In our third joyride through GTA history, we're on the hot, mean streets of San Andreas with gangs, jet packs and... mythical mountain monsters.
GTA San Andreas – gangs, drugs and BMX, often all at the same time.
Backflipping on the BMX
GTA: Vice City begins with Tommy Vercetti, voiced by Hollywood actor Ray Liotta, cruising down Miami Beach on a replica Harley Davidson. GTA: San Andreas begins with CJ, voiced by unknown rapper Young Malay, cycling through LA's Compton (Ganton in GTA) on a BMX. In typical Rockstar fashion, this surprising and self-referential intro sets the tone for San Andreas' sprawling rags-to-riches tale. Oh, and the BMX inspired a vibrant Internet stunt community. Like, of course.
Big Foot, UFOs and Ghost Cars
GTA: San Andreas' wildest urban myth is the existence of Big Foot, based on doctored screenshots of a character who would occasionally appear in Flint County and Whetstone. Interviewed by EGM in 2005, Rockstar founder Terry Donavan confirmed: "There is no Bigfoot, just like real life" (this hasn't convinced some die-hard cryptozoologists, though, as Simon Parkin's recent feature for the New Yorker reveals). However, Rockstar hinted UFO sightings might be 'some data we thought we deleted'. Ghost cars – vehicles that would spawn and roll down hills in the Back 'O Beyond – were due to a technical glitch. Leatherface was a pedestrian who spawns with a chainsaw in 'The Meat Business' mission.
Recovering the jet pack in Black Project
The Black Project mission is a microcosm of everything that's brilliant – and ludicrous – about GTA: San Andreas: Breaking into Bone County's military compound Area 69 (arf) to recover a secret item for conspiracy nut The Truth voiced by Peter Fonda… only to emerge from a launch bay tunnel *on a jetpack*. Saint's Row may have reinvented open world lunacy but San Andreas did it first. Sixty hours into San Andreas, jet packing into Grove Street wielding twin Uzis feels almost logical.
Trying to survive a six star Wanted level
GTA's guiltiest thrill is tooling up at Ammunation – you'll need an M4, RPG and bulletproof vest – to stage an explosive tribute to Falling Down. For the ultimate you'll-never-take-me-allliiiive rampage, you only need fly over Area 69 to trigger an instant six star Wanted level. In normal circumstances, tackling the full force of the military in their Barracks OL trucks would last seconds, but once you've procured Area 69's Rhino tank… it's more interesting.
Saint Mark's Bistro – return to Liberty City
The jetpack was unexpected, but Saint Mark's Bistro sparked a 'No, no, no' worthy of Amy Winehouse's Rehab. "A hit in Liberty City?" mumbles CJ as you drive to the airport, almost in disbelief. You're still in shock as you fly the plane, in full control, to Rockstar's version of New York. It's testament to GTA's cultural significance that returning to the setting of GTA3, only three years later on, feels so nostalgic.
Fat becomes a gaming issue
Not quite an important moment, more an important idea – for a game anyway. In San Andreas, CJ has to eat to stay alive, but if he gets all his meals from fast food hellhole Cluckin' Bell he soon begins to pile on the pounds, making him slower and less healthy, and shaping the in-game dialogue and relationships. Outside of the Tamagotchi phenomenon this was the first time many gamers had thought about managing the nutritional intake of the lead character. It was such a big deal, Keith even wrote about it in one of his first ever Gamesblog articles for The Guardian...