Vice City or San Andreas?

[rpgedgar]

Which of these two games would you recommend if you only had time to play one of them?

[TeeCakes]

Vice City for the retro soundtrack alone.

And because I've never played San Andreas! :D

[Rafer]

I like San Andreas more but most people I know prefer Vice City.

I guess it depends on what you're more nostagic for? Scarface and Mr. Mister, or Boyz n the Hood and the Happy Mondays?

[Methos]

I'm going to vote for Vice City. The 80's vibe was much more appealing to me then the early 90's gangster LA. Tommy Vercetti was a badass character to play after that mute punk.

San Andreas was superior gameplay wise, and the amount of content in that game was incredible. Still going to go with the GTA that had A Flock of Seagulls.

[privatedonut21]

San Andreas. For me the story is more interesting than Vice City and like Methos says the gameplay is better.

In the end you can't go wrong though, it's just preference.

[modeps]

I enjoyed the setting of San Andreas more than Vice City... of course, I've always been more of a boy in the hood than a vice in Miami.

[Primus]

I liked the setting of SA but there was literally too much content for me. I never finished the game because of it.

VC was big but not too big. It is my favorite GTA to date because of this. Better than GTA3, but I could actually complete it, unlike GTA:SA and GTAIV.

[Cha-Ka]

I preferred San Andreas due to its inclusion of a "skills/stats that you use are automatically improved" stat-building mechanic. I spoke with a few friends who felt this same feature was detrimental to their enjoyment of SA...so your mileage may vary.

[rpgedgar]

I've heard you have to do a lot of micro management in SA, such as eating and lifting. Are these things necessities or just options?

[FearTheReaper]

Having played both, its San Andreas for me. Larger map, more stuff to do, better controls all seal the deal.

[Evil Avatar]

I recommend picking up the three pack so you have all three.

[Flatpicker]

Crackdown.
Barring that, Vice City. Too much stat management in SA. Feels like Fable in the hood.

[Cha-Ka]

I've heard you have to do a lot of micro management in SA, such as eating and lifting. Are these things necessities or just options?

I think the benefits of staying fit in GTA IV were pretty useful for players who favor melee and/or prefer to travel on foot/bicycle, but didn't have much impact on the driving/shooting side of the game. I believe the main benefits of playing the gym minigames and eating "healthy" in this game are:

avatar gets buffed out
avatar can sprint longer without stopping to catch breath
avatar's punches/kicks inflict more damage


Failure to "work out" and/or excessive eating from the in-game restaurants could make your character fat, which came with penalties in the three areas listed above. Maintaining peak physical condition in the game called for frequent return trips to the gym to "top off" your stat meters with a couple rounds of the available minigames.

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

Vice City without a doubt.

[FearTheReaper]

I've heard you have to do a lot of micro management in SA, such as eating and lifting. Are these things necessities or just options?

To a certain extent, yes. But after spending a minimal time at the gym, you can pretty much forget about it for the rest of the game.

[revelation]

Vice City. Not much more to say.

[Agnostic]

Vice City.

[Dag-Sabot]

Vice city. If only because you didn't have to commute so much.

[t3kl3r]

Really, guys? Vice City was by far the most forgettable GTA game for me. The only thing I really liked about it was the inclusion of motorcycles and the soundtrack. Otherwise it felt small and I didn't like the way the city was laid out.

San Andreas was the superior version for me. The portions of the game for boosting stats weren't necessary and when you did want to be buff, it would last for a long time before you really needed to workout again. I found the cell phone calls from friends nagging you to hang out in GTA4 to be way, way more annoying.

San Andreas also had car mods. That was really enjoyable.

The size and diversity of the world in San Andreas was probably what really does it for me though. Hopefully the next current gen GTA will have a world as big and varied.

[Mojopin]

You guys are too old ;), San Andreas baby! When Dr. Dre and Snoop Dog come on the radio It's gang banging time!

[laggerific]

San Andreas!!!! The best GTA ever. It has a fantastic RPG-esque leveling system, and once you get your person to the physical appearance you want, that headache goes away for the most part. The world is expansive, and it's wonderful to take a bikeride up mountains and then base jump off of them. Getting away from the city is also possible, with wonderful country areas connecting the different cities. And the soundtrack is good.

[FreezaSama]

San Andreas. Just for the increased feature set. Not to mention fully functional planes.

[HeartbreakRidge]

Vice City! Captures an era perfectly.

[Dirty Harry]

I recommend picking up the three pack so you have all three.
Thats what i recommend, personally vanilla gta3 is my favorite version.

[Chimpbot]

Vice City for the retro soundtrack alone.

And because I've never played San Andreas! :D

On the technical side, San Adreas is vastly superior to Vice City. The amount of real estate alone takes it leaps and bounds beyond its predecessors. I got tired of the 80's thing extremely quickly, so I ended up shelving Vice City earlier than most. San Andreas, however, really clicked with me, primarily because of the tighter gameplay experience.

I look at VC as a means to an end, really. GTA3 was revolutionary and new, while SA managed to add quite a bit of innovation to the series. VC is, to me, the stepping stone that allowed SA to be made. GTA4, unfortunately, caused the series to backpedal a bit; as such, I consider SA to be the best in the series thus far.

[pwnophobia]

I played VC into the ground and then dug it up and played it again, I loved that game.

I would pick up all 3 games, as I've never played SA.

[AversionFX]

San Andreas was my favorite GTA title. All the usual twists and turns of a GTA game, but with more actual "game" there. GTA + a splash of RPG = win.

[rpgedgar]

I must say that all the praise for both games made my choice difficult. However in the end I just decided to buy both games! I initially wanted to avoid getting burnt out by playing one type of game too much but I figure if enough time passes between me playing them then I'll be fine.

Thanks for all the help, this may be the best $17.50 I've spent on games in a long time.

[Antimony]

I really missed SA's RPG elements when playing GTA IV. You didnt' get a sense of Niko Bellic improving much, he was basically the same guy at the beginning and end of the game. Just kind of depressed. CJ really feels like a bad ass once you've got all your weapons maxed out.

[Methos]

The amount of gaming content you are getting for $17.50 is incredible. You have chosen wisely.

[biosc1]

Vice city. If only because you didn't have to commute so much.

San Andreas was the better of the two games for me, but if you are under time constraints, I would stick with Vice City. Mainly because, as mentioned before, it's "smaller". Everything is more densely packed, so you get things done quicker.

[MojoJojo]

I really missed SA's RPG elements when playing GTA IV. You didnt' get a sense of Niko Bellic improving much, he was basically the same guy at the beginning and end of the game. Just kind of depressed. CJ really feels like a bad ass once you've got all your weapons maxed out.
Niko became a lot smarter. His "stats" didn't improve, but he didn't remain either a psychopath like Sonny or a total doormat like CJ.

San Andreas was more fun for me than Vice City, both game and story wise, even with the kitchy 80s Miami Vice feel. However, the maintenance of CJ's stats was sometimes irritating until you finally maxed things out, as were some of the mini-games. The commuting between missions and girlfriends was also onerous, especially if you were going between cities. GTA IV's taxi and train system really, really took a lot of the dead time out, as did the flesh out of the relationship system (including the bromances). I'd love if we could get a San Andreas in a GTA IV engine for that alone.

[MJBuddy]

You live mostly in the 90s or the 80s? That's your answer.

[ElPresidente]

San Andreas is the better 'game' but it is easy to see why people enjoy the 'feel' of Vice City more. It is hard to beat that soundtrack.

[Krytie]

I'd go with Vice City. San Andreas was almost too big for it's own good but Vice City was almost a period piece with its representation of the 80s

[Lard]

Vice City is more fun. I got tired of SA very, very quickly.

[Xaerin]

If your problem is time then VC since it's about a quarter the size of SA but if you have the time then deffinitely go with the newest, SA, going through these old games, especially for the first time and without the benefit of nostalgia, can see really dated and full of annoying old school gaming traits. Just lots of little things you'll notice if you've ever played GTA IV or Saints Row.