For many gamers, Grand Theft Auto III was their first GTA game. This isn't too surprising since, like Metal Gear Solid, the GTA series only became what it is today after three or so entries. In GTA's case, it took two experimental games and two expansion packs to refine its now-iconic formula.

RELATED: Grand Theft Auto 6 Reportedly Returning to Vice City

Created by DMA Design (which would later evolve into Rockstar North), the first GTA hit the Game Boy Color, PC, and PlayStation and changed the world of video games forever. Unfortunately, despite being watershed games that created entire genres, little is remembered about the games that came before GTA III. 

10 All Of GTA's Cities Can Be Found In GTA 1

The Past And Modern Liberty City

Each GTA game is set in an entire city, and players are given free rein to explore each city's nooks and crannies. GTA III and IV are set in Liberty City (pictured above), while GTA: San Andreas and GTA: Vice City have their respective settings in the title. All three of these cities are actually levels in the original GTA, though not as big.

Due to the hardware limitations of the time, players could only accomplish a few missions per city before leaving. So far, the only games to not be set in these cities are GTA 1's expansions and GTA 2. The first game's two expansions were set in '60s-era London, while GTA 2 features the futuristic yet grimy Anywhere City.

9 GTA 2 Has A Live-Action Movie

Claude Shoots His Mark

Back when cutscene graphics weren't as photo-realistic as they are today, developers often turned to live-action filmmaking for some cutscenes and promotional movies. Rockstar did this for GTA 2, and the eight-minute short has since eclipsed the game in terms of popularity and nostalgia.

The short features Claude Speed reenacting a regular day in GTA, namely getting into gang fights and running away right after. The movie serves as a mood board for the game, as it sets the tone for the player's adventures. Additionally, it was written by Dan Houser, a long-time Rockstar writer and producer who penned almost all of the GTA sequels and games like L.A. Noire and the Red Dead Redemption duology.

8 GTA 1 & 2 Don't Have Infinite Lives & Save Points

The Famous Wasted Screen

A core part of GTA's gameplay loop is the lack of any lasting or devastating consequences for the player. If a player gets arrested and/or wasted, they'll be respawned at the nearest checkpoint with some money and items taken away as a penalty. This encouraged the reckless and guilt-free chaos that defines GTA, which is actually absent in its first two games.

In GTA 1 and 2players are only given a limited number of continues before it's officially game over. GTA 2 even actively discouraged players from saving their game, since the only way to do so was by paying $50,000 at the Jesus Saves church. Given how long it takes to earn even $1,000, GTA 2 really made saving progress as hard as possible.

7 GTA 1 & 2 Had Wildly Different Cheat Systems

CJ Summons A Tank

Cheat codes are practically synonymous with GTA, since codes that unlock infinite ammo, a tank, or a ginormous head only make the in-game insanity even more enjoyable. Unsurprisingly, cheats were present in GTA's earliest incarnations, but the way they worked was incredibly different.

RELATED: Street Fighter & 9 More Forgettable Games That Kicked Off Amazing Franchises

Today, all players have to do is type the cheat code in the user console. In GTA 1 and 2, cheats were determined by a specific username. Once typed in, players were stuck with their one cheat of choice that acted as a power-up for the rest of their playthrough. GTA 2's PC port pioneered the franchise's cheat system with the code "gouranga," which activates the game's cheat mode, a prerequisite for all other cheats.

6 GTA 2 Pioneered The Franchise's Signature Radio Stations

The Radio In GTA V

If there's one thing everybody loves about GTA, it's its car radios. Not only are there countless radio stations that feature a bottomless music selection of both licensed hits and original game-exclusive tracks, but some stations even feature programs that players can listen to while driving through cities.

The fan-favorite GTA Radio owes everything to GTA 2, which was the franchise's first use of the radio. Each of Anywhere City's districts played 5 of 11 radio stations made for the game that players could cycle through. Additionally, GTA 2 was the first in the series to include ads and named DJs.

5 GTA 1 & 2 Barely Had Any Story To Speak Of

Claude Speed Makes His Getaway

GTA's modern incarnations are known for their complex stories about criminals either trying to establish their own empires or desperately trying to survive the underworld. This level of seriousness and depth is absent in GTA's earliest days, where the only motivation players were given was to wreak havoc.

GTA 1 had no story whatsoever and gave players all the tools they needed to mess up Liberty City to their hearts' content. GTA 2 improved this with Claude Speed's (above) one-dimensional goal to control all of Anywhere City's gangs, where his success and failure were measured by the Respect Meter.

4 GTA 1 & 2 Used To Be Freeware

The Rockstar Classic Package

Outside of buying some used copies on eBay or at a thrift store, the only way anyone can play the first GTA today is by investing in a PlayStation Classic or getting it on Steam. GTA 1's expansions and sequel, meanwhile, have yet to be ported to any modern gaming system. Another option is to have gotten them for free almost a decade ago.

RELATED: 5 Unreleased Games That Would Have Defined Gaming in the '10s

To promote their newsletter Rockstar Propaganda in 2010, the studio released the Rockstar Classics package. After subscribing, players were given exclusive PC ports of GTA 1, GTA 2, and Wild Metal for free. The service was active up until 2013, and the promo's official page was shut down in 2020.

3 GTA 1 Evolved From An Open-World Cops Vs. Robbers Simulator

GTA 1 Gameplay With The Cops

Today, GTA is known as the definitive open-world crime simulator. But in its earliest stages, it looked nothing like its modern incarnation. When Rockstar North began developing GTA, it was a cops-and-robbers game titled Race 'N' Chase which cast players as either a criminal or, believe it or not, a cop.

After playtesters found Race 'N' Chase dull, Rockstar scrapped the cops' campaign since evading arrest while on a crime spree was more exciting. Additionally, the developers capitalized on a glitch in the cops' AI that made them relentlessly hunt the players down, which they realized was great for action and tension.

2 GTA 1 Is (Currently) The Only GTA Game With Female Protagonists

The Women Of GTA 1

Not counting GTA Online, no GTA game tells its respective story from a woman's perspective. Here, women are usually NPCs who vary in terms of plot relevance, but they're never the protagonist. The currently in-development GTA VI has yet to confirm who its main character/s will be, but fans are hoping for a change of pace.

Meanwhile, in GTA 1's PC port, players can pick one of eight characters to play as, four of whom are women. Even if the chosen character doesn't affect the story or gameplay in any significant way, the fact that the option casually exists makes this oft-forgotten '90s relic oddly more progressive than a GTA installment available on the PlayStation 5.

1 GTA's Bad Press Was Manufactured From The Start

A screensaver for GTA V, depicting two female characters.

By today's standards, GTA barely earns its M-rating. The top-down shooter's violence isn't as graphic as the one seen in the likes of San Andreas and GTA V, and yet it was just as controversial as its successors. This was all according to Rockstar's plans, since they themselves created the media circus that GTA became a target of.

The developers hired tabloid publicist Max Clifford to deliberately stir controversy around GTA to give it publicity, and it worked perfectly. Thanks to constant coverage, GTA sold so well in 1997 that it launched an entire franchise that reveled in violence and crime. Rockstar stuck with this formula, and it won't be stopping any time soon.

NEXT: Grand Theft Auto 6 Release Date Rumors Corroborated by Industry Insider