5 lesser known fun facts about older GTA games

There are hundreds of fun facts about the older GTA games that are always worth sharing.

A single GTA game can have its own few dozen lesser-known facts. Unsurprisingly, that means the entire series has its fair share of fun facts. Only five will be shared in this article, but it isn't the top-five. It's strictly just five fun facts about older GTA titles that some fans might not be aware of.

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Five fun facts about the older GTA games

#5 - GTA Advance and GTA Chinatown Wars are not part of the 2D Universe

Technically, a 2D (psuedo 3D) game can be a part of the HD universe, as confusing as it may seem (Image via Rockstar Games)

Some GTA fans have the pre-conceived notion that both GTA Advance and Chinatown Wars are a part of the 2D Universe. Whilst it's true that the two games look 2D, they are not part of the same canon universe as GTA 1 and 2. GTA Advance isn't even in the same canon universe as Chinatown Wars.

Advance takes place in the 3D Universe, meaning that it's in the same timeline as GTA 3, Vice City, San Andreas, etc. Chinatown Wars take place in the HD Universe, meaning that it's in the same timeline as GTA 4 and 5.

Contrary to popular opinion, the games' graphics don't determine which universe they're set in. These universes are simply parallel universes (as described by Rockstar Games), which are connected to the other games released recently to their release date.

#4 - The fastest speedrun for GTA Vice City is around eight minutes

More specifically, the fastest speedrun in GTA Vice City is in the Any% category and it belongs to Marushko. It's eight minutes and 30 seconds (including load times), which might seem astonishing to some fans of Vice City. But all of that lies in the category it's played in.

Any% is as the name implies; anything goes. All that matters is that the player can beat the game, hence the moniker of "any percent". There are other categories that put more restrictions on it, like Any% (No SSU).

SSU is the main reason GTA Vice City can be beaten so quickly. It stands for "script stack underflow", which speedrunners use in the speedruns. In layman's terms, they're manipulating the data in a way that can warp them to the final mission or credits (depending on the game).

#3 - Claude isn't always silent

GTA 3's Claude is widely described as mute by fans of the series. However, there are various types of how "mute" a person can be. In Claude's case, he is able to make grunts and other sound effects, but he is unable to speak coherently.

It is not known who the voice actor is for the few sounds Claude makes. His mutism is played for laughs in GTA San Andreas, but it isn't fully explored as to why Claude is unable to talk.

Rockstar has gone over why Claude is mute from a gameplay perspective, but he isn't completely silent despite what some GTA fans think.

#2 - GTA 4 is the highest-rated GTA game on Metacritic

GTA 4 is a great game (Image via Rockstar Games)

User scores vary across various GTA titles on several platforms, but this fact pertains to the critic scores of the game. The average critic score for GTA 4 is 98/100, which is higher than any other game in the franchise. GTA 3 and 5 are rated at 97/100, whereas the other GTA titles are rated just a little bit lower.

Fans should remember that critic scores seldom change retroactively, so it is incredibly unlikely for this fact to change, except in the case something like GTA 6 feels so revolutionary to critics. Even then, there's a possibility a game like that could be tied at 98/100, or even be rated just a smidgen lower.

#1 - GTA San Andreas is the best-selling PS2 game of all time

GTA San Andreas's success isn't surprising (Image via Rockstar Games)

Three GTA titles (3, Vice City, and San Andreas) are in the top ten of the best-selling PS2 games of all time. GTA San Andreas, in particular, is the number one best-seller for the PS2 of all time.

GTA San Andreas was released on October 26, 2004, and has sold over 17.33 million copies. The PS2 is the best-selling console of all time, so that is an impressive feat for GTA San Andreas to have. For reference, the PS2 has sold over 155,000,000 consoles worldwide.

It might not be as impressive as GTA 5's numbers, but it was a different era where Rockstar wasn't as dominant as they are now.

Note: This article reflects the writer’s personal views.