Grand Theft Auto Advance

In a generation full of million sellers and newly famous franchises, it's Grand Theft Auto that's the biggest of them all. Millions of copies of Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City have sold on PS2, Xbox, and PC, and GTA: San Andreas is set to join that club at the end of October. But on October 26^th, San Andreas will have company Ц a portable GTA. Years in the making but now finally seeing the light of day, Grand Theft Auto Advance is nearly finished and ready to hit the Game Boy Advance on the very same day Carl Johnson begins his reign of terror in the state of San Andreas. Developed in conjunction by GBA vets Digital Eclipse and GTA creators Rockstar North, GTA Advance looks to be far from a cheap cash-in on the Grand Theft Auto name, but instead a fully-featured entry in the franchise. So if you're dropping $50 on San Andreas come October 26^th, don't forget to check out the new Game Boy rendition Ц you never know, it just might be as good a GBA game as it is a PlayStation 2 game.

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Grand Theft Auto Advance returns the series back to the city most famous Ц Liberty City. Taking place around the same time as GTA III, you're placed in a whole different adventure than Fido, complete with different characters. In this case, you play as Mike, a former mobster on his way out of the world of organized crime and into a different stage of his life. However, he has a job to complete before he can leave, tagging with his buddy and partner Vinnie. Unfortunately, Vinnie is whacked by a carbomb and Mike has been framed for the murder, in typical Сyou can never really leave' mob form. From there, you have to clear his name, take over the city, and/or terrorize Liberty City in the traditional Grand Theft Auto fashion. It doesn't appear to have the epic scope of the PS2 games in terms of storyline, but for the platform and its technology, it looks competent enough. The storyline and mission introductions are handled in the GTA style, though it will be all text and Сmugshots' will appear to designate the currently speaking characters.

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Fans of the old GTA games (GTA 1 & 2), GTA Advance will be familiar, as the limitations of the GBA wouldn't allow for the 3D perspective of the games that made the series really famous. Instead, the game will incorporate the overhead perspective. However, DE and R* North have developed some tricks to help bring some 3D effects to the game, along with an auto-zoom for a better perspective in the middle of action, so it's not entirely generic overhead play, limited by said angles. No matter what the angle though, GTA Advance promises all the goodies of the console versions Ц missions, sidejobs, unique jumps, vehicle missions, and hidden packages, all in a world that is claimed to be three times the size of the PS2 version of Liberty City (amazing!), complete with the three sectors of the infamous town Ц Portland, Staunton Island, and Shoreside Vale. For sure there will be familiar locales and locations compared to the PS2 version, but the addition of more areas to explore is a welcome addition.