While Grand Theft Auto III singlehandedly changed the gaming landscape forever, its successor, Vice City, is often considered one of the best games in the series. This is due to its incredible characters, beautiful neon-tinged setting, and expansive world. And, for a game released in 2002, the Vice City's world is surprisingly dense and absolutely packed with things to do.
Even now, nearly 20 years after the game's release, we wouldn't be surprised to hear if some people missed a handful of the game's side missions and secret quests. After all, some of them are not so obvious.
These are ten secret side quests everyone missed in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
10 Chopper Checkpoints
Chopper Checkpoints are a series of Sparrow-based missions scattered around the map. In order to commence the mission, the player must enter a parked Sparrow. After doing so, they must fly the plane through a series of checkpoints. However, the Sparrows are not particularly easy to find. One can be found on the roof of Apartment 3C in Ocean Beach. A second can be found across the street from the Links View Apartment in Vice Point. A third is on a random roof behind Kaufman Cabs.
And the fourth is found east of the VCPD Headquarters Downtown. They're not particularly challenging, but if you didn't know to enter the Sparrows, you would have missed these challenges entirely.
9 PCJ Playground
PCJ Playground is a fairly straightforward mission - you simply have to navigate between 24 checkpoints within two minutes. It sounds deceptively simple, but various obstacles are placed in the players' path to make the mission more challenging.
These includes scripted cars veering in front of the player and various stunt jumps to be performed. In order to access the mission, you must hop onto a parked PCJ 600 north of the police headquarters in Washington Beach. You are rewarded with $1,000 for completing the mission, and it is required to attain 100% completion.
8 Cone Crazy
In order to trigger the mission Cone Crazy, you must enter the parked Stallion located on top of the multistory car park behind the Ocean View Hotel. After doing so, you will need to collect five obstacles without touching any of the traffic cones littered throughout the area. After hitting the first, a timer is activated, and you must complete the course before the timer runs out.
Luckily, each checkpoint collected raises the timer by a number of seconds. This is also a fantastic way to earn money, as each completion of the course doubles the amount of money made before. For example, the first run nets you $200, the second $400, the third $800, and so on. By the 23rd run, you will earn $838,860,800! Now that is some serious money.
7 The Hyman Memorial Stadium Missions
Most people will glance at the Hyman Memorial Stadium and be on their merry way. However, you can actually access the stadium and participate in a number of side missions. Hotring sees you commandeering a Hotring Racer and participating in a standard twelve-lap race around the stadium. If you place first, you are awarded $5,000. Bloodring sees you driving a Bloodring Banger and participating in a demolition derby.
You are required to collect yellow checkpoints to increase the time on the diminishing timer. And finally, there is Dirtring. Dirtring sees you driving a Sanchez and performing various stunts to collect 32 checkpoints scattered around the arena. All of these missions are required for 100% completion of the game.
6 RC Bandit Race
The RC Bandit Race certainly stands out from the rest of the game. In it, you must race an RC Bandit around a course and complete two laps before the three other remote-controlled cars. Completing the race and scoring first place will net you a pretty measly $100, but it is required in order to obtain 100% completion. You may be asking yourself how one even begins an RC race. It's actually pretty simple!
All you need to do is enter the Top Fun van located in the Vice Point Sand Track in Vice Point. Like that infamous RC helicopter mission, RC Bandit Race will begin automatically once you enter the Top Fun van.
5 Pizza Boy
Pizza Boy is fantastic way to get to know the city. In order to access the missions, you must hop on a Pizza Boy parked near a Well Stacked Pizza. The mission sees you delivering pizzas to the citizens of Vice City, and it requires you to speed to various locations throughout the city. It may sound boring, and it can certainly be a little tedious, but the rewards are well worth the tedium.
Upon completing ten levels of the Pizza Boy challenge, you are given $5,000 and a permanent health increase to 150. Now isn't that worth a little driving around!? Just try to look around and enjoy the sights as much as you can along the way.
4 Checkpoint Charlie
Near the end of the game, the story requires you to own at least six asset properties so Sonny can come and collect his "earnings." However, there are nine purchasable asset properties, meaning it's inevitable that some go by the wayside. Of course, most people will gravitate towards the more familiar and obvious properties like the print works, Kaufman Cabs, and the Malibu.
But what of the others? Checkpoint Charlie is a mission that becomes available after purchasing the boatyard. You have two and a half minutes to collect 26 packages scattered throughout the waters of Vice City, and each leg of the mission gets progressively more difficult. If you complete all six legs, you will earn yourself $50,000.
3 Distribution
Distribution is a mission that is triggered from buying The Cherry Popper Ice Cream Company. Tommy quickly learns that the ice cream trucks are a front to distribute drugs around the city, so he uses the truck to attract unsavory customers. The more drugs you deal, the worse the police attention gets, and you soon find yourself having to avoid the police while still distributing the drugs.
Gang members also will not appreciate you dealing your drugs on their turf and will commence violence if they see you doing so. So, not only do you have to drive around the city, you have to avoid both the police AND rival gang members. Delivering fifty "ice creams" completes the mission, and the ice cream company begins earning a steady revenue stream.
2 The Pole Position Club
The mission in The Pole Position Club is arguably the most well-hidden in the entire game, and we don't know how anyone would figure it out without a guide. That is, unless they enjoy getting lap dances from crude polygons. The mission requires you to get a private backroom lap dance by one of the club's dancers.
While watching, Tommy will pay the dancer $5 every five seconds (five minutes in-game). In order to complete the mission, you must spend $300 on the dance. And if our math is right (which it probably isn't), that's five minutes of real time. So, either you go and do something else while Tommy gets a lap dance, or you sit there and stare a polygonal dancer for five minutes. Either way, it's not one of the game's most thrilling or intellectually rewarding missions.
1 Sunshine Autos Import Garage
Sunshine Autos is a tricky asset. Not only is the building itself a little out of the way, but purchasing it doesn't immediately begin the required mission. Instead, you have to go down below street level via the ramp to the garages, where a list of cars will be posted on the wall. There are four "tiers" to this mission - street cars and SUVs, expensive cars, sport cars, and gang calls and oddballs. The latter includes novelty vehicles like the caddy, Baggage Handler, Mr. Whoopee, and the Pizza Boy.
Every tier requires you to steal the required cars and bring them back to the lot. Upon completion of all four tiers, Sunshine Autos will generate up to $9,000 in revenue.