Grand Theft Auto: London 1969
PSone / PC / April 1999

Originators DMA morphed into Rockstar, and GTA was trans♓formed into the big-bloused, bellbottomed GTA: London 1969 - all the car-jacking, pedestrian-squashing gameplay of the original but with a ღ1960s London vibe.

Far from being a true successor, GTA: London 1969 was essentially a stylistic add-on that required ownership of the original game. The changes were mostly cosmetic - Chevrolets beca൩me Capris (or non-copyright-infringing ‘Crapis’), Greyhound buses were transformed into the capita📖l’s iconic Double Deckers and the mission dialogue was now inspired by slang from classic Brit TV and movies such as The Professionals and The Italian Job.

But underneath the paint-job, the gameplay was identical. While GTA: London 1969 featured a whole new environment, the go-anywhere, do-(almost)-anything gameplay remained. As did the familiar top-down 2D perspective, the phone-based mini-missions and the radio stations, now complete with hand-picked ’60s tunes. But for half the price of GTA, you were treated to half the content - GTA: London 1969 only featured one ciไty map (compared to GTA’s three). Admittedly, the visuals were a little better, the framerate a little faster. But this semi-sequel was still an ugly duckling of a game, boldly trading on its gameplay rather than its graphics.

Sold for only half of standard full-pri♋ce games (and later in a handy Director’s Cut set with the original Grand Theft Auto), GTA: London 1969 offered cheap, extended GTA play. With hindsight it was a cash-cow, designed to hold our collective atte🐻ntion until the sequel arrived six months later...