Grand Theft Auto (1997)
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 5 of 78 video games by recommenders
People enjoy its simple fun of driving around and evading police; the caveats are dated graphics and choppy performance on modern hardware.
People enjoy its simple fun of driving around and evading police; the caveats are dated graphics and choppy performance on modern hardware.
37 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 28
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 76%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 28 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.1 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple, fun gameplay without complication
“I've tried again the original GTA a few years ago and liked it a lot more than GTA III+. It's just fun without complication.”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” “I think the originals were better and I had more fun”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” “Just driving around and evading police was fun”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “2D Vehicles” Loved the early games
“Admittedly GTA I felt a bit dated at the time but GTA II was great.”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” “I think the originals were better and I had more fun”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” “I absolutely adored the first 2 games”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” Charm despite basic graphics
“the graphics on GTA were kind of retro at the time, but in reflection, it does have some charm”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” “GTA I was so much fun with friends on LAN despite looking basic at the time.”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” Great multiplayer with friends on LAN
“GTA I was so much fun with friends on LAN despite looking basic at the time.”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” “I had a lot of good times with them.”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “2D Vehicles”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Dated graphics for its era
“Admittedly GTA I felt a bit dated at the time but GTA II was great.”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” “the graphics on GTA were kind of retro at the time, but in reflection, it does have some charm”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” “GTA 1 was extremely outdated already at time of release in 1997”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” Choppy, hard to run on modern hardware
“Love GTA1, but IIRC my version at least is a 3dfx glide game which makes it quite hard to play on modern kit.”
Comment from 8 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” “When I later played at a friends house, I was disappointed about how choppy it was.”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” “I just can't get over the jaggy motion of the hardlocked framerate”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “A GTA modder has got the 1997 original working on modern PCs and Steam Deck” Same gameplay for decades
“halo and GTA have relied on the same gameplay for over 20 years by now”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Vibe coded browser ports of Halo, The Simpsons: Hit And Run, GTA work well” “too busy looking for new versions of the same tired games”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “AI is mass decompiling games. That's both awesome and scary” Soundtrack and radio music missing
“I can't get the radio music playing, unfortunately.”
Comment from 19 Dec 2025 in “You can now play Grand Theft Auto Vice City in the browser” “Even the biggest juggernauts can't get out of this, with patches removing soundtracks”
Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “Sony erases digital content from libraries; reminded we don't own what we buy”
Other video games people recommend
The four most recommended other video games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helldivers 2 | 50 | 34 | 60% | 10 | 1.9 yrs3 owners | — |
| GPU building game | 49 | 16 | 75% | 2 | — | — |
| Triple-A Minesweeper | 40 | 25 | 62% | 1 | — | — |
| Quake II | 33 | 8 | 80% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Grand Theft Auto (1997)This page | 28 | 9 | 76% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
32 of the 38 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Whereas the creator-constrained and -designed experiences (GTA comes to mind) actually deliver something engaging.”
“Easily r#sponsible dropping the average children per woman by a whole child”
“too busy looking for new versions of the same tired games”
“Losing control of the vehicle in birds-eye view felt closer to reaching my human limits than reaching the vehicle limits”
“Just driving around and evading police was fun”
“I had a lot of good times with them.”
“halo and GTA have relied on the same gameplay for over 20 years by now”
“Parents, don't let your kids play GTA because they may try some shit on their friends or party guests without consent.”
“wasn't as atrocious as GTA”
“lost all of their in game currency in GTA”
“unless you only play the GTAs/CODs/Maddens of the industry”
“Even the biggest juggernauts can't get out of this, with patches removing soundtracks”
“there was a story going on, there was a deep lore to the characters”
“How are they justifying the availability of the Grand Theft Auto or Resident Evil series on the Android platform”
“The world is surprisingly huge for a game that came out in 1996.”
“I just can't get over the jaggy motion of the hardlocked framerate”
“I played the GTA I demo to death after hours at school”
“GTA 1 was extremely outdated already at time of release in 1997”
“GTA I was so much fun with friends on LAN despite looking basic at the time.”
“When I later played at a friends house, I was disappointed about how choppy it was.”
“I think the originals were better and I had more fun”
“I've tried again the original GTA a few years ago and liked it a lot more than GTA III+. It's just fun without complication.”
“They're great on XP-era machines!”
“I absolutely adored the first 2 games”
“having my little mind blown”
“Love GTA1, but IIRC my version at least is a 3dfx glide game which makes it quite hard to play on modern kit.”
“the graphics on GTA were kind of retro at the time, but in reflection, it does have some charm”
“Admittedly GTA I felt a bit dated at the time but GTA II was great.”
“GTA also suffered from this.”
“I can't get the radio music playing, unfortunately.”
“you can absolutely play GTA, thankfully without horrendous online”
“I want to keep liking GTA, and to keep giving Rockstar more money, for each new chapter”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.