Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

Neon, palm trees, pastel suits and synthesizers. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories from 2006 returns you to an artificially constructed version of 1980s Miami, this time in the role of the former soldier Vic Vance. Rockstar Leeds built on the success of the previous handheld installment and pushed handheld GTA a step further still.

In terms of gameplay it's again an open world full of missions, car theft, shootouts and free roaming. Vice City Stories, however, added an element that wasn't common in the series: empire building. The player could take over and manage their own businesses, defend them against the competition and expand their influence across the city. This gave the game an extra layer of strategic decision-making over the purely mission-based structure of its predecessor.

In development terms it was a display of the studio's confidence. Rockstar Leeds once again demonstrated that it could cram an extensive sandbox into the PSP hardware, and with its own plot, its own characters and an atmosphere faithful to the source Vice City. Just like Liberty City Stories, this title later made it to the PlayStation 2, thereby finding its way to players without a handheld as well.

Its cultural value lies in the atmosphere. Eighties Vice City is one of the most striking settings of the whole series, and its return, backed by a period soundtrack and visual style, is among the things fans remember most. Returning to this world on a small screen had its own inimitable magic.

Vice City Stories thus closes out a pair of handheld GTAs that together proved a portable console needn't mean compromise. On the contrary, these were full-fledged experiences with everything that belongs to the brand.

Why play: A return to the neon Vice City of the eighties plus running your own criminal empire. Great atmosphere and full-blooded GTA for the road.