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[IbizaPocholo]

The Grand Theft Auto series is more than capable of raking in record profits, scoring well with mainstream reviewers, and satisfying millions of gamers of all persuasions. It is nothing less than a juggernaut of gaming prowess at this point, and is regarded as such by most.

With that the series has taken some unexpected turns on its way to where it is now. From the top-down adventures of the mid-90’s to the streets of 2013 Los Santos, here’s all of the GTA games ranked. As a quick disclaimer, this will be mainly focused on mainline releases.

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

My personal ranking:

7. Grand Theft Auto
6. Grand Theft Auto 2
5. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Grand Theft Auto IV
3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
2. Grand Theft Auto III
1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Also, I'm sure it goes without saying that the Claude in GTA 2 is not the same Claude from GTA III (and San Andreas). Along with GTA 2's retro-futuristic art design, the game is thought to take place in year 2013 based on the dates of some police files on the game's official site here.

The games are separated by different eras - 2D, 3D, and HD. GTA IV, Episodes from Liberty City, and GTA V are part of the still ongoing HD era.

 

[Tschumi]

My personal ranking:

7. Grand Theft Auto
6. Grand Theft Auto 2
5. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Grand Theft Auto IV
3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
2. Grand Theft Auto III
1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Agreed. Except I'd put gta2 above 4 and 5, that game was really great at the time.

 

[Tranquil]

I liked 5 the best, then 4.

You can keep the rest, the controls are too janky.

 

[Numenorean]

GTA Vice City marked my life for good, its in my top 3 games of my life. Soon after I bought San Andreas but I wasnt really feeling it. It felt less.....warm or something along the lines. Difficult to explain.

 

[TooLateMate]

I liked 5 the best, then 4.

You can keep the rest, the controls are too janky.

4 is actually my favorite entry in the series, despite what everyone says

 

[post-S]

1. GTA5
2. GTASA
3. GTA3
4. GTAVC
5. GTA4

 

[R6Rider]

1. San Andreas (easily my top GTA, memorable characters, great missions, and variety of vehicles)
2. Vice City (Great setting, fun story, fun characters, music)
3. V (overall had a great time, but I could almost switch this and III)
4. III (such a classic game, lots of memories)
5. IV (would probably be last if not for Episodes)
6. Vice City Stories (Good to be back in VC)
7. Liberty City Stories (Kind of bland, but nostalgia was great)
8. Chinatown Wars (Great retro style and fun minigames)

Haven't played the rest enough to list them.

 

[Paltheos]

1) Vice City
2) III
3) San Andreas
4) IV

Seems about right. Vice City is really something. The '80s aesthetic together with the improvements on III's formula catapult it to the top. That radio is the best in the series too, hands down. San Andreas makes some further improvements but it never grabbed me the same way - I liked the stories of conquest in the other games and the systems they employed more, and the decision ton include vast stretches of empty, non-city are a mistake imo. IV continues to be worse outright by doing away with so much of the cartoony physics, but then again, this is (among other reasons) why Crackdown 1 rules the roost.

 

[Sleepwalker]

San Andreas was one of the first games I actually 100%d, I fell in love with that game hard so it's the best for me. So many HS memories involve San Andreas multiplayer too.


I enjoyed vice city a lot, thought IV and the DLC were a bit meh, and I liked V on the PS3 (I never double dipped this gen, fuck that).

 

[Ryuji Goda]

1. 4
2. SA
3. 3
4. VC
5. 5
6. 1
7. 2

 

[Stuart360]

1. Vice City
2. San Andreas
3. GTA 3
4. GTA 4
5. GTA 5

Really cant remember how much i liked the 2D ones so didnt include them.

 

[DonJimbo]

I tried to play GTA back in the day but never befriended myself with the series what I'm doing wrong any suggestions and recommendations to do to like and enjoy the games

 

[AV]

1. Vice City
2. San Andreas
3. GTA 3
4. GTA 5
5. GTA 4
6. GTA 2
7. GTA

I actually played a shitload of 2 back in the day, more than I ever played of 4 or 5, but I wouldn't be too interested now. 5 ranks highly because it blew my mind at the time, but less so over time. 4 I was disappointed on release then less so when I replayed it.

The PS2 trilogy is just completely timeless though, it won't be topped.

 

[CrysisFreak]

Anyone wanna go bowling with me?

 

[Radical Dreamer]

1) 3 by far
2) VC
3) SA
4) 5
5) 2

 

[HE1NZ]

1) IV
2) SA
3) III
4) VC
5) LCS
6) VCS
7) V

 

[Reficul]

SELECT * FROM GTA
ORDER BY ReleaseDate DESC

Thats my list.
Maybe I would change the release date of GTA IV to before SA, but it's a close call.

But I have to say that I was amazed by III in a way that has been hard to reproduce in later titles.

 

[DJT123]

The characters in 4/5 are all so awful, playable or not. (Except for Lamar Davis, he's hilarious.)

 

[Leyasu]

GTA Vice City marked my life for good, its in my top 3 games of my life. Soon after I bought San Andreas but I wasnt really feeling it. It felt less.....warm or something along the lines. Difficult to explain.

Vice city was something else. My game of all time. Nothing has come close

 

[Scotty W]

Fucking contrarian hipster idiots pretending they think four is the best and five is shit.

 

[ChoosableOne]

Most fun- Gta 2
Most played- gta vice city.
I liked 4 more than 5 because focused story, but none of them special games, can't remember any story detail or funny gameplay moment.

 

[YCoCg]

You can keep the rest, the controls are too janky.

If you're on PC you can install a mod to give these games full Xbox/Dual Shock 4 controller support, and they even have an option for "modern" style controls which brings it closer to IV/V style.

GInput

 

[Birdo]

Mine:

1. GTA 5
2. GTA San Andreas
3. GTA 3
4. GTA 4
5. GTA Vice City
6. GTA
7. GTA 2

(Just want to point out that I skip all cutscenes, so characters mean nothing to me)

 

[GenericUser]

Mine (excluding GTA1 and 2 - didn't like the 2D GTAs):

1.) San Andreas
2.) GTA 3
3.) GTA 4
4.) Vice City
5.) GTA 5

 

[ACESHIGH]

Just the ones I played

1 san andreas
2 IV
3 V

 

[DJT123]

Vice city was something else. My game of all time. Nothing has come close

I played it on a PS2 and fell in love as well. Haven't really been as big on the series since that.

 

[EverydayBeast]

3 without question, big time moments, you can go back 20+ years later and it’s still good.

 

[Teslerum]

GTA 2 massively underrated. There are elements of that game I'm still hugely disappointed by that they didn't get continued in future titles.

 

[Orta]

I hope 3 and VC get a remaster some day. Two absolute classics.

 

[Diddy X]

Vice City the best because of its soundtrack alone.

 

[Roufianos]

3 was mind blowing back in the day and is definitely my favourite. San Andreas and VC may be objectively better but they could never have the same wow factor.

IV is dog shit.

 

[Bladed Thesis]

1) Vice City
2) San Andreas
3) GTA 3
4) GTA 4
5) GTA 5
6) GTA 2
7) GTA

 

[MiguelItUp]

1. Grand Theft Auto III
2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
4. Grand Theft Auto V
5. Grand Theft Auto IV
6. Grand Theft Auto
7. Grand Theft Auto 2

 

[Bluecondor]

1. San Andreas (easily my top GTA, memorable characters, great missions, and variety of vehicles)
2. Vice City (Great setting, fun story, fun characters, music)
3. V (overall had a great time, but I could almost switch this and III)
4. III (such a classic game, lots of memories)
5. IV (would probably be last if not for Episodes)
6. Vice City Stories (Good to be back in VC)
7. Liberty City Stories (Kind of bland, but nostalgia was great)
8. Chinatown Wars (Great retro style and fun minigames)

Haven't played the rest enough to list them.

Chinatown Wars on Nintendo was such a great game.

I don't mean to take this off in a tangent, but I have been playing Ring Fit Adventures on the Switch lately using the Ring Fit Controller. If Rockstar released a version of Chinatown Wars that could be played using the the Ring Fit Controller (imagine shoot out mini-games and drug dealing mini-games using the Ring Fit controller - i.e. shoot outs would be leg exercises, drug dealing would be core exercises and so on), it would immediately become my go-to game for 30 minutes a day.

 

[Thabass]

My list:

1. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
2. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
4. Grand Theft Auto 3
5. Grand Theft Auto 2
6. Grand Theft Auto 4
7. Grand Theft Auto

Vice City captured my heart. It's exactly what I wanted out of a game and I really want Rockstar to give the city a new fresh coat of paint. I really hope GTAVI is going to Vice City again. I need it in my veins.

 

[Zathalus]

1. GTA V
2. GTA San Andreas
3. GTA Vice City
4. GTA IV
5. GTA 3

 

[BaneIsPain]

GTA III
GTA San Andreas
GTA Vice Story
GTA IV
GTA V

There is something with GTAIII that I kept replay the main storyline.

 

[30yearsofhurt]

There's a reason GTAV is still a big seller 7 years later.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

I’ll be honest I’ve never played GTA 1/2 for more then 10 minutes so if I had to rank my own...

1. Vice City
2. IV
3. San Andreas
4. BOGT/TLAD
5. III
6. V
   

 

[GymWolf]

For me it's

3
Vice city
4
5
San andreas

 

[Arkam]

1. Vice City
2. GTA III
3. GTA V
4. Chinatown Wars
5. San Andreas or IV.... both were fun, but neither one hooked me like the first four in my list.

 

[DonJimbo]

SELECT * FROM GTA
ORDER BY ReleaseDate DESC

Thats my list.
Maybe I would change the release date of GTA IV to before SA, but it's a close call.

But I have to say that I was amazed by III in a way that has been hard to reproduce in later titles.

The best way ever hail SQL

 

[tillbot8]

1: Vice City
2: San Andreas
3: GTA1
4: GTA4
5: GTA 5
6: GTA 2
7: Never played GTA3 (Be gentle)

 

[Kerotan]

1. GTA V
2. GTA IV
3. Vice City
4. GTA III
5. San Andreas

 

[Intel RTX HD-LameLake 24K]

1.GTA V
2.GTA San Andreas
3.GTA Vice City
4.GTA IV
5.GTA III

 

[GiJoint]

1. GTA 3
2. GTA 5
3. San Andreas
4. GTA 4
5. Vice City

 

[Grand Theft Scratchy]

If it weren't for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas having so much to do in a GTA game, I would have put Grand Theft Auto III on my number one spot. As a location, I like Liberty City the most, and think it has the best map layout and my favorite atmosphere (overcast and rainy). It's another reason I prefer GTA IV to GTA V but also because GTA V, in terms of what you could do, was underwhelming compared to San Andreas on the PS2.

GTA VI should prove interesting though, assuming we see a new rendition of Vice City and whether or not there's a lot to do.

 

[Sethbacca]

Vice City # 1 by far, if only for the 80s atmosphere and the soundtrack. I'd love another 70s or 80s based GTA.

 

[Eternal21]

Missing the original GTA: