With the imminent release of Grand Theft Auto 6, I decided it was time to revisit what was probably the biggest game of my childhood: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In 2005, GTA: San Andreas was one of the first four games I bought for the PlayStation 2, alongside Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts, and Devil May Cry 3. Since I can no longer enjoy that version of the game I played so many times as a kid, I picked up the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition, which includes San Andreas, on Steam and booted up the game.

Also there was no way I was playing GTA: San Andreas on a controller. Not with those controls.

It's been 22 years since San Andreas was released. Back then, this game not only seemed like a technological revolution, with its gigantic map and endless list of things you could do, but also presented what felt like an urban epic. We follow a street gang member named Carl “CJ” Johnson, and man, I still feel as if I know him like a childhood friend. He goes back to his hometown to learn more about his mother's death, just to find his friends from his old gang Grove Street Families trying to survive a gang war. The game begins with him being throw out of a police car after a quick demonstration of systemic violence. To go to his old neighborhood, he grabs a nearby bike. The moment I got on the bike during the opening sequence and rode into Grove Street I was my 14-year-old self again — a more tired version of it, sure, but one that's still earning respect and kicking ass in........

© Polygon