[0:00] It's a miracle that Grand Theft Auto
[0:02] Chinatown Wars even exists. Originally
[0:04] launched as a Nintendo handheld
[0:06] exclusive, complete with touchscreen
[0:07] carjacking, bloody gunfights, and
[0:09] highstakes drug dealing missions, it's
[0:11] exactly the kind of game you'd never
[0:13] expect to see first launch on the
[0:14] Nintendo DS. But more than that, it's
[0:16] secretly one of the greatest and most
[0:18] innovative GTA games ever made.
[0:25] When Chinatown Wars first launched in
[0:27] March of 2009, the GTA franchise was in
[0:30] a pretty incredible spot. The
[0:32] revolutionary and massively successful
[0:34] Grand Theft Auto 4 had arrived the year
[0:36] prior, fully establishing itself as the
[0:38] king of criminal openw world games in
[0:41] the eyes of both critics and players.
[0:42] Both of its episodic story expansions,
[0:44] The Lost and the Damned and The Ballot
[0:46] of Gay Tony, were also on track to come
[0:48] out in 2009. But all that was happening
[0:51] on home consoles. While the late 2000s
[0:54] had seen a duo of games based on 2001's
[0:57] GTA 3 and 2002's GTA Vice City come to
[1:00] PlayStation Portable, GTA 4's successful
[1:03] dive into the HT era seemed to suggest
[1:05] Rockstar was fully committed to the much
[1:07] more powerful consoles and PCs of the
[1:09] time rather than shrink down the vision
[1:11] and ambition for the then dueling
[1:13] handhelds, Nintendo DS and Sony's PSP.
[1:16] The franchise was striving for gritty
[1:18] realism and cutting edge graphics, and
[1:20] it seemed like the portable systems were
[1:22] going to have to sit this round out.
[1:23] Suffice to say that when GTA Chinatown
[1:25] Wars was announced as a top-down
[1:27] cell-shaded game made for a handheld,
[1:29] starring a brand new triad protagonist
[1:31] who used a touchcreen to fire off sniper
[1:33] rifles and steel cars in the same city
[1:35] that GTA 4's Nico Bellic had stomped
[1:38] around in a year earlier, people were uh
[1:41] pretty surprised. At first glance, it
[1:43] not only felt like a step backwards for
[1:44] the series, but it also felt downright
[1:46] shocking to see what was initially a
[1:49] Nintendo exclusive GTA game where you
[1:51] could sell drugs and shoot police
[1:53] officers.
[1:55] These days, modern Nintendo handhelds
[1:57] like the Switch One and Switch 2
[1:58] frequently get ports of maturated games,
[2:01] but during the Nintendo DS era, this was
[2:03] rarely the case. In 2009, it was
[2:05] practically unfathomable for Rockstar to
[2:07] put a brand new exclusive GTA game on
[2:10] the Nintendo DS. a modestly powerful
[2:13] handheld system that was already 5 years
[2:14] into its lifespan and mostly associated
[2:16] with things like Mario Kart, Nintendo
[2:18] Dogs, and Brain Training. The DS is home
[2:21] to one of the greatest and most diverse
[2:23] game libraries in the history of
[2:25] handhelds. But its tiny lowresolution
[2:27] screens, largely casual player base, and
[2:29] lack of analog stick meant that AAA
[2:32] developers approached the system
[2:33] cautiously when bringing their
[2:35] successful franchises over to it.
[2:36] especially when those franchises were
[2:38] known for being big budget console games
[2:40] aiming for older audiences. Rockstar
[2:42] Games hadn't brought any of their titles
[2:44] to a Nintendo handheld since 2003 when
[2:46] they launched a cleverly scaledown
[2:48] version of Max Pain on the Game Boy
[2:49] Advance and then Grand Theft Auto
[2:51] Advance in 2004, a top-own pixel art
[2:54] prequel to GTA 3. That's why Chinatown
[2:57] Wars felt special. It was clear that the
[2:59] DS had become so massive that even the
[3:02] almighty Rockstar Games couldn't ignore
[3:04] it. And while fans had some
[3:05] apprehensions about the game's looks
[3:07] once they realized that Chinatown Wars
[3:09] bridged the gap between GTA's top-own
[3:11] origins and its modern fully 3D openw
[3:14] world chaos and unlike the original
[3:16] games doesn't have a locked camera. They
[3:18] knew Rockstar had successfully managed
[3:20] to shrink down their biggest franchise
[3:22] and make it feel at home in the least
[3:24] likely of places without really skipping
[3:26] a beat.
[3:30] Enhanced ports of Chinatown Wars
[3:31] eventually came to PSP and mobile
[3:33] phones. And while they never came close
[3:35] to the total sales of the mainline
[3:37] console and PC games, hardcore GTA fans
[3:39] were happy to have this unique new entry
[3:41] that they could bring with them
[3:43] everywhere. Chinatown Wars not only has
[3:45] all the things you love and expect from
[3:47] a GTA game, like sharp writing,
[3:49] memorable characters, and tons of
[3:50] weapons, vehicles, and explosive toys to
[3:52] terrorize a big sprawling metropolis
[3:54] with, while flipping through bespoke
[3:56] radio stations, it also introduced a
[3:58] bunch of brand new features to the
[4:00] franchise. Police chases that ratchet up
[4:02] your wanted level have always been a
[4:04] serious staple, but Chinatown Wars
[4:06] incorporated a brilliant new mechanic to
[4:08] get revenge. Destroying cop cars to
[4:10] lower your wanted level. This is an
[4:13] absolute blast, especially when you've
[4:15] got multiple cops tailing you at once,
[4:16] and you're blasting down the road at top
[4:18] speed, bobbing and weaving through
[4:19] traffic. Prior to Chinatown Wars, GTA
[4:21] games required you to drive out of a
[4:24] specific area to lower your wanted
[4:25] level. But this new approach requires a
[4:28] lot more aggression on your part,
[4:29] forcing you to lure cops alongside your
[4:31] car, so you can smash them in the
[4:33] buildings and other cars or leading them
[4:35] on, jamming on the brakes and watching
[4:36] them dictate their own destruction while
[4:38] you fire guns out the window. It's
[4:40] awesome. It's an explosive way to watch
[4:42] your wanted level plummet, and this adds
[4:44] tension and thrill to every encounter.
[4:46] And outside of also just looking cool,
[4:48] it's genuinely an absolute blast and
[4:50] frequently hilarious. When these
[4:52] aggressive chases overlap with the
[4:54] game's drugdealing subplot, though,
[4:56] that's when things get significantly
[4:57] more high stakes. You see, since all
[4:59] this cop car smashing and bashing also
[5:01] takes its toll on your vehicle, you'll
[5:03] need to be more calculated with your
[5:05] reckless driving, especially when you're
[5:06] smuggling a trunk full of thousands of
[5:08] dollars worth of heroin that will get
[5:10] seized by the authorities or blown up to
[5:12] smitherines if your car goes up in
[5:14] flames.
[5:17] It's the kind of experience that has you
[5:19] grinning from ear to ear and cackling
[5:21] maniacally while juggling several crimes
[5:23] at once. A feeling that is so distinctly
[5:26] GTA and thus incredibly impressive to
[5:28] see replicated with cartoony graphics on
[5:30] a little tiny handheld. Chinatown Wars
[5:32] has you dealing coke, weed, and downers
[5:34] to various gangs around Liberty City,
[5:36] leading to tons of double crossings,
[5:37] shootouts, and some huge payouts. By
[5:40] taking out the cameras that are hidden
[5:41] everywhere across a city, you'll reduce
[5:43] the visibility of your drug smuggling
[5:45] antics and have fewer cops tailing you
[5:47] after a deal. It's another great example
[5:49] of Chinatown War's awesome and unique
[5:51] systems overlapping and complenting each
[5:53] other in brilliant and satisfying ways.
[5:55] Unique gangs across Liberty City also
[5:57] have specific territories as well as a
[5:59] preferred drug of choice. So, dealing
[6:01] different drugs regularly has you
[6:03] driving all over the map and visiting
[6:04] various crews. These largely optional
[6:07] missions are reminiscent of the ancient
[6:09] calculator drug dealing game Drug Wars.
[6:11] And while some elements of these
[6:12] missions eventually made their way into
[6:14] GTA 5's online mode, it's a shame that
[6:17] these ideas weren't worked directly into
[6:18] the campaign. Here's hoping GTA 6 lets
[6:20] you keep an eye out on market conditions
[6:23] so you can sell ecstasy pills to the
[6:25] Spanish lords just like in Chinatown
[6:27] Wars. Maybe while hulking Los Santos
[6:30] alligators nipped your heels. But while
[6:32] many of Chinatown Wars victories are in
[6:34] systems and gameplay, it was clearly a
[6:36] game made by the same rockstar that was
[6:38] penning deeper, more interesting crime
[6:39] stories. Like GTA 4, Chinatown Wars
[6:41] tells an excellent tale of an immigrant
[6:43] plunging deeper and deeper into Liberty
[6:45] City's CD underbelly, juggling personal
[6:48] and family relationships with the harsh
[6:50] realities of living life on the run and
[6:52] under the gun. In terms of protagonist,
[6:54] Huang Lei isn't nearly as earnest as
[6:56] Nico Bellic and spends significantly
[6:58] less time bowling with his cousins or
[6:59] taking women on dates. But his no
[7:01] [ __ ] attitude makes his war path and
[7:04] lust for vengeance believable, which
[7:06] makes you feel slightly less remorseful
[7:08] about tearing through Liberty City.
[7:12] Like many GTA fans, back in 2009, I had
[7:15] finished GTA 4 and was hungry for more.
[7:18] So, Chinatown Wars launched at the
[7:20] perfect time for me. I've been a
[7:21] Nintendo fan my whole life and I bought
[7:23] the Nintendo DS the day it launched. So,
[7:25] tearing the plastic off of my Chinatown
[7:27] Wars game box and shoving a tiny
[7:29] original GTA game cartridge into my
[7:32] system for the first time was such an
[7:34] awesome moment. I'm also a huge fan of
[7:36] hip-hop, so the game's opening story
[7:38] cutscenes being laden with heavy drums
[7:40] and Wuang Clan style Chinese string
[7:42] samples for a beat that legendary artist
[7:44] Ghostface Killer and MF Doom wrapped on
[7:46] to promote the game was also one of
[7:48] those mind-blowing synergies of so many
[7:50] things I loved coming together.
[7:56] It really all was just a dream come true
[7:59] and it felt right to be back in Liberty
[8:01] City again, even one that looks so
[8:02] different to Nico's. And it was totally
[8:04] surreal using the same stylus I used to
[8:07] pet Nintendo dogs to hotwire a stolen
[8:09] vehicle and go on a violent killing
[8:11] spree on the way to a big ticket cocaine
[8:13] deal.
[8:16] Hell yeah, Rockstar. That said, as much
[8:18] as I love the touchscreen features
[8:20] across every version of Chinatown Wars,
[8:22] they're likely what's holding the game
[8:23] back from being ported to modern
[8:25] consoles. They'd work just fine in
[8:27] handheld mode on the Nintendo Switch
[8:28] consoles, but they'd need a bit of an
[8:30] overhaul to function properly on the
[8:32] PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, which is a
[8:34] shame since I really wish more people
[8:36] could experience this classic entry in
[8:38] one of the most successful video game
[8:39] franchises of all time. Playing
[8:41] Chinatown Wars in 2026, which I do, uh,
[8:44] doesn't just make me nostalgic for being
[8:45] there when the game first released. It
[8:47] makes me nostalgic for an era when
[8:49] Rockstar took weird swings like
[8:51] Chinatown Wars. It was an era when Grand
[8:53] Theft Auto got spin-offs, story DLCs,
[8:55] and quirky little handheld ports, and
[8:57] they all tried to show the franchise in
[8:58] a new light. These days, it seems like
[9:00] every single idea for a new GTA story or
[9:03] gameplay mechanic gets dropped directly
[9:05] into GTA 5's online mode, where they
[9:07] will instantly print money for Rockstar,
[9:09] a strategy they'll definitely continue
[9:11] to implement in GTA 6 and GTA 6's online
[9:14] mode. And while it's cool that people
[9:16] can play one GTA game for 13 years
[9:18] straight while still regularly seeing
[9:20] new content, it's hard not to miss a
[9:22] world before GTA Online where the series
[9:24] add a bit more flexibility. One where
[9:26] unique side stories could exist
[9:28] independently instead of being dripfed
[9:29] into a massive multiplayer mode.
[9:31] Regardless, we'll always have Chinatown
[9:33] Wars, an immensely satisfying and
[9:35] totally kick-ass GTA game that you can
[9:37] take with you anywhere. If you missed it
[9:39] when it first arrived, or you're looking
[9:40] for something to revisit while waiting
[9:42] for the next gigantic entry in the Grand
[9:44] Theft Auto franchise to arrive this
[9:46] fall, you should definitely go play it.
[9:47] There's no other GTA game quite like it.
[9:50] If you'd like even more of me talking
[9:52] about GTA, check out my lengthy and
[9:54] extensive video about the rise and fall
[9:56] of GTA clones, an entire genre of video
[9:59] games that tried to dethrone GTA and
[10:02] didn't. It's a long one, so grab your
[10:04] favorite snack and your Nintendo DS and
[10:05] throw it on. Until then, thanks for
[10:07] watching and for all things video games
[10:09] and of course GTA, stick with IGM.