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GTA Advance
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Grand Theft Auto Advance
Released 2004 · Game Boy Advance
Grand Theft Auto Advance is the 2004 Game Boy Advance game, and the only GTA built specifically for a Nintendo handheld. It returns to a top-down Liberty City set one year before the events of GTA III, following a criminal named Mike who wants one last payout before leaving town.
Rockstar handed development to Digital Eclipse rather than building it in-house.
Trailer
Video uploaded by iPhantom3D on YouTube, not an official Rockstar Games channel.
Liberty City Before GTA III
The map is a reworked version of the GTA III city, flattened back to a top-down view and rebuilt for a screen the size of a credit card. Several locations and characters line up with the 2001 game, and playing it after GTA III turns familiar streets into something you have to re-learn from above.
Mike's Last Job
The story follows Mike and his partner Vinnie, who plan to leave Liberty City once a final deal pays out. It goes wrong quickly, and the rest of the game is a revenge story told through short missions. It is a simpler script than the console games of the era, written to be played in bursts.
How It Holds Up
Reviews at the time were mixed, and it is usually remembered as the weakest handheld GTA, especially next to Chinatown Wars five years later. It has never been re-released, so it remains the hardest entry in the series to play legally today.
Frequently Asked Questions about GTA Advance
Is GTA Advance a port of GTA III?
No. It is an original game with its own story and protagonist, set in the same Liberty City one year before GTA III, and played from a top-down view.
Who developed GTA Advance?
Digital Eclipse, working under Rockstar Games, rather than Rockstar North who built the main console entries.
Can you play GTA Advance on modern devices?
There is no official re-release. It was never added to a modern storefront or included in any GTA collection, which makes it the most difficult GTA to access today.