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[Grand Theft Scratchy]

I used to play Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories on the PS2 and Vice City Stories on the PS Vita (never owned a PSP). The appeal for me, as a big fan of the 3D era GTA games, was being able to revisit these cities in said prequel titles with the graphics being more or less like San Andreas' as well as the new features such as riding motorcycles in Liberty City, building an empire in Vice City. The games also featured online multiplayer but only for the PSP. Unfortunately, these games were never ported to PC and in fact Vice City Stories never saw a 10th anniversary re-release for mobile, unlike the rest of the 3D era GTA games. I believe you could also play them on the PS3.

Anyway, while I didn't originally play these games on the PSP, I still think it was pretty amazing how Rockstar were able to fit their open world games on the handheld. I was just wondering if anyone else remembers playing them?

 

[Cravis]

Played Liberty City Stories on the PSP and enjoyed it. Played Vice City Stories on the PS2 and really enjoyed it. Heck they got Phil Collins to appear as himself in it lol

 

[Revolutionary]

LCS on PSP was goddamn amazing at the time. Missed a few bus/subway stops because I was so engrossed in it lol

Couldn't really get into VCS though, for some reason.

 

[Radical Dreamer]

Loved these, esp liberty City stories. GTA3 is my fav gta by far so being able to play in liberty city again was so good.
I need to replay LCS one day.

 

[Husky]

I played VCS so much that I knew those roads better than my hometown.

 

[Werewolf Jones]

Only played VCS and on Vita. Despite being the full map it really is just a side story, a lot smaller cast and a few throw backs to characters who appeared in Vice City. I was SOOOOOOOO fucking pissed when I found out Too Shy didn't have vocals on the radio other than that it was a nice return to Vice City with the bonus of being able to swim.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

Played Liberty City Stories on the PSP and enjoyed it. Played Vice City Stories on the PS2 and really enjoyed it. Heck they got Phil Collins to appear as himself in it lol

Yeah, I love his song "In The Air Tonight" so the concert was definitely a cool moment.

 

[Tschumi]

This is a weird one. They're rated the best games on psp, so i can get them on my Vita if i want..... But, i know this is lame but, I'm inclined to buy games that feel.. less spinoff'y... And I'm not sure PSP controls would be much fun, even if i remapped them in my vita..

So yeah basically my reasons are pretty weak for never trying these games.

 

[Karmic Raze]

I never got the chance to play Vice City Stories unfortunately, but I thoroughly enjoyed my play through of Liberty City Stories on PS2. I LOVED GTA3 and being able to go back to that city again was amazing. It was a fun game that I have fond memories of.

 

[Pimpbaa]

They were pretty friggin awesome considering the limitations of the PSP. Even better than the PS2 GTA games in regards to texture filtering.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

This is a weird one. They're rated the best games on psp, so i can get them on my Vita if i want..... But, i know this is lame but, I'm inclined to buy games that feel.. less spinoff'y... And I'm not sure PSP controls would be much fun, even if i remapped them in my vita..

So yeah basically my reasons are pretty weak for never trying these games.

The controls were a little clunky but otherwise they were pretty solid entries, in my opinion.

 

[R6Rider]

Played both on PSP, and also played VCS on PS2 as well. Both were very fun. I remember VCS had a stupidly hard forklift mission lol

Overall I think I liked VCS more, but they are pretty close.

 

[Tschumi]

The controls were a little clunky but otherwise they were pretty solid entries, in my opinion.

They're just a click away so I'll give them a go next time i gravitate around to my vita being my primary gaming platform!

 

[Soodanim]

I had a good time with them, particularly LCS and getting to ride bikes in Liberty City. The best part is when they give back story to things in the cities themselves like blown up buildings, as well as the radio stations and of course the characters.

I don’t actually remember too much about VCS except young Lance Vance, a cut through near the airport, and how buggy the game was. Buggier than any other game I’d played at the time.

 

[CamHostage]

Yeah, I love his song "In The Air Tonight" so the concert was definitely a cool moment.

Yeah man, there's a goddamned Phil Collins concert in the middle of the game, and he PLAYS THE DRUM SOLO (while you're trying to stop assassins from murdering him during the greatest drum solo in soft-rock history...)



It's a real shame that they didn't give Rockstar Leeds a chance to finish the trilogy with a San Andreas Stories. They could have gotten it into the Wii sales timeline and done Wii/PS2/PSP + maybe PSN/XBLA. Or perhaps they could have targeted Vita and Wii U product (back when they first seemed viable) and used a version of the GTA V engine (I would actually have been perfectly happy if they ported the PS2 Los Santos/San Fierro/Las Venturas maps and then used a stylized/simplistic GTA3/VC/SA type of graphics instead of going for full "next-gen" at the time, just have them running in the more advanced GTA5 engine/control system.)

Not only would that have been a great timekiller (especially if they could have gotten SAS on a portable; I'd think San Andreas would push the PSP UMD storage cap, but apparently even VCS takes up only half the size of the available 1.8GB UMD storage,) but it would have been one more single-player GTA romp before Rockstar went all-guns into GTA Online profits.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

It's a real shame that they didn't give Rockstar Leeds a chance to finish the trilogy with a San Andreas Stories. They could have gotten it into the Wii sales timeline and done Wii/PS2/PSP + maybe PSN/XBLA. Or perhaps they could have targeted Vita and Wii U product (back when they first seemed viable) and used a version of the GTA V engine (I would actually have been perfectly happy if they ported the PS2 Los Santos/San Fierro/Las Venturas maps and then used a stylized/simplistic GTA3/VC/SA type of graphics instead of going for full "next-gen" at the time, just have them running in the more advanced GTA5 engine/control system.)

Not only would that have been a great timekiller (especially if they could have gotten SAS on a portable; I'd think San Andreas would push the PSP UMD storage cap, but apparently even VCS takes up only half the size of the available 1.8GB UMD storage,) but it would have been one more single-player GTA romp before Rockstar went all-guns into GTA Online profits.

I wonder what kind of story missions and features they could have added into San Andreas Stories, considering San Andreas on the PS2 was such a big game. A new GTA for the PS Vita would have been perfect, along with many other multiplatform IPs, and I was so disappointed in Sony for dropping first-party support for the handheld.

 

[Fox Mulder]

they were fun for fans to go back into those cities.

It’s a shame these never came out on ps4. Rockstar supported the ps2 classics a ton and just gave up like Sony before these came out.

 

[ReBurn]

I enjoyed them.

 

[buizel]

Awesome, so good. Xxrreeeeme

Vita just got a port of GTA 3. Plays and runs perfect. Crazy how spot on the 2d camera is ala GTA 1 and 2.

 

[trikster40]

Played them both on PSP and they were awesome.

Thanks for reminding me that the PSP kicked ass.

 

[CamHostage]

I wonder what kind of story missions and features they could have added into San Andreas Stories, considering San Andreas on the PS2 was such a big game. A new GTA for the PS Vita would have been perfect, along with many other multiplatform IPs, and I was so disappointed in Sony for dropping first-party support for the handheld.

I'd have liked San Andreas Stories to focus up north, since so much of the original game was in LA and probably a majority of people never even saw San Fierro or Las Venturas. Maybe if there was a throwback-type story of conquering the gambling market from the bottom to the top (a little like Casino or Oceans), or a rogue cop looking to remake his city and his state one bullet at a time (playing off Dirty Harry.) Maybe instead of a single narrative, it could have taken influence from DLC and been 3 different subgames centered on 3 characters (maybe or maybe not using what became the GTA5 swap mechanic.) Or maybe it'd be all about earthquakes (since San Andreas is essentially CA) and opportunity to grab land while the state believes it's experiencing an apocalypse? I'm not sure there's clear a narrative as "Boyz n the Hood Take Over" was the perfect LA story that could expand out as GTA goes nuts (you'd want a story that eventually lets you drive a circle around the whole state,) but whatever it could have been, I wish I lived in that alt timeline where that game did exist...

 

[Shakka43]

Loved them, especially VCS. I played them first on PS2 though. Sucks that Vita didn't get a San Andreas Stories game.

 

[teezzy]

I only had Vice City Stories on PSP but just the idea of having GTA on the go was mindblowing

Never played LCS

 

[Shadowstar39]

Loved both but VCS was my fav of the two. The soundtrack on VCS was amazing! I would drive around just to listen to the radio stations. 80s music rocks! There is just something about it, reminds me of growing up and good times. A simpler era in life and back when things all made sense and everyone seemed optimistic, especially compared to the early 90s (especially for me personally).

I also really wish Rockstar would of made a San Andreas Story for Vita. Back then I think we all thought it was coming and it never did. That one game would of propelled that system into psp terrirtory and it would of jumped past the 3ds but it never happened. Big missed opportunity there.

Then there is china town wars. I had it both on the ds and the psp/vita. It was a great side story and fun diversion. It wasn't a full blown 3rd person gta, but it was still a blast.

 

[Shadowstar39]

Awesome, so good. Xxrreeeeme

Vita just got a port of GTA 3. Plays and runs perfect. Crazy how spot on the 2d camera is ala GTA 1 and 2.

Isn't that only for hacked systems, not an official port?
Strange how they never ported the trilogy over when it could handle it no problem.
Honestly it should of been there first instead of the ipad. Don't know why Sony didn't push that platform. They care more about stupid vr than they did that.

How hard is it to hack your vita? I won't do it as I don't want my PSN account banned and loose 300+ games. PSP wasn't tied in to the network like vita, so i hacked that right away.

 

[mikefrails]

Was the first time I truly felt like I had an entire game world on the go.

 

[buizel]

Isn't that only for hacked systems, not an official port?
Strange how they never ported the trilogy over when it could handle it no problem.
Honestly it should of been there first instead of the ipad. Don't know why Sony didn't push that platform. They care more about stupid vr than they did that.

How hard is it to hack your vita? I won't do it as I don't want my PSN account banned and loose 300+ games. PSP wasn't tied in to the network like vita, so i hacked that right away.

No, it's relatively easy. Though i have only done it twice - it worked both times. You shouldnt get your PSN account banned but there might be a risk.

But yeah its on hacked Vita. The thing was cheap enough ~£50 so I dont mind hacking it. Also allows streaming from PC to Vita if thats your jam)

 

[01011001]

Liberty City Stores is alright for what it is, Vice City Stories is actually really good

 

[kraspkibble]

never played VCS although i do own it for PS2.

LCS on PSP was my shit. it was basically just a spin off of III but at the time it was mind blowing i could play GTA "on the go". the story sucked but the gameplay was great and all that really mattered.

 

[Max_Po]

Played and finished both on PSP... good times.

Probably can't play them due to DigitalFoundry anal-yzing performance...

 

[bad guy]

Got myself a PSP just because of the two GTA Stories. I'm a GTA fan since GTA1 and don't have home consoles.

 

[Krappadizzle]

I remember I was in boot camp and jonesing to play ANYTHING after so much military shenanigans that when we got 8 hours of liberty to go out on the town a week before graduation I went out and bought a PSP and Liberty City Stories at Gamestop. Was playing that shit all week in Boot Camp whenever I had time. I had fond memories playing on PSP and thought it looked fantastic on that system. I really don't remember the story at all, but I do remember having a good time playing it.

 

[HE1NZ]

Played them both on PS2 and loved them. GTA III Liberty City is one of my favorite open worlds. I know it inch by inch. Was super fun to see the differences.

 

[Synless]

These blew my mind on PSP at the time. Incredibly faithful to its console counterparts. I played the shit out of the multiplayer before it became big on consoles. I enjoyed both greatly.