Gaming On The iPad Has Unexpectedly Opened Up A World Of Retro Games…
Back To A Classic Console Game
I never played the 2004 PS2 banger that ‘everyone was playing’ back in the day. For one thing, I am NOT a ‘console guy’ and only ever had a PS1 for the kids and the whole GTA ‘urban street culture’ vibe just wasn’t my thing. But my recent acquisition of an iPad Pro changed all that…
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| Above: Launched in Europe in November 2000, Sony’s PS2 effectively killed the Sega Dreamcast shipping 10.6 million consoles worldwide! I never really took to the whole console gaming platform and stuck resolutely to gaming on my home computer. In a way I now sort of regret this a little and feel that I missed out on a lot of classic games. Luckily, I can make up for that now as many classics are being remastered and ported for other newer platforms. |
Suddenly I now have access to the back catalog of (remaster) GTA ‘trilogy’ games which run fantastically well on this ‘mobile’ platform. And I have even started to get used to using a console game pad (heresy for a dyed in the wool PC gamer like myself)!
Admittedly, I am not a complete newcomer to Rockstar’s GTA series and was completely hooked to GTA 5 on my PC gaming rig a few years ago. I loved the immersive storyline and characters and especially the central ‘wise guy’ protagonist Michal De Santa, who always reminded me of actor Michael Madson who - sadly - passed away recently.
Into ‘The Hood’ - Gang Warfare
But GTA: San Andreas is a complexly different kettle of fish, despite GTA 5 having a supporting main character of the black street gangster Franklin Clinton the whole LA Compton/Inglewood backdrop is kinda secondary to main storyline, but GTA: SA puts the whole gangsta culture front and centre.
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| Above: Me and my ‘homies’ (or should that be ‘colonies’ LOL)! Early day’s in ‘the hood’ Building my gang. Sadly the variation in spawned character types is a bit restricted! |
I have to say that being British, white and loosely ‘middle class’ getting into the whole LA gangsta role playing thing is a little jarring. I have little reference other than popular culture, movies and TV to go by and my perspective is somewhat stereotyped. At first, I was a bit dubious that I could immerse myself in something that was so alien to me…
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| Above: Art mimicking life - one of the most problematic aspects of this game is being successful in developing a steady relationship with a girl! LMAO I simply have not figured out the trick to progressing with ‘Denise’ no matter how many times I buy her a pizza!…Women, eh? 😅 |
Yet, here I am - several hours of gaming later totally hooked and running my own gang and undertaking drive by shootings and turf wars!!! 😆
Appreciation For The GTA Series
I always felt that I was missing something while playing GTA 5. There were hints at storylines - particularly with the Franklin character - that I had no knowledge of, never having played previously GTA games. But now I feel like I am at least filling in some of the blanks.
GTA San Andreas not only satisfies my appetite for more GTA - while we wait for the forthcoming GTA 6 - but it also scratches my enthusiasm for classic/retro gaming. The graphics - though blocky - have almost a meme vibe to them, as if it were a stylistic choice rather than the limitation of the time.
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| Above: A big part of the story arch in GTA:SA is gang warfare. Your character must command the Grove Street gang (represented by green) and compete against other street gangs for territory. This is conducted both in the mission mode but more directly by you heading up attacks into your rivals areas and undertaking drive-by and assaults on ‘hoods’. Here I lead a small group of my homies into near-by ‘Ballas’ territory (purple). |
The 2004 game also gives me a greater appreciation of all the work that went into GTA 5, particularly in the city building in the game. GTA:SA’s ‘city’ feels a little cardboard boxy now, with vast areas of empty buildings that are no more than background scenery. GTA 5 always felt a bit more populated and that there were things going on in a lot more of the city. Don’t get me wrong the newer game had a lot of mock buildings that you wished you could go into as well, but GTA: SA has streets of buildings with no characters of ‘life’ to them. But that’s just technical eveolution at work. GTA 5’s sheer digital size was HUGE in comparison to an older game which runs very happily on a mobile device!
Anyway, I’m quite addicted to the classic GTA now, much to my surprise and the good news it that the rest of the GTA trilogy - Grand Theft Auto III (2001), Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002), and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) - are also now available for my iPad!
So Rockstar can take as long as they want to finish GTA 6 - I’ve plenty to keep me happy!
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