Analysis

GTA Vice City: Why the 2002 Classic Still Rules

A look back at GTA Vice City, the 2002 classic: Tommy Vercetti, Ray Liotta, 1980s Miami and its legacy, as GTA 6 returns to Vice City.

By Alfred from GTA Zone · Published June 19, 2026 · 6 min read

1980s-style pastel convertible on a wet coastal boulevard at sunset, palm trees and Art Deco hotels with pink and blue neon, Vice City vibe — Illustration: GTA Zone

Four years before GTA San Andreas, two decades before Vice City’s announced return in GTA 6, one game locked in the image of the series for good: palm trees, neon and shootouts at sunset. GTA Vice City is about to turn 24, and it remains one of Rockstar’s most beloved entries. Here’s why.

A commercial smash hit in 2002

Released on October 29, 2002 on PlayStation 2, GTA Vice City is the work of Rockstar North, the Scottish studio already behind GTA III a year earlier. The game runs on the RenderWare engine, and it builds on its predecessor in spectacular fashion. The launch was explosive: 500,000 copies sold in 24 hours, 1.4 million in two days, a record at the time. All told, the original topped 17.5 million copies across all platforms, including more than 14 million on PS2 alone, and was the best-selling game of 2002 in the United States.

Critics followed the crowd. With a 95/100 on Metacritic, Vice City settled in among the highest-rated PlayStation 2 games and swept up a haul of awards. Along the way, it set several firsts for the series: motorcycles, playable for the first time, and above all a protagonist who actually speaks, where GTA III’s silent hero had stayed an empty shell.

Tommy Vercetti and a cast worthy of Hollywood

That hero is Tommy Vercetti, a mobster fresh out of fifteen years behind bars and sent to Vice City to build an empire. Lending him his voice: Ray Liotta, the Henry Hill of Goodfellas, a casting choice that alone signaled the project’s cinematic ambition. Rockstar packed in nearly 8,000 lines of dialogue, four times as many as GTA III, and recruited a roster of stars to deliver them.

Orbiting Liotta are Burt Reynolds as a crooked real-estate developer, Dennis Hopper as an adult-film director, Tom Sizemore as a mob boss, Luis Guzmán as drug baron Ricardo Diaz, and William Fichtner as lawyer Ken Rosenberg. A perfect nod to the spirit of the game: Tommy’s right-hand man, Lance Vance, is voiced by Philip Michael Thomas, none other than Detective Ricardo Tubbs from the Miami Vice TV series. The circle is complete.

Character in a pastel suit holding a pistol in front of the Ocean View hotel and its pink neon sign, at night, in GTA Vice City — The Ocean View hotel, Tommy Vercetti's first base of operations, here in the remastered Definitive Edition (2021). Source: Rockstar Games

1980s Miami, the real main character

If Vice City left such a mark, it’s because its city is every bit as good as its story. Inspired by Miami, the fictional metropolis drops the player into 1986, at the peak of the cocaine-and-glitz golden age. Rockstar draws unapologetically on two openly acknowledged references: Brian De Palma’s Scarface, released in 1983, for the arc of the ambitious criminal, and the Miami Vice TV series for the pastel aesthetic, the rolled-up sleeves and the speedboats.

The result is art direction with rare cohesion: Art Deco architecture repainted in pink and turquoise, neon signs, palm-lined avenues, packed beaches and late-afternoon thunderstorms. GTA has never stopped cultivating that powerful visual identity. It’s that same identity, modernized, that shows up in the first images of Leonida.

Seafront avenue at night, Art Deco hotels with turquoise and pink neon, a yellow cab and 1980s cars, in GTA Vice City — Neon and Art Deco facades at night: Vice City's visual signature, here as restored in the Definitive Edition. Source: Rockstar Games

To grasp just how much Rockstar leans on real places, our deep dive into the real-life cities behind GTA’s maps breaks down the models for Vice City, Los Santos and the rest.

A soundtrack that schooled a generation

Vice City’s other killer weapon is its radio. The game packs nine stations and around a hundred licensed tracks, a catalog that doubled as a crash course in 1980s music history for plenty of players. V-Rock blasts hard rock and metal, Flash FM lines up pop hits, Wave 103 spins new wave and synthpop, and Fever 105 deals in soul, funk and disco. On top of that come talk stations, including the satirical VCPR.

That legacy has a downside in 2026, though: several tracks have been removed from versions sold after 2012, thanks to expired music licenses. It’s one of the few areas where the re-releases don’t quite match the original cartridge.

Where to (re)play Vice City today

No need to dig out a PlayStation 2 to dive back in. Since 2021, Vice City has been available in a remastered version, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Definitive Edition, which modernizes the textures, lighting and handling while keeping the spirit of the original.

Version	Release	Platforms
Original	October 29, 2002	PlayStation 2, then PC (May 2003) and Xbox (November 2003).
Definitive Edition (consoles and PC)	November 11, 2021	PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. Reworked textures and lighting.
Definitive Edition (mobile)	December 14, 2023	iOS and Android, with touch controls and controller support.

A messy launch in late 2021, this Definitive Edition has since been heavily fixed through patches. To find out what it’s really worth today, see our detailed review of the GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition. And if you want to (re)play the series in the right order, we’ve ranked all the GTA games in order.

The official trailer for The Trilogy Definitive Edition, which brings Vice City up to date alongside GTA III and San Andreas. Source: Rockstar Games

From 2002 Vice City to Leonida

If Vice City is back in the conversation so much in 2026, it’s obviously because Rockstar is returning to it. Grand Theft Auto VI, due November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series, once again sets its stage in Vice City, now tucked inside the fictional state of Leonida. This time, though, the studio swaps 1980s neon for a modern era, and a city incomparably bigger and more detailed than the 2002 one.

High-angle view of the Vice City skyline at dusk, pastel skyscrapers, palm trees and a coastal avenue under a pink and purple sky, in GTA Vice City — Vice City's pastel skyline at dusk, as restored in the Definitive Edition. This is the setting GTA 6 will reinvent in a modern form. Source: Rockstar Games

So replaying the original before the big night is no idle nostalgia trip: it’s the best way to measure how far things have come, and to understand the DNA of a city Rockstar has never truly left behind. To follow the countdown, keep an eye on our dedicated GTA 6 release date page. Twenty-four years on, Tommy Vercetti can be proud: his city has never been so coveted.

FAQ

What platform can you play GTA Vice City on in 2026?

The original 2002 PlayStation 2 game runs on PS2 and, via emulation, on PC. For a modern official version, the Definitive Edition (2021) is available on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch, plus iOS and Android since late 2023.

Who voices Tommy Vercetti in GTA Vice City?

Tommy Vercetti is played by Ray Liotta, the star of Goodfellas. He was the series' first fully voiced protagonist, part of a cast that also brought together Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper, Philip Michael Thomas and Luis Guzmán.

Are GTA Vice City and the Vice City in GTA 6 the same city?

It's the same fictional Miami-inspired city, but in two different eras. The 2002 game takes place in 1986, at the height of the cocaine boom. The Vice City in GTA 6 is a modern take, far bigger and denser, set in the fictional state of Leonida.

What music is in GTA Vice City?

The game features nine radio stations and around a hundred licensed tracks, from V-Rock's rock to Wave 103's new wave, by way of Flash FM's pop and Fever 105's soul. Part of the soundtrack has, however, been pulled from recent re-releases because of expired licenses.