Colin Anderson, the audio manager and co-composer for Grand Theft Auto II at DMA Design, recently paid tribute to the game, calling it the “unsung hero” of the franchise. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, many see GTA 2 as a misstep, but Anderson believes that it was pivotal in shaping Grand Theft Auto’s future.
GTA 2 introduced several innovative features such as the gang reputation system and fictionalized radio commercials. It also moved the setting to “Anywhere USA,” a retrofuturistic metropolis inspired by films and comics like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and Frank Miller’s Hard Boiled. These elements made it one of the more experimental entries in the series.
Anderson highlighted that GTA 2 was key for experimentation over perfection, making it a critical step in the franchise’s evolution. The game moved away from simple point-and-click mechanics and towards creating a meaningful immersive world.
Do you agree that GTA 2 is an unsung hero of the franchise?
For those who want a top down GTA experience slightly newer than GTA 2, check out GTA Chinatown Wars.
It was PSP and Nintendo DS only but had a decent story and had the precursor to the drug trading that’s prominent in GTA 5 now. I enjoyed it but remember it having almost no marketing when it came out.
GTA Chinatown Wars probably got most of its promotion from the South Park episode where Cartman really wants it.
It was the last GTA to let you run over Hare Krishnas.
I just loaded up a video and these sounds are so iconic. Top down GTA was so fucking good.
Gouranga!
I’m not sure about unsung hero, but I really enjoyed it and we sank a lot of hours into it in our dorm sessions.
It’s probably the only GTA I’ve ever played. I recently tried to play it, but found the tank controls too annoying to play. The game would still be fun if it had analog support.
The first GTA is still the most fun.
I had a lot of fun with it back then. I don’t think I ever beat it though.
It’s pretty interesting looking back on it and seeing how many of the gameplay mechanics went on to be in GTA 3.
It was what drew me to the series. The London Pack was the tits.
I thought the london stuff was on gta 1?
Forgive me. I’m old and my memory seems to be failing.
The only one I really liked. It was fun - cartoonish, goofy, wacky - fun.
GTA 2 was fantastic, especially multiplayer over LAN on PC. It unseated a lot of our usual FPS or RTS games for a while as the game of choice.
Then again, what do I know, I still think Zelda 2 was awesome.
Yeah nobody is talking about the insanely fun multiplayer! That shit had us laughing hysterically for hours!
I missed the factions in the following open world games. I still want to make a tribute game at some point in my life
Gta2 was best gta, finally the world is agree with me
Agreed. While 3, VC, and SA were awesome, the shift in style made them so different they’re not really comparable.
GTA2 stuck to the top-down view that made the original game so much fun. And the faction system was pretty cool.
I really enjoyed VC and SA, but I found it a bit jarring that the character now had lines. I always preferred that he was a “shut up and do what you’re told” kind of guy.
GTA4 was fine.
GTA5 was a really nice tech demo that lacked depth in the gameplay. Great writing, though.
I have enjoyed more GTA2 multiplayer than I ever enjoyed GTA4’s or 5’s.
While 4 and 5 attempt to be more than straight up death matches, GTA2 was just death match. Nobody whining about having their super expensive bullshit getting exploded. Nobody cheating. Literally none of the things that make GTA:O fucking stupid.
Best GTA for sure. I quit the francise when started making it 3D.
The same with me. Retro City Rampage is pretty sweet however
I agree it was the best in the series. I never quite enjoyed the later gta games as much as the unbridled fun of gta 2.
Why was it seen as a misstep?
I have memories of ramps, black z cars and a hotdog mission…Because it got 7/10 average review scores and didn’t sell as well as GTA. Then GTA3 (and its immediate spin-offs and eventual sequels) came out and started breaking all time sales records. So retroactively, GTA 2 was “a mistake” for not being GTA 3 two years early.
But like the guy says, the point of the article even, is that you don’t create run away successes without experimenting on the formula to find what’s good, without “failures” like GTA 2 to learn from.
That’s very funny to me, since GTA 2 is the only GTA I have fond memories of
But then again, I was a kid so. Not exactly the most refined tastes
Now there’s a deserving remaster
Is the Retro City Rampage / Shakedown: Hawaii guy working on anything?
I’d love to have a modern gta in that style.
3D is cool. But I had more fun in GTA / GTA2 than in any of the games since.
I remember making circles of cars and “hood” surfing (sliding) non-stop while cops tried to catch me (GTA1)
I would basically ALWAYS sneak into the army base in the bottom right of the map and just go wild with the tank lol.
