Even today it’s a setting that works well in movies and TV shows, and we also see evidence of it selling relatively well with the Mafia 1 remake and Mafia 2 remaster that were released not too long ago for modern consoles. This is a bit subjective admittedly, but the drug kingpin story arc with revenge and redemption thrown in is one that always works, especially with the old-school mafia twist. Secondly, it’s also fair to say that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City still has one of the better stories of the entire series. It would almost fit in with modern games in a way that a remake of other PS2-era GTA games would not. It’s true that you could absolutely give any of the Grand Theft Auto games the remake treatment and expect it to sell well, given the general popularity of the series, but I think it’s fair to say that even a conservative remake of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City would sell better than the others, if for nothing else the fact that it looks like what a lot of other modern games are attempting to. While San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto 3 and 4, all have their strong points, they don’t stand out thematically like Vice City does. So long story short it’s just a good look to have if you’re trying to move units.
Younger folks seem to like it for its brazen and audacious tone, while folks aged in their mid-thirties and up often have legitimate nostalgia for the era and just enjoy seeing many of its components honored today through replication. Today we’re seeing all sorts of movies, tv shows, and video games apply this aesthetic to great effect as it is appealing to just about everybody. The Neon lights and loud pastel color palettes of characters’ clothes, decor, and vehicles is a look that will never get old, but even more importantly it’s kind of “in” right now and has been for a while. Visually, the Miami 80’s aesthetic is just a timeless one to say the least. It’s also a big part of why Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is an excellent candidate for the remake treatment. It’s got a stylized tone – heavily inspired by movies like Scarface and Goodfellas – that permeates every faucet of its design and really makes it stand out in the series, and for that alone it’s many GTA fans’ favorite entry. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a game like no other in its respective franchise. While Rockstar has not announced any official plans to do this, nor are there any substantial rumors alluding to it, who knows, maybe if we talk about it enough we can help move the needle in the right direction. But today, the Rockstar classic that we want to call attention to is Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – and why a remake of it would make all the sense in the world to everybody involved. Games like Manhunt, Red Dead Revolver, and Bully would absolutely sell themselves while single-handedly reviving the franchises to which they belong. As such, with Rockstar’s ever-growing catalogue of great games that still hold up incredibly well on a conceptual level, the idea of some of these games getting a proper remake is very alluring.
Remakes can update a game in ways that make it feel more like it belongs in the current generation with completely updated graphics, improved gameplay, and a host of other things that breathe completely new life into a game. Still yet, an optimized port of a classic game will never quite have the tantalizing appeal of a full-on remake.
This is certainly appreciated, as the older hardware needed to run original versions of these games is more often than not incompatible with modern TVs and PS2’s themselves are getting pretty old, and less of them maintain their ability to properly function with every passing day.
At best, we do seem to get occasional ports of some of their more popular older games, especially those from the PS2 era. This is both a curse and a blessing, as it’s nice to see these new entries continue to come out and raise the bar for their respective genres, but it’s also a bit of a shame that we have little reason to expect Rockstar to ever revitalize their older games. That said, Rockstar does seem laser focused on churning out new entries of their flagship franchises – not really going back to old ones.
It’s no secret that the Grand Theft Auto series is full of fantastic classic games that still have plenty of juice left in them.