History VideoGame / GrandTheftAutoViceCity

** Every nudity scene is completely cut. This also changes the photos in the mansion to kittens and flowers.

** The [[Remaster Definitive Edition]] replaces the Confederate flag in Phil Cassidy's tank top with a generic skull.

* GaidenGame: ''Vice City'' (as well as ''San Andreas'' and other future games until ''GTA IV'', which rebooted the series) is not really a sequel to ''GTA III'', but a side story to it. The reason for ''Vice City'' becoming this is most likely because it was initially planned to be an Expansion Pack to ''GTA III'', with early game magazines announcements calling it ''Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City''.

* IronicName: The name "Radio Espantoso" actually translates to "Dreadful Radio". It's anything but (unless you hate Spanish music or catchy songs).

* ChekhovsArmy: The party on Cortez's yacht serves to introduce a plethora of minor characters, all of whom play bigger roles later down the line (with the exception of Pastor Richards.

%%* CoolBike: The very first ''GTA III''-era game to feature them.

** The Definitive Edition features an OG Loc record in Vinyl Countdown, even though his music career wouldn't start until the events of ''San Andreas''. It also changes Fort Baxter to be controlled by NOOSE, which is based on the Department of Homeland Security that was founded in 2002 and is part of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''[='=]s satire on post-9/11 terrorism paranoia.

* ReReleaseSoundtrack: Licensing issues resulted in several tracks getting removed from the soundtrack for the 10th Anniversary edition and all versions since, though weirdly enough the Steam version averted this, keeping the original soundtrack despite the fact that it was supposed to remove them. One song that was only on the original PS2 version and removed from all future releases(including the PS2 Greatest Hits re-release) was Lionel Ritchie's "Running in the Night".

* ReReleaseSoundtrack: Licensing issues resulted in [[Music/MichaelJackson "Wanna Be Startin' Something"]] being removed from the Steam version, as well as other digital re-releases.

* GaidenGame: ''Vice City'' (as well as ''San Andreas'' and other future games until ''GTA IV'', which rebooted the series) is not really a sequel to GTA III, but a side story to it. The reason for ''Vice City'' becoming this is most likely because it was initially planned to be an Expansion Pack to ''GTA III'', with early game magazines announcements calling it "''Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City''".

* GaidenGame: ''Vice City'' (as well as ''San Andreas'' and other future games until ''GTA IV, which rebooted the series) is not really a sequel to GTA III, but a side story to it. The reason for ''Vice City'' becoming this is most likely because it was initially planned to be an Expansion Pack to ''GTA III'', with early game magazines announcements calling it "''Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City''".

* ExpyCoexistence: Despite the titular city being heavily modeled after the city of Miami, a billboard reading "Move over, Miami!" appears in the game, suggesting that the real life Miami, Florida still exists in the game's universe as a separate city. This also makes [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the references to Miami]] in ''Grand Theft Auto III'' less jarring.

** If you hadn't figured out that you need to press L3 (press down on the left analog stick) to turn on the ice cream truck's music by the time you attempt to do the "ice cream" selling side mission, you will pull your hair out trying to figure out how to get people to buy your goods. The controller scheme on the pause menu does not show this feature, nor does the game ever tell you this is what you need to do. Once you've figured this out, you then need to sell 50 units in one sitting to unlock revenue. Not only does the game not tell you this, it actively discourages attempting it by raising your wanted meter the more you sell[[note]]One star can be negligible as you simply have to avoid police attention for it to dissipate and contiue distributing "ice cream"[[/note]], and other gangs shoot at you for doing it. Most players give up on the mission for either of those reasons and try something else, thinking that they're missing something.

* StrawHypocrite: Alex Shrub, a politician that wants to gain the vote of MoralGuardians, promises to support measures to restrinct the legal distribution of pornography in Vice City, all while engaging in an affair with porn star Candy Suxxx.

* LighterAndSofter: In contrast to the dark at night and foggy or bleak at daytime [[Videogame/GrandTheftAutoIII Liberty City]], the Miami analogue featured in this game is literally lighter, as bright colors of the city, the nature, and even the skies dominate the whole game, and even in night-time, there is virtually no darkness as the city is so bathed in lights. As well, the story is more optimistic and fun, and despite Tommy's rather [[AxCrazy unpleasant personalty]], he interact with colorful personalities more and seem to generally care about his friends. Not to mention a pretty happy ending (by [[SociopathicHero Tommy's standards, anyway]]).

!! ''Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' contains examples of the following tropes:

* AbandonShip: The first ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' game to feature the ability to leap out of a moving vehicle. Especially useful when heading [[CarFu into a crowd of enemies]], nearing [[SuperDrowningSkills a body of water]], or escaping [[EveryCarIsAPinto from a burning car]].

** The SawedOffShotgun seems like it could be quite potent and it may be in certain situations, but its range is shorter[[note]]meaning that it is likely to not hit across a street[[/note]] than the SPAS-12 and the spread is so wide that it is tricky to find the perfect situation to use it. It deals the most damage per shell, but the SPAS-12 tends to be better all-around due to its 7-shot-magazine and fast-for-shotguns automatic fire. The SPAS-12 has some hints of this as well, due to its rather odd set of animations that allow you to empty shells at a quick rate but then are immobilized for a full second from an odd sort of pumping animation before Tommy will get back to moving or shooting.
* AxCrazy:

** The maniac who wanted to kill Love Fist.

* BigFancyHouse: Most of the high-end estates but Ricardo Diaz's mansion takes the cake. [[spoiler: After you kill him, it becomes Vercetti Estate and serves as your safehouse.]]

* TheCameo: Donald Love, the media-kingpin from ''III'' appears in Vice City as a toadying businessman for Texas real estate baron Avery Carrington. He has no actual speaking lines. As a CallForward, Avery uses several lines that Love uses in ''III'', showing where Love picked them up.
* TheCartel: Ricardo Diaz's organization [[spoiler: until Tommy and Lance take him down for good.]]

** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'', Lazlo, host of Chatterbox, mentions he got kicked off the rock station. Guess what he's doing in this game.

* DamnYouMuscleMemory: When you first use an RC helicopter, with default PC controls. Normally, WASD controls movement in relation to the ground. The helicopter instead has W and S control height, with Num 9 and Num 6 controlling forward and backwards movement -- ground movement is therefore split across the keyboard. This can be rebound if desired.
* DeadlyRemoteControlToy: There are two missions where Tommy uses a remote control toy aircraft to cause destruction. One has him using a helicopter to plant explosives in a building under construction while the other has him using a biplane to gun down gang members.

* DemotedToExtra: During the mission "The Party", all the characters that Mercedes introduce to Tommy will either give him missions and/or have a role in the plot later, the only exception is Pastor Richards, who is never seen again. It is implied that he would have been more prominent in the storyline, but his voice actor died during the game production. He does have a memorable role on VCPR however.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: [[spoiler: Ricardo Diaz, after he reveals to Lance that he was responsible for the death of Lance's brother, Victor, during the botched transaction in the intro. The game doesn't end with Diaz's death; it means the first half of ''Vice City'' is complete.]]

* TheDragon: [[spoiler: Lance Vance]] serves as this to Sonny.

** "The Driver" Is an infamously difficult race where you not only have cops on you but are also expected to win a race in a slow car against a fast muscle car. Normally cars you were driving despawn near the start of the race but if you park a fast sports car right behind the first bridge you pass through it will still be there when the race begins so you can switch vehicles and have a much easier time winning the race.

*** His boss Sonny can be seen one to Alex Sosa from the same film. At some point in the game, Tommy and Sonny have a dispute, and the latter even [[spoiler: tries to have him killed in a big shootout in his own mansion, except Tommy survives.]]

** The idea? [[spoiler: Using a PCJ-600 to jump from rooftop to rooftop Downtown starting from a office building and ultimately ending at a building with a searchlight... then Batman-ing it to display [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20100128164730/gtawiki/images/thumb/d/de/G-Spotlight-GTAVC.jpg/300px-G-Spotlight-GTAVC.jpg this]].]]

* GaidenGame: Vice City (as well as San Andreas and other future games until GTA IV, which rebooted the series) is not really a sequel to GTA III, but a side story to it. The reason for Vice City becoming this is most likely because it was initially planned to be an Expansion Pack to GTA III, with early game magazines announcements calling it "Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City".

** If you hadn't figured out that you need to press L3 (press down on the left analog stick) to turn on the ice cream truck's music by the time you attempt to do the "ice cream" selling side mission, you will pull your hair out trying to figure out how to get people to buy your goods. The controller scheme on the pause menu does not show this feature, nor does the game ever tell you this is what you need to do. Once you've figured this out, you then need to sell 50 units in one sitting to unlock revenue. Not only does the game not tell you this, it actively discourages attempting it by causing your wanted meter to rise the more you sell, and other gangs shoot at you for doing it. Most players give up on the mission for either of those reasons and try something else, thinking that they're missing something.

* HeroStoleMyBike: As the first GTA game to feature drivable motorbikes, Tommy is able to steal and drive them:

* HotterAndSexier: Of all the GTA sequels, this was the first to have girls with bikinis on the beaches. And even one of them appears on the game poster.

** Really, everyone who appears on VCPR fit this trope. Whenever you listen to it, your usual reaction to it is, "This people need a hobby." This is lampshaded on the station's fund drives, which notes how, "Many people just love to hear themselves rattle."

** A [[DressingAsTheEnemy Police Uniform]] that allows you to sneak into the Police HQ, [[spoiler: allowing you to collect one of the [[GottaCatchEmAll Hidden Packages]] inside]] as well as to be permitted entry into the National Guard base to steal the [[DeathFromAbove Hunter]] and [[TankGoodness Rhino]] parked there.
* LivingLegend: Tommy Vercetti was sent to Vice City because, as "The Harwood Butcher", he was too hot for Liberty City.

** Due to the way checkpoints and the like work, some missions could be performed in unintended vehicles. For example, the "G-Spotlight" mission expects you to use a motorcycle to jump from roof to roof, but these same stunts can be done with a helicopter, making the mission a lot easier.

* TheMafia: The Forelli Crime Family, of which Sonny Forelli is TheDon of, with Tommy being a Capo of at the start of the game. Tommy himself starts his own organization after [[spoiler: he kills Diaz and takes over his mansion.]]

* MetallicarSyndrome: The assassin Lance Vance and his immaculate white Lamborghini. Granted, he's driving it around a town that is analogous to [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight 1980s Miami]], but it's still a bit flashy for a career criminal with a price on his head.

* MisterSandmanSequence: The opening [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI9jzdWkqO4 loading screen and title sequence]] establish that it's TheEighties. The loading screen simulates a UsefulNotes/{{Commodore64}}, then the title sequence plays a very Miami Vice-esque theme while showing scenes of life in 1980s Miami, big hair, boxy cars, etc. Just in case the atmosphere needs to be reinforced, Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" hammers it down.
* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: Not the only reason for the betrayal, but [[spoiler: Tommy]] ''is'' shown mistreating the guy who betrays him.

* TheNapoleon: Ricardo Diaz. Seeing as he's also Vice City's most prolific drug lord, [[spoiler: (before Tommy kills him, that is)]] this also overlaps with MisterBig.
* {{Nerf}}: The M4 is weaker than the M16 from ''GTAIII'', both damage wise and how many rounds it has per clip.

* NoCutsceneInventoryInertia: Tommy in cutscenes (which uses different model with rudimentary lip-syncing) is mostly shown to use Colt revolver or "M4" (actually Colt Model 733).

* NoodleIncident: Tommy's 'Harwood Butcher' incident. We're only made privy to three facts: 1) he was sent to kill one man; 2) that one man turned out to be eleven; 3) he got arrested and put away for fifteen years for murdering them all. Oddly, there is nothing at all in Harwood besides the radio station (and the pier, which was demolished between ''Liberty City Stories'' and ''GTAIII''). Although it could be that the place was differently populated in the early 70's when the incident happened.
* ObviousRulePatch: After how easy it was to evade the police in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' by merely respraying your vehicle, beginning in this game, your wanted level gets suspended after a respray. Any crimes committed whilst it's suspended will reinstate your wanted level, so you have to wait a couple minutes for it to clear completely.

** The Havana Outfit pickup can stay stuck behind an invisible wall if you unlock it before completing certain missions.[[note]]"Cop Land", "No Escape?" and "The Job"[[/note]]

* PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler: "'''''This is the last dance for Lance Vance!'''''"]]
* ProlongedVideoGameSequel: ''Vice City'' is geographically bigger than previous installments, with some added video/audio capability and more nuanced gameplay.

* RegionalBonus: The Japanese PC version has two different alternate costumes provided in the Player Skin options (an option available only in the PC version of GTA III and GTA Vice City that allow you to modify the protagonist appearance with a simple bmp template), Tache and Wild. Tache has him wear a black outfit and a PornStache and the Wild Skin gives him blond hair and red shirt. Dataminers have found them in the Android versions, but the Player Skin options is not available (although one can replace the skin contained in one of txd (texture archive) for Tommy's clothes.

* SequenceBreaking: Using a helicopter to land on the markers in "G-spotlight", as well as [[spoiler: skipping the part where you have to chase Lance up the roof if you shoot him with the minigun.]]

** Tommy can be seen as one of these in relation to [[MisterBig Ricardo]] [[DiscOneFinalBoss Diaz]] and [[TheDon Sonny]] [[BigBad Forelli]]. [[spoiler: In both cases, he succeeds in overthrowing them.]] This may overlap with ChronicBackstabbingDisorder.
** [[spoiler: Lance Vance]] does this to Tommy in the final mission. [[spoiler: He gets killed for his trouble.]]
* {{Stripperiffic}}: It's harder to find hookers in this game than any other GTA. They're there, but since this is both the 80's and South Florida, ''every'' young woman walking the streets looks like she's... [[{{Streetwalker}} walking the streets.]]
* TheStinger: [[spoiler: After finishing the game there are several phone calls. Most congratulates Tommy for whatever efforts he helped. One last phone call is from Kent Paul who claiming to be the one that set up the deal and apparently threatening to bring down Tommy. Tommy dismissed him as being drunk. And the next chronological game reveals that Kent Paul is not a threat after all.]]
* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler: Chronologically speaking, Victor Vance, the protagonist of ''Vice City Stories'', is killed in the intro of this game, as confirmed by WordOfGod.]]

* TrunkShot: As a ShoutOut to ''Film/PulpFiction'', in the opening cutscene [[spoiler: to the mission wherein Tommy betrays and kills [[BadBoss Ricardo Diaz]] then takes over his empire]], Lance surprises Tommy with something in the trunk of his car: Tommy's first [[MoreDakka Colt M733 Carbine]], with which to shoot all the goons up.

* VanInBlack: Starting with this game, once you reach five wanted stars, the FBI no longer chase you with flimsy, poorly-handling sedans, but with supercharged all-black Chevy Suburbans, [[LightningBruiser which are as fast as they are durable]] and will easily rip you to shreds if you're cruising the streets in anything less than [[TankGoodness a tank]]. They have since only made a return in ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas San Andreas]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoChinatownWars Chinatown Wars]]''.

* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: On top of what you can normally do in the series, once you establish your big hideout [[spoiler:by taking down Ricardo Diaz and taking his mansion for your own]], you can have a RedshirtArmy of {{mook}}s for yourself. They did nothing but have inane conversation and only very rarely had shoot-outs against police, security guard, or the Haitian Gang at the Kaufmann Cabs. [[BadBoss And you can kill them]] for a [[RewardingVandalism quick cash boost and pistol ammo]]. The game will [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment punish you]] if you kill enough of them by bumping up your wanted levels, just at a slower pace compared to other targets of your trigger happiness.
* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: Attacking the dancers in the Malibu will have the bodyguards attack you. You also do not want to attack the barmaid before you own the place because she will attack you!

-->'''Sonny''': I trusted you, Tommy, and you disappointed me. But at least someone in your chicken-shit organization knows how to do business... [[spoiler: isn't that right, Lance?]]

*** VRock DJ Lazlow utters the famous line, "It's better to burn out than fade away" during a back and forth with a hostile caller. Since the quote is best known for having been written in [[Music/{{Nirvana}} Kurt Cobain's suicide note]], many players mistake it to be an anachronism. However, [[OlderThanTheyThink the line was originally uttered by]] Music/NeilYoung [[OlderThanTheyThink in 1979]], so it fits the game's timeline.

** The Definitive Edition features an OG Loc record in Vinyl Countdown, even though his music career wouldn't start until the events of ''San Andreas''.

* InkSuitActor: Umberto Robina bears a resemblance to his voice actor Creator/DannyTrejo, and Ricardo Diaz bears a resemblance to his voice actor Creator/LuisGuzman.

** Possibly averted with Tommy. One of his quotes when aiming a gun at a pedestrian is "blame my mother. I do."

* InkSuitActor: Umberto Robina bears a resemblance to his voice actor Creator/DannyTrejo, and Ricardo Diaz bears a resemblance to his voice actor Luis Guzmán.

-->...cause their ain't no up north anymore. It's all down south now.

-->Tommy: I don't think we're going to get any heat from up north either...

The game was originally released on October 27th, 2002 for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, and on PC and UsefulNotes/XBox the following year. It then got released on mobile devices on December 12th, 2012 as part of its 10th anniversary. On October 8th, 2021, It was announced that ''Vice City'' a CompilationRerelease alongside ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' for UsefulNotes/PlayStation5, UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, UsefulNotes/XboxSeriesXAndS, UsefulNotes/XboxOne, and UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch as part of the 20th anniversary of ''Grand Theft Auto III'', with a version for mobile devices planned for the first half of 2022.

* CrapsaccharineWorld: Vice City seems to be a nice, clean place on the surface, with bright colors and summer in full swing, but it's still a city filled with criminals, mobsters, drug lords and gang-bangers. Its story takes the basic plot of ''Film/Scarface1983'' and uses it for a satire of '80s neoliberalism, Tommy Vercetti's pursuit of wealth through drug trafficking portrayed as NotSoDifferent from those yuppie businessmen making their money through more "legitimate" means.

* EvilVersusEvil: Almost every character in Vice City is a criminal, from murderers, drug lords, corrupt managers or mobsters. Much in the [[NotSoDifferent same way]], Tommy, is a VillainProtagonist who does not seem to be any better than his enemies.