Grand Theft Auto is a 1997 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by BMG Interactive. It takes place within an open-world environment where the player must gather several points ranging in the millions to progress through the game's chapters.

The Story Behind Grand Theft Auto

We're rewriting the handling of the cars at the moment. After the PlayStation's successful release, development began on Grand Theft Auto 64, a port of the game for the Nintendo 64, rumoured to have graphical enhancements and new missions. The GBC version was also heavily toned down to target younger demographic, with most gore and swearing removed.

The original concept of Grand Theft Auto was "to produce a fun, addictive and fast multi-player car racing and crashing game which uses a novel graphics method". David Jones, the game's producer, cited Pac-Man as an influence. The game was originally titled Race'n'Chase.

How Grand Theft Auto Plays

Players can find equipment across the level's map to help them with jobs and making points, including weapons and body armour, increasing the player's survival against attacks from enemies. However, the more typical means to achieve their target is to perform tasks for the level's local crime syndicate. Grand Theft Auto is made up of six levels split between three main cities; each locale is based on a real-life city in the United States, with an alternative name: Liberty City (New York City), San Andreas (San Francisco), and Vice City (Miami).

Successful completion of a job awards the player points, unlocks harder missions with greater rewards, and provides a "multiplier"—a bonus that increases the value of points earned from completing jobs and actions. In each level, the player's ultimate objective is to reach a target number of points, which starts at $1,000,000 but becomes higher in the later levels, and then reach the level's "goal" to complete the stage. The player is free to do whatever they want, but have limited lives.

Why Players Still Load It Up

After more work, Bubby praises the protagonist's efforts, but warns that the police surround the gang, and it would be a good idea for them to leave town. After completing many jobs, they are warned by a rival gang that their actions are causing great harm to their boss, Sonetti. When the character enters a car, the game randomly plays music from the CD.

The success of Grand Theft Auto spawned a series of games built upon the original's gameplay and themes; the Grand Theft Auto series has since become one of the most popular and best-selling video game franchises of all time. Three DMA members – Colin Anderson, Craig Conner, and Grant Middleton – composed the radio tracks and recorded them at night in the company's offices. The game's main theme was composed by Conner and credited to the fictional band Da Shootaz.

Grand Theft Auto — Frequently Asked Questions