Grand Theft Auto Advance

About Grand Theft Auto Advance

Grand Theft Auto Advance is an action-adventure game set in an open world environment and played from a top-down perspective. The game had to be adapted to the Game Boy Advance's hardware limitations. As a result, it does not have animated cutscenes, nor does it have Grand Theft Auto III's much-lauded pedestrian dialogue. All cutscenes are text-only, featuring hand-drawn pictures of the characters' faces and a thematic backdrop. The art style is consistent with that used for the cover and loading art of the three-dimensional releases in the series. Replacing the pedestrian dialogue, some soundbites taken from Grand Theft Auto III are played when the player hits someone's car. Short police radio voiceovers will announce the player's location and vehicle type when the player commits a crime.

The game does not feature radio channels. Like the Game Boy Color ports of Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2, each car has one fixed tune that is constantly repeated and cannot be changed. These include parts of some familiar Grand Theft Auto, Grand Theft Auto 2 and Grand Theft Auto III tunes, in instrumental versions. Despite this, billboards for the radio stations featured in Grand Theft Auto III can be seen throughout Liberty City.

The game is set in 2000 within Liberty City, the same setting used for Grand Theft Auto III. As the setting had to be recreated for the Game Boy Advance, much of it was noticeably changed in its conversion, including elements that were impossible to interpret from the game's top-view perspective. As a result of these changes, players familiar with the original setting have to explore it afresh in Grand Theft Auto Advance.

As a prequel to Grand Theft Auto III, the game features both new and returning characters. The protagonist is an original character named Mike, who in his quest to avenge the supposed death of his partner, Vinnie, crosses paths with several prominent criminals that offer him assistance. These include explosives expert and firearms trader 8-Ball, Yardies leader King Courtney, and yakuza co-leader Asuka Kasen, all previously featured in Grand Theft Auto III, although their characters received significant changes in appearance and lifestyle to reflect who they were one year prior.

Small-time criminal Mike works with the more connected criminal Vinnie in hopes of leaving Liberty City together and retiring from their life of crime. Vinnie convinces Mike to do work for the Mafia to achieve this goal. However, after several jobs, Vinnie is seemingly killed in a car bomb explosion, which also destroys all of their money. Mike vows revenge, and quickly falls out with the Mafia as he investigates Vinnie's murder. After carrying out some jobs for 8-Ball, an explosives expert and old acquaintance of Vinnie's, he points Mike to a bartender named Jonnie, who maintains connections with the city's criminal underworld and might help him find the answers he seeks. Jonnie hires Mike for several jobs while they investigate Vinnie's murder together, until the former is suddenly killed midway through the investigation.