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Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
Grand Theft Auto for PlayStation 1
Grand Theft Auto for PlayStation 1 is an action game in which you travel through three cities on foot and in stolen vehicles. The overhead view shows junctions, pedestrians and police cars around you. You take jobs from payphones and receive messages on your pager. An assignment might involve delivering a car, collecting someone or eliminating a target. Liberty City, San Andreas and Vice City each have their own street layout and atmosphere.
You decide which route to follow and which vehicle to use. A fast car helps with an urgent delivery, while a heavy vehicle handles traffic and roadblocks differently. Successful jobs increase your score multiplier. What matters is therefore not only how much damage you cause, but also how you string assignments together. The police respond to your behaviour and can turn a planned journey into a pursuit. The car radio plays music that suits the vehicle.
This original PlayStation version is for one player using a standard controller; the computer version's network feature is not included. You turn your character with the directional buttons and use a separate button to move forwards. Progress is saved to a PlayStation memory card from the character selection screen. This does not allow unrestricted saving during an ongoing city stage, so a longer playing session takes some planning.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 1 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Grand Theft Auto for PlayStation 1 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto originated at Scottish developer DMA Design and was released in 1997. During development the project was called Race 'n' Chase. Its designers were seeking a city in which traffic, pedestrians and police could respond to one another. The finished game let you commit crimes and take on assignments without following a fixed race circuit. That combination of driving and choosing your own route shaped the beginning of the series.
Visual Sciences worked on the PlayStation adaptation. One technical challenge was transferring the urban environment into the console's limited memory. The result retained the high camera angle, varied vehicles and telephone assignments. The controls were distributed across the buttons of a PlayStation controller. Saving progress was also adapted to the console through a memory card, rather than using a computer's file storage.
London 1969 and Grand Theft Auto 2 followed on the same console in 1999. The first GTA had already established names that would return in later entries: Liberty City, San Andreas and Vice City. Here you explore them as separate cities beneath a camera hanging above the streets. The Platinum edition appeared as a reissue of the original PlayStation game, with recognisable silver packaging. Telephone assignments, high scores and free driving remained the basis of this edition.
Similar games for PlayStation 1
Grand Theft Auto 2 shares the overhead view, payphones and switching between walking and driving with the first GTA. The sequel makes your relationship with rival gangs more important: working for one group can turn another against you. The first game spreads its campaign across three different cities. GTA 2 uses the districts of Anywhere City and adds a church as a place to save while exploring the city.
Driver also has you driving through city traffic, evading police and carrying out assignments in cars. The camera follows behind the vehicle, and suspension and rear-end slides play a major role when cornering. You play undercover officer Tanner and stay in the car. Grand Theft Auto uses an overhead view and lets you get out, shoot and steal another vehicle. Pursuits are a shared element, but freedom of movement works differently.
Driver 2 adds the ability to leave your car and take another one alongside driving. This brings its alternation between walking and driving closer to Grand Theft Auto. Tanner mainly uses his legs to switch vehicles and continue assignments; the game remains strongly centred on car journeys. GTA also makes weapons, pedestrians and criminal assignments part of its free city action, viewed from above.
Auto Destruct shares city driving, dangerous traffic and vehicle-focused assignments with Grand Theft Auto. You drive an armed car and use weapons including missiles and mines against a cult. Protecting, escorting and destroying give the missions different objectives. GTA instead lets you switch between ordinary road vehicles and continue on foot. Auto Destruct places the emphasis on arming and driving your combat car.
The Die Hard With a Vengeance section of Die Hard Trilogy shares busy city traffic and the search for fast routes with Grand Theft Auto. You drive through New York to reach bombs before time runs out. The other two sections offer separate shooting action in a building and at an airport. GTA connects walking, shooting and driving within the same urban environment. Its telephone assignments give you more freedom over the order of your activities.
