Every Grand Theft Auto (GTA) Video Game Ranked From WORST To BEST 

If you're struggling, remember that help is available: UK & ROI Samaritans: 116 123 UK Papyrus: 0800 068 41 41 USA Suicide Prevention Helpline: 1-800-273-8255 Lifeline Australia: 13 11 14 Canada Crisis Services: 1.833.456.4566

Rest in peace, Philip ❤ My most heartfelt condolences to his family, his friends and those who enjoyed his work. ❤

Is this the last thing Phillip worked on to come out? If so, a very good legacy to go out on.

Respect to you for picking IV as number 1. This was always the most cutting-edge and meaningful game for me. The step up in graphics and physics, the moody colour palette, the car handling (sure it was over the top but it was fun), the gritty feel. So beautiful.

Rest in peace, Philip J Reed. My condolences to his family and friends.

Grand Theft Auto III and Goldeneye 64 still remain my biggest wow moments in video game history. Going from a SNES to Goldeneye 64 was something else to the eyes. As far GTA, it felt like a real-life adventure for its time, especially upon unlocking Staunton Island.

I think San Andreas still had the best open world map in the series. The way each city in the state was tied to different stages of the main plot arc was a stroke of gaming design genius and excellent writing.

3:08 19. GTA (GBC) 4:49 18. GTA 2 (GBC) 6:18 17. GTA Advance (GBA) 8:08 16. GTA Trilogy D.E. (PS4, PS5, NSW, XBONE, XSERIES, PC) 10:08 15. GTA London 1961 (PC) 12:01 14. GTA London 1969 (PS1, PC) 13:43 13. GTA 2 (PS1, PC) 15:56 12. GTA (PC) 18:20 11. GTA 3 (PS2, Android) 20:41 10. GTA LCS (PSP) 22:47 9. GTA VCS (PSP) 24:56 8. GTA CW (DS, PSP, Android) 27:09 7. GTA 4 TLD (XB360, PS3, PC) 28:57 6. GTA 4 BGT (XB360, PS3, PC) 30:37 5. GTA V Online (XB360, XBONE, XBSERIES, PS3, PS4, PS5, PC) 32:28 4. GTA Vice City (PS2, Android) 34:43 3. GTA 5 (XB360, XBONE, XBSERIES, PS3, PS4, PS5, PC) 36:58 2. GTA San Andreas (PS2, PS3, XB360, XBONE, PC, Android) 39:31 1. GTA 4 (PS3, XB360, PC)

i'm shocked that i just watched over 40 minutes without realizing how much time passed, that's how good this was. really good pacing and great list. also highly agree with everything said about IV, especially the physics still feel revolutionary to this day.

This is how I learnt about Phillip's passing and I'm stunned. Such a sad loss. What a great writer and human.

You described GTA V perfectly. I used to think it was top tiered but everything you mentioned are reasons why I'm not as enthused as replaying it. GTA IV is my number one so I'm glad it's top on your list too lol

God IV's Euphoria physics had me coming back for years. For such an excellently depressing story, that was some of the most chaotic fun I've ever had with a game.

Vice City and Vice City stories will forever be my favorites in the series

GTA IV was a masterpiece. But it didn’t feel like a GTA game. To me it was much darker and more serious than I was expecting. So I’m going to go on a limb and say while GTA IV is probably the best video game for it’s time in the series. GTA San Andres and GTA 5 are tied for best GTA games.

RIP Phillip, his scripts always great balance between info, anecdotes and reception, my condolences, always check on the people close to you

I always liked the weight the cars had and going bowling with Roman in GTA 4.

RIP Philip, he was an amazing writer, his scripts had the perfect balance between humour and information, my condolences to you, his family and all who knew him :(

Loving these extensive rankings of series your doing. Definitely making you guy stand out in a saturated field of video list content creators. Keep it up. Some requests for more of these lists: Pokémon, Assassin's Creed and Crash Bandicoot

My Grandma once sat and watched me play GTA4 for like 20mins... then she asked me "whats the name of this movie?"

I always feel like vice city stories is a but underrated. It was really nice to play in vice city again with features from gta sa (Like swimming and improved combat). Also the radiomusic was very remarkable in my opinion.

It is a testament to great design that GTA3's HUD and map icon system remains the base for pretty much all "real world" third-person sandbox titles

My deepest condolences to you, his family, and all who knew Philip. His legacy will long continue through the work you completed together.

Grateful we still have several scripts from Philip to enjoy. ❤️

Chinatown wars IOS port was how I experienced the entire game. Genuinely not a bad port! All of the touchscreen features transferred over quite well for obvious reasons.

Fly high, Philip! Your work and legacy will never be forgotten! ❤️🙏🏽

Personally I would put: 3:GTA V 2:GTA SAN ANDREAS 1:GTA IV

I hadn't heard of Philip J Reed until you put up the screen at the start of the video. I imagine I've listened to more than a few of his scripts, though. Just read his last blog entry, and it's a tough one. Poor man was clearly tormented and had been for a long long time, and it's heartbreaking he didn't have a way out of it that could have led to him living and feeling okay.

No matter how many times I've seen it, that memorial image for Philip still knocks me for six. Rest in peace. Please seek help if you need it, anybody. Nobody wants you to leave this world, you are loved. I have bene in that situation, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I promise ❤️

Finally, a list that gives GTA 4 the spot it deserves

For the first time in my life I actually agree with everything and the order of a list! And you perfectly captured how I feel about GTA IV. 10/10

Damn, brilliant list. I didn't expect it to be this good, you really did your research.

Just clicked on this video to create some background noise whilst putting a couple of things away... I'm currently 26 mins in, fully engrossed. Really nicely made video bringing back fond memories, with fair/relevant commentary :)

So glad you put 4 at the top. I have always ranked it as the best. I loved the story, characters, the city and the mechanics. It is for sure one of my favourite games of all time.

Vice City only number 4… shocking lol. My personal favourite. The art direction is 🔥, and where do you even begin with the soundtrack? Phenomenal!

Didn't realise the remastered trilogy was *that* bad! Great video, excellently written ❤ (I do disagree with 2 being so low on the list, but I'm biased as it was my first GTA and I absolutely loved it when I was younger!)

Love these ranked videos

Upmost respect for not having V and surprisingly, SA as the #1. I may be biased because my personal favourite got the #1 but you gave solid and fair praise and criticisms for each game. This channel rocks. My condolences for your loss.

I replayed GTA IV recently and it really struck me how much of a work of "art" it is. The narrative themes and visual design are in a league of their own. One of the VERY few 10/10 games ever made.

I fight myself on whether I like SA or 4 better. SA has a shit ton of content and an awesome map, while 4 has a better story and better gameplay imo. 4 lacking features from SA is what makes them about equal in my eyes.

I would not have chosen GTA4 as #1. The car handling is just too floaty for me. The other 3D games just have a better physics engine.

Did you know Phil Collins' band was known as MegaDrive in the US?

RIP Philip Reed. Fly high in the afterlife king! ❤️🙏

Finally the video I’ve been waiting on.

San Andreas was so far ahead of it's time we still haven't reached it. Look at the city in Cyberpunk 2077 it's draw dropping in it's complexity. The next GTA should have an insane city or cities that make 5 look like nothing. People forget that GTA 5 was built to run on hardware from 2005.

GTA 4 was amazing and I'm surprised at the #1 spot since people seem to either love or absolutely hate it

Considering Time of release, San Andreas is the best. The first time I played a game and felt I was in a complete world.

1:34 Tiny Peter gets “busy” at least twice confirmed!!!!😂😂

Of the quote on quote “bad” games I really like Chinatown Wars the most. I mean buying dope and reselling it at an insane profit and then driving away from the cops is so satisfying . And the weapons are also really fun to use, especially the chainsaw

GTA 4 was a shocking entry in the series. 5 was better in every measurable way.

At least they've been good with the updates for the GTA Definitive Edition, making the game a lot more tolerable. Also, sorry for your loss, Triple Jump. RIP Philip.

This might be your guys best one yet

A great video. Rest easy Phillip, we all miss you every day.

Pure nostalgia schlock, GTA IV was an exercise in what not to do for Rockstar, San Andreas and GTA V show this to be the case. I didn't play it when it came out, trying to play through it now is aggravating between the floaty driving controls and enemy health.

The original PC edition of Grand Theft Auto will always be fun to play, the trains you mentioned were one of the best parts of the insanity lol.

Very surprised by the order you gave these as a huge GTA fan I actually took a guess at what order you would have these in and only got 3 games right. Really refreshing to hear people have reassessed GTA V I agree it's not as amazing as it used to feel.

I personally agree that of all the GTA games GTA IV is the one I loved the most and the one I'd most likely play if I was going to pop GTA in. The thing is, even without taking era into account, GTA San Andreas was an absolute masterpiece and competes. The customisation, the map variety with multiple cities, suburbs and farm towns, the RPG elements, the wild story and characters, the cast, the couch multiplayer, the gang territories, side games and casinos, planes.... all on the PS2 is an astounding achievement. The GTA IV story was brilliant and nothing has ever beaten the physics. I could do the swingset glitch or crash motorcycles or push people down the stairs in the subway for hours and hours.

“It can be argued that San Andreas ended up being more influential to the series than Grand Theft Auto III did” Yeah, to the *Saints Row* series.

Agreed. GTA IV is the best for me - truly brilliant game with fantastic DLC.

I'm going to be honest here, GTA Online should have been at dead last due to the fact it delayed us from having another GTA game for 10 years.

I can't decide between GTA IV and San Andreas... I know it might seem like a coward, but I just couldn't pick one as "number 1". I love both games so much...

Nope, it's GTA V for me

Ben are you feeling OK? You didn’t say “Nice” when you said “1969”

I remember being way too young when playing GTA IV for the first time and being so impressed when we robbed a car and an NPC held onto the handle while we drove off so we ground him up between another car 😂. Was so impressive after playing San Andreas since I was 7.

Hi Triple Jump. Love your job. What about "Every Lord of The Rings Game Ranked"?

IV was great. So dark, atmospheric and engaging. Nico is probably the best protagonist in the series. And the ability to save the cheats in your phone was cool too.

Rest In Power to Philip J Reed he will be missed by his loved ones and fans alike

Cool video 👏👌

Amazing work everyone, so sorry for your loss

Shout out to GTA IV Ballad of Gay Tony and Chinatown Wars, underrated and great games. RIP Philip, my best to his family, friends and the team at Triple Jump. ❤️ He was a brilliant writer and one of the wittiest, funniest people working in content creation.

As someone over 40 I played the first three on pc or consoles so I bought the remake on day one. They’re not playable. Even if they were flawless. The shooting mechanism is horrible. You fail just because you can’t hit targets.

I still play GTA IV to this day, sometimes just aggro-ing NPCs and kiting them into fighting each other for hours on end.

Thanks again guys for your awesome list I love the GTA Series 😀, I'm very sorry 😐 to hear about your friend and colleague Philip my he rest in peace

I read his leaving note online. At least he felt like he'd tried everything. It's shame nobody could convince him to keep going through pain. I find learning about the universe and Quantum Mechanics puts life into perspective. And you realise how insignificant most (not all) of our worries on earth are. We are flying through space on a rock!

Not gonna lie I wasn't expecting this ranking list to be this good. I was expecting GTA V to be top 1 which in my opinion doesn't deserve it and I would even put it below GTA Vice City. Also it's nice to see more people finally recognizing GTA IV has the best or one of the best in the series.

I haven’t fully jumped into gta5 yet. What I’m wondering is regarding the character swapping - out doing side stuff and exploring, do you miss out on stuff the other 2 characters are doing while your playing as one of the others?

I had GTA 2 on the GBC and it wasn't terrible but I can understand it's placement on the list. Excellent work by all involved.

RIP Phillip, great list as usual. I literally bought an Xbox 360 just to play GTA IV, if that gives a sense of how big it was when it came out. I think I still prefer San Andreas and had a lot more fun messing around in that game, but both are phenomenal and deserve a better release than the "Definitive Edition".

Don't agree. I would choose Vice city, SA or even GTA 3 over GTA 4 without hasitation. Less freedom, more linear and forced realism.

My favourite was 3, I like the old time gangster feel of it and have alot of nostalgia with that game

My rank: 1- GTA 4 (amazing story, the deepest in the series, characters that feel realistic and relatable, amazing setting and an incredible gameplay with the best physics ever and very engaging for the combat and shooting system, great graphic and effects) 2- San Andreas (great story that feels like a journey that leads you to visit all three cities of the state each of them is unique, the 90s gangsta vibe is iconic, and it's the only game where you can change your character's appearance skinny to fat or muscular and make him learn new moves in the gym) 3- The Lost and Damned (great story, the only gta game to have a bikers theme to it, feels unique and engaging. I really loved the story in this one and the fact you spend the majority of the game on a bike) 4- Vice City Stories (it combines vice city's atmospheres with San Andreas better gameplay, it has a very good story and characters and I really enjoyed it) 5- The Ballad of Gay Tony (story feels a bit rushed but it has tons of adrenalinic missions and adds stuff to gta 4 and the lost and damned gameplay that I already loved) 6- GTA 5 (Map is very big but out of Los Santos it also feels very empty especially on ps3, when compared to other game with big maps like rdr 1 and 2. I liked the random events and customization system but the story is short, and feels rushed and underwhelming and in the end very cartoonish too especially if you pick ending C. Only Michael out of the 3 characters of the game feels well developed. The gameplay unexplainably takes a step back from gta 4 in some areas and removed features and other stuff, but the graphic is the most realistic in the series) 7- GTA Vice City (great story and atmospheres and soundtrack loved the 80s vibe to it and the Scarface/Miami Vice feeling this game had. Unfortunately the gameplay is close to being unplayable today especially for stuff such as the bad AI, extremely imprecise shooting mechanics, inability to swin and the clunky controls that make the protagonist feel limited and make a lot of the more complicated missions a lot more difficult and frustrating to complete to the point that you're tempted to quit the game and never going back to it if you play it today. Unfortunately the so called definitive edition did nothing to improve the games performances for today's standards, but only made the game look shiner) 8- GTA 3 (everything I said about gta vice city is even worse in gta 3 which feels even more unplayable today and almost broken as a game. It was amazing for its times but now only feels frustrating to play especially if you do the story missions. The story isn't even that engaging, it's hard to feel involved in the plot when your character doesn't say a word the whole game. At least for me... Therefore I would say it's the worst game in the series imo. Unless you're an old gamer and die hard fan of the gta series you definitely don't want to play this one.) Haven't played the others.

I was already on the verge of shouting "You've forgotten about James Woods!" in the SA entry :D I'm glad you included him because if nothing else, he deserves a mention here and a piece of candy lulw

GTA V easily the #1 tho

GTA 4 is the ONLY GTA that actually compelled me to finish it. Excellent game. 👍🏿

Love seeing the GameBoy version in the beginning. Brought me back to when I was a kid.

I've seen better shopping lists than this. The handheld games rated higher than GTA 3, the game which set the standard for sandbox style games? Get out of my sight.

So glad GTA V wasn't at the top. Many people enjoy it, but unless your playing online/with friends, playing it by yourself after you beat the game, its kinda boring. The older you get, the less time you have for online gaming. So as much as I enjoyed GTA V, its not that great single-player-wise. San and Vice are still better and even have better licensed music. Though I think I may be partial to Vice because I was a 80s kid. As for GTA 4.... I just hated the game. Mostly because it really left the hrasher comedy in it for a more serious/real world.

Man rip Phil the dude had so much excellent work in his bag

James Woods is a great actor. Why pick on him?

Some elements of GTA V are better. But IV is the masterpiece. A well deserved no. 1. Good work chaps.

I fully agree with the order of this list. Well done TJ.

One of the cool things is with GTA: London 1969 for the PS1, if you had a Gameshark (& the code), you could play the game without the original Grand Theft Auto game. I got tons of play time in both GTA2, GTA:VC, & GTA:SA.

I agree with GTA 4 being #1

The GTA V map felt fairly small to me compared to San Andreas as all you get is 1 single city and somewhat empty countryside to explore whereas SA has both of those, plus 2 extra cities that are spread away from Los Santos and each other making it feel quite a bit larger

Sorry for your loss guys. I lost my sibling last week and I’m still reeling

Totally agree. Hope rockstar will see this video

I would say, from my personal experience how i feel the top 5 should be: 5. GTA III 4. GTA IV 3. GTA Vice City 2. GTA V 1. GTA San Andreas RIP to Philip J Reed

This is a great list. GTA4 is by far the best GTA. Graphics, character development, and physics. Even the blood splatter on the walls was next level

Rest in peace Philip. You were a great writer who kept us all entertained time and time again and you will be missed. While I'm here, I'd like to once again request every Mega Man game ranked.

Very honest review

I remember being disappointed by GTA4. It was the first game since San address and they had removed so much from what you could do in that game. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the City, I found no large distinction between any part of the map and after awhile I just got bored driving through a city that just felt the same everywhere you went