA games were better on PC...at least London 1969 was.

 

[NuclearDragon]

The controls did make it difficult to work with especially for an overhead game. You'd think it would be easier to handle with that view, but not so much. I've never played Chinatown Wars but I've seen the gameplay and reviews. Might pick it up and give it a try.

 

[Stuck_X_Button]

I liked the 2D Grand Theft Auto games. The thing is you have to play them on PC.

 

[Razor]

I liked these GTA games. GTA 2 was favorite of the 2D titles.

 

[The Unlosing Ranger]

No. Driving sucks because I find it hard to see what's ahead.

 

[Tomba]

The screen would do this zoom out thing so you could see ahead and zoom back in at times. I didn't like that at all.

 

[SpaceTiger]

I remember that. It was really quite annoying. Especially when trying to escape police.