GTA: Vice City Stories

Neon glow of the '80s, palm trees, pink sunsets and synthesizers – Vice City Stories brings to the PSP the most stylish backdrop the Grand Theft Auto series has ever had. Rockstar returned to the beloved city and proved that handheld GTA can be even richer and more ambitious.

The game develops the tried-and-true open-world formula: a sprawling open Vice City, a story campaign, car theft, shootouts and missions for a colorful gallery of underworld characters. Compared with the previous handheld entry, Vice City Stories also adds empire-building elements, where the player expands their own criminal enterprise and acquires property. All of it is wrapped in the unmistakable atmosphere of the eighties, completed by the music, fashion and visual style of the whole era.

Technically it is once again an impressive piece – a complete living city with traffic and missions running smoothly on a handheld console. Vice City Stories builds on the success of Liberty City Stories and pushes handheld GTA a step further both in scope and content. For PSP owners it was further proof that they could experience full-fledged big games on the console.

The combination of a stylish retro backdrop, an open world and the trademark cynical storytelling made Vice City Stories one of the console's most beloved titles. A return to the city of sin in your pocket was a temptation series fans found hard to resist.

Why play it: A stylish open-world GTA set against the neon backdrop of the '80s with empire-building elements – all of Vice City on the go, in a form that pushes the handheld series further.