In 1997, Grand Theft Auto was first released for PCs followed by the PS1. In 1999, the Game Boy Color got a port of the game, although it was toned down severely to suit the handheld console's audience. At this point, the series was played from a top-down perspective. That said, there was still plenty of carjacking and shooting randomly as one would expect.
However, the series wouldn’t hit its more modern designs until 2001 with Grand Theft Auto 3 on the PS2. It's been a long road but like any franchise, there are bound to be some GTA games that have been left in the dust. Some have been lost for good reason such as the Game Boy Color port, while others from PS3 and Xbox 360 generations as well as the handheld generations of the PSP and DS are worth bringing back.
6 Grand Theft Auto: London
Grand Theft Auto: London took the series to the UK for the first and only time. Coming in two parts, these expansions were released for the PS1 and PCs in 1999. The first was set in 1969 and the other in 1961.
They played exactly like the first two GTA games with a top-down perspective. They were novel at the time, but once the series hit 3D, it was hard to go back to something like this. It is strange Rockstar never went back to London although that could change with Grand Theft Auto 6.
5 Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC
Grand Theft Auto 4 was first released on the PS3, the PC, and the Xbox 360 in 2008. As the series’ first foray into the HD era of consoles, this entry unsurprisingly garnered a lot of praise. It even added a multiplayer mode that, while not as deep as Grand Theft Auto 5’s, was an important first step.
In 2009, Rockstar released two digital DLC packs for GTA 4, and they were made available as standalone packs on disc. The first was The Lost and Damned and starred a rival biker gang shown in the original title’s story. The other was The Ballad of Gay Tony which is almost self-explanatory in terms of content. The latter was the one that attracted the most interest and acclaim.
The Ballad of Gay Tony still has some of the highest highs the series has ever seen. While they are hard to play on PlayStation devices, GTA 4 and its DLC can be played on Xbox consoles through backward compatibility.
4 Grand Theft Auto Advance
Grand Theft Auto Advance was released in 2004 for the GBA. As mentioned in the intro, it was not Nintendo’s first entry in the series but it was the company's first original one. It was a prequel to Grand Theft Auto 3 which may have enticed some players at the time. That game was beyond huge.
However, GTA Advance was a return to the classic top-down viewpoint, something that many people didn’t dig. Due to the GBA’s button restrictions, it also made it hard to play when compared to the franchise's console games. GTA Advance was not reviewed well at launch, although it does have a following.
3 Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Just a year after Grand Theft Auto Advance, there was another attempt at a Grand Theft Auto 3 prequel. It was also going to be a handheld exclusive via the PSP. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was set even further back in the timeline but thankfully emulated the gameplay style of the console games.
This was met with better praise. It hit the PSP in 2005 and due to its popularity, Liberty City Stories was then ported to the PS2 in 2006. It may not live up exactly to Grand Theft Auto 3, but it’s still a great successor through a prequel lens.
2 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories was a prequel to Vice City on the PS2. That should be obvious from the title. It was made because of how successful Liberty City Stories was.
Like its predecessor, in 2006, Vice City Stories spent a year as an exclusive on the PSP. In 2007, it would make the jump to PS2. For those that couldn’t get enough of the '80s vibe of Vice City, this was a nice add-on to that.
1 Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
The first two Grand Theft Auto games on Nintendo's handheld systems weren't anything to write home about. Enter the DS in 2005, which not only had an ample amount of buttons when compared to a GBA but it had touch controls as well.
Because of this unique gameplay interface, and because the DS continued to sell like gangbusters throughout its life, Rockstar was inspired to make one last exclusive Grand Theft Auto for Nintendo. The game, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, is also set in Liberty City.
It released first on the DS in 2009 but also got a PSP port a few months later. Chinatown Wars got various mobile ports after that as well. Any version with touch controls is the way to go as the puzzle-like drug smuggling elements are best experienced through touch interfaces. Amongst all the forgotten spinoffs, this is the one worth seeking out.