GTA Games, Best to Worst

The period accents, compact cars and mission text do most of the work, turning the original game's systems into an amusing British detour.

Niko Bellic gives the series its strongest protagonist, and Liberty City's density, bleak humor and physical driving still support GTA's best complete story.

Three cities, memorable characters and a ridiculous range of activities make San Andreas the series' most generous expression of player freedom.

The radio, saturated colors and 1980s confidence remain unbeatable, even if the shooting and mission checkpoints now show their age.

Los Santos is the series' best playground and GTA Online changed the business, although the three-protagonist story often feels colder than the world around it.

The 2001 leap into 3D changed what an open world could be, even if later entries made Liberty City more detailed and the missions less punitive.

Its empire-building system gives familiar Vice City locations a practical purpose, making this prequel more than a portable collection of old assets.

Liberty City Stories is compact, mean and structurally confident, delivering a credible GTA campaign on hardware that should not have managed it.

Chinatown Wars condenses drug trading, police escapes and sharp mission design into a handheld game that never needed a second analog stick.

The gang-loyalty system remains clever, but the top-down movement and visual noise make its chaotic cities harder to enjoy now.