Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition launches tomorrow, and we already have a pretty good idea of how Rockstar is enhancing GTA III, Vice City, and San Andreas. However, the publisher shared more specifics on the changes made to its classic sandbox titles.
As previously revealed, the controls have been revamped to match Grand Theft Auto V’s. Shooting and targeting have been improved, including better drive-by controls for San Andreas specifically. You can also now immediately restart failed missions instead of being kicked to the overworld. An updated weapon wheel has been added for quick switching during firefights, which Rockstar shared an image of below.
Radio stations have a similar selection wheel as well. Speaking of the music, Rockstar says the radio station listings are unchanged from the most recently available versions of the game. That means the vast majority of the tracks – 200 songs across 29 stations – remain intact, and the audio quality has been upped to 16bit 44hrz for all source music. Each game supports 5.1 surround sound as well.
Certain songs, from Vice City and San Andreas specifically, won’t appear due to expiring licenses. Many of these songs haven’t reappeared since the earliest re-releases of those games years ago, so these exclusions aren’t entirely new. Rockstar shared the complete track list for The Trilogy, and after cross-referencing it with the soundtracks from the original releases, we’ve listed the cut songs below:
Vice City
- “Pump Me Up” – Trouble Funk
- “Rockit” – Herbie Hancock
- “Looking for the Perfect Beat” – Afrika Bambaataa and The Soul Sonic Force
- “Get It Girl” – 2 Live Crew
- “The Smurf” – Tyrone Brunson
- “Billie Jean” – Michael Jackson
- “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin” – Michael Jackson
- “Video Killed the Radio Star” – The Buggles
- “Japanese Boy” – Aneka
- “Steppin’ Out” – Joe Jackson
- “One Thing Leads To Another” – The Fix
- “Running With the Light” – Lionel Richie
- “Cum On Feel The Noize” – Quiet Riot
- “She Sells Sanctuary” – The Cult
- “Bark at the Moon” – Ozzy Osbourne
- “Dangerous Bastard” – Love Fist
- “Fist Fury” – Love Fist
- “Working for the Weekend” – Loverboy
- “God Blessed Video” – Alcatrazz
- “Wow” – Kate Bush
- “Missing You” – John Waite
- “Love Missile F1-11” – Sigue Sigue Sputnik
- “Cars” – Gary Numan
- “Poison Arrow” – ABC
- “Obsession” – Animotion
- “Añunga Ñunga” – Irakere
San Andreas
- “Runnin’ Down a Dream” – Tom Petty
- “Woman to Woman” – Joe Crocker
- “Yum Yum (Gimme Some) – Fatback Band
- “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” – Gap Band
- “Running Away” – Roy Ayers
- “Loopzilla” – George Clinton
- “I Don’t Give A F***” – 2Pac
- “Express Yourself” – N.W.A.
- “Amos Moses” – Jerry Reed
- “Louisana Woman, Mississippi Man” – Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn
- “Hellraiser” – Ozzy Osbourne
- “Don’t Let it Go to Your Head” – Black Harmony
- “Ring My Bell” – Blood Sisters
- “King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown” – Augustus Pablo
- “Express Yourself” – Charles Wright & the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
- “Rock Creek Park” – The Blackbyrds
- “Hot Pants – I’m Coming, I’m Coming, I’m Coming” – Bobby Byrd
- “I Know You Got Soul” – Bobby Byrd
- “Funky President” – James Brown
- “The Payback” – James Brown
- “Soul Power ‘74” – Maceo & The Macks
- “The Grunt” – The JB’s
We know the games look sharper than ever thanks to higher resolution textures, rebuilt lighting, an increased draw distance, among other perks. Rockstar revealed that PS5 and Xbox Series X/S players also benefit from a 4K resolution/60 fps performance.
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition launches November 11 for $59.99 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. Mobile versions are expected to launch in 2022. The Definitive Editions of San Andreas and GTA III also arrive on Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Now, respectively, on launch day.
