GTA Chinatown Wars is the Unsung Hero of GTA Games

[00:00] It's a miracle that Grand Theft Auto

[00:02] Chinatown Wars even exists. Originally

[00:04] launched as a Nintendo handheld

[00:06] exclusive, complete with touchscreen

[00:07] carjacking, bloody gunfights, and

[00:09] highstakes drug dealing missions, it's

[00:11] exactly the kind of game you'd never

[00:13] expect to see first launch on the

[00:14] Nintendo DS. But more than that, it's

[00:16] secretly one of the greatest and most

[00:18] innovative GTA games ever made.

[00:25] When Chinatown Wars first launched in

[00:27] March of 2009, the GTA franchise was in

[00:30] a pretty incredible spot. The

[00:32] revolutionary and massively successful

[00:34] Grand Theft Auto 4 had arrived the year

[00:36] prior, fully establishing itself as the

[00:38] king of criminal openw world games in

[00:41] the eyes of both critics and players.

[00:42] Both of its episodic story expansions,

[00:44] The Lost and the Damned and The Ballot

[00:46] of Gay Tony, were also on track to come

[00:48] out in 2009. But all that was happening

[00:51] on home consoles. While the late 2000s

[00:54] had seen a duo of games based on 2001's

[00:57] GTA 3 and 2002's GTA Vice City come to

[01:00] PlayStation Portable, GTA 4's successful

[01:03] dive into the HT era seemed to suggest

[01:05] Rockstar was fully committed to the much

[01:07] more powerful consoles and PCs of the

[01:09] time rather than shrink down the vision

[01:11] and ambition for the then dueling

[01:13] handhelds, Nintendo DS and Sony's PSP.

[01:16] The franchise was striving for gritty

[01:18] realism and cutting edge graphics, and

[01:20] it seemed like the portable systems were

[01:22] going to have to sit this round out.

[01:23] Suffice to say that when GTA Chinatown

[01:25] Wars was announced as a top-down

[01:27] cell-shaded game made for a handheld,

[01:29] starring a brand new triad protagonist

[01:31] who used a touchcreen to fire off sniper

[01:33] rifles and steel cars in the same city

[01:35] that GTA 4's Nico Bellic had stomped

[01:38] around in a year earlier, people were uh

[01:41] pretty surprised. At first glance, it

[01:43] not only felt like a step backwards for

[01:44] the series, but it also felt downright

[01:46] shocking to see what was initially a

[01:49] Nintendo exclusive GTA game where you

[01:51] could sell drugs and shoot police

[01:53] officers.

[01:55] These days, modern Nintendo handhelds

[01:57] like the Switch One and Switch 2

[01:58] frequently get ports of maturated games,

[02:01] but during the Nintendo DS era, this was

[02:03] rarely the case. In 2009, it was

[02:05] practically unfathomable for Rockstar to

[02:07] put a brand new exclusive GTA game on

[02:10] the Nintendo DS. a modestly powerful

[02:13] handheld system that was already 5 years

[02:14] into its lifespan and mostly associated

[02:16] with things like Mario Kart, Nintendo

[02:18] Dogs, and Brain Training. The DS is home

[02:21] to one of the greatest and most diverse

[02:23] game libraries in the history of

[02:25] handhelds. But its tiny lowresolution

[02:27] screens, largely casual player base, and

[02:29] lack of analog stick meant that AAA

[02:32] developers approached the system

[02:33] cautiously when bringing their

[02:35] successful franchises over to it.

[02:36] especially when those franchises were

[02:38] known for being big budget console games

[02:40] aiming for older audiences. Rockstar

[02:42] Games hadn't brought any of their titles

[02:44] to a Nintendo handheld since 2003 when

[02:46] they launched a cleverly scaledown

[02:48] version of Max Pain on the Game Boy

[02:49] Advance and then Grand Theft Auto

[02:51] Advance in 2004, a top-own pixel art

[02:54] prequel to GTA 3. That's why Chinatown

[02:57] Wars felt special. It was clear that the

[02:59] DS had become so massive that even the

[03:02] almighty Rockstar Games couldn't ignore

[03:04] it. And while fans had some

[03:05] apprehensions about the game's looks

[03:07] once they realized that Chinatown Wars

[03:09] bridged the gap between GTA's top-own

[03:11] origins and its modern fully 3D openw

[03:14] world chaos and unlike the original

[03:16] games doesn't have a locked camera. They

[03:18] knew Rockstar had successfully managed

[03:20] to shrink down their biggest franchise

[03:22] and make it feel at home in the least

[03:24] likely of places without really skipping

[03:26] a beat.

[03:30] Enhanced ports of Chinatown Wars

[03:31] eventually came to PSP and mobile

[03:33] phones. And while they never came close

[03:35] to the total sales of the mainline

[03:37] console and PC games, hardcore GTA fans

[03:39] were happy to have this unique new entry

[03:41] that they could bring with them

[03:43] everywhere. Chinatown Wars not only has

[03:45] all the things you love and expect from

[03:47] a GTA game, like sharp writing,

[03:49] memorable characters, and tons of

[03:50] weapons, vehicles, and explosive toys to

[03:52] terrorize a big sprawling metropolis

[03:54] with, while flipping through bespoke

[03:56] radio stations, it also introduced a

[03:58] bunch of brand new features to the

[04:00] franchise. Police chases that ratchet up

[04:02] your wanted level have always been a

[04:04] serious staple, but Chinatown Wars

[04:06] incorporated a brilliant new mechanic to

[04:08] get revenge. Destroying cop cars to

[04:10] lower your wanted level. This is an

[04:13] absolute blast, especially when you've

[04:15] got multiple cops tailing you at once,

[04:16] and you're blasting down the road at top

[04:18] speed, bobbing and weaving through

[04:19] traffic. Prior to Chinatown Wars, GTA

[04:21] games required you to drive out of a

[04:24] specific area to lower your wanted

[04:25] level. But this new approach requires a

[04:28] lot more aggression on your part,

[04:29] forcing you to lure cops alongside your

[04:31] car, so you can smash them in the

[04:33] buildings and other cars or leading them

[04:35] on, jamming on the brakes and watching

[04:36] them dictate their own destruction while

[04:38] you fire guns out the window. It's

[04:40] awesome. It's an explosive way to watch

[04:42] your wanted level plummet, and this adds

[04:44] tension and thrill to every encounter.

[04:46] And outside of also just looking cool,

[04:48] it's genuinely an absolute blast and

[04:50] frequently hilarious. When these

[04:52] aggressive chases overlap with the

[04:54] game's drugdealing subplot, though,

[04:56] that's when things get significantly

[04:57] more high stakes. You see, since all

[04:59] this cop car smashing and bashing also

[05:01] takes its toll on your vehicle, you'll

[05:03] need to be more calculated with your

[05:05] reckless driving, especially when you're

[05:06] smuggling a trunk full of thousands of

[05:08] dollars worth of heroin that will get

[05:10] seized by the authorities or blown up to

[05:12] smitherines if your car goes up in

[05:14] flames.

[05:17] It's the kind of experience that has you

[05:19] grinning from ear to ear and cackling

[05:21] maniacally while juggling several crimes

[05:23] at once. A feeling that is so distinctly

[05:26] GTA and thus incredibly impressive to

[05:28] see replicated with cartoony graphics on

[05:30] a little tiny handheld. Chinatown Wars

[05:32] has you dealing coke, weed, and downers

[05:34] to various gangs around Liberty City,

[05:36] leading to tons of double crossings,

[05:37] shootouts, and some huge payouts. By

[05:40] taking out the cameras that are hidden

[05:41] everywhere across a city, you'll reduce

[05:43] the visibility of your drug smuggling

[05:45] antics and have fewer cops tailing you

[05:47] after a deal. It's another great example

[05:49] of Chinatown War's awesome and unique

[05:51] systems overlapping and complenting each

[05:53] other in brilliant and satisfying ways.

[05:55] Unique gangs across Liberty City also

[05:57] have specific territories as well as a

[05:59] preferred drug of choice. So, dealing

[06:01] different drugs regularly has you

[06:03] driving all over the map and visiting

[06:04] various crews. These largely optional

[06:07] missions are reminiscent of the ancient

[06:09] calculator drug dealing game Drug Wars.

[06:11] And while some elements of these

[06:12] missions eventually made their way into

[06:14] GTA 5's online mode, it's a shame that

[06:17] these ideas weren't worked directly into

[06:18] the campaign. Here's hoping GTA 6 lets

[06:20] you keep an eye out on market conditions

[06:23] so you can sell ecstasy pills to the

[06:25] Spanish lords just like in Chinatown

[06:27] Wars. Maybe while hulking Los Santos

[06:30] alligators nipped your heels. But while

[06:32] many of Chinatown Wars victories are in

[06:34] systems and gameplay, it was clearly a

[06:36] game made by the same rockstar that was

[06:38] penning deeper, more interesting crime

[06:39] stories. Like GTA 4, Chinatown Wars

[06:41] tells an excellent tale of an immigrant

[06:43] plunging deeper and deeper into Liberty

[06:45] City's CD underbelly, juggling personal

[06:48] and family relationships with the harsh

[06:50] realities of living life on the run and

[06:52] under the gun. In terms of protagonist,

[06:54] Huang Lei isn't nearly as earnest as

[06:56] Nico Bellic and spends significantly

[06:58] less time bowling with his cousins or

[06:59] taking women on dates. But his no

[07:01] [ __ ] attitude makes his war path and

[07:04] lust for vengeance believable, which

[07:06] makes you feel slightly less remorseful

[07:08] about tearing through Liberty City.

[07:12] Like many GTA fans, back in 2009, I had

[07:15] finished GTA 4 and was hungry for more.

[07:18] So, Chinatown Wars launched at the

[07:20] perfect time for me. I've been a

[07:21] Nintendo fan my whole life and I bought

[07:23] the Nintendo DS the day it launched. So,

[07:25] tearing the plastic off of my Chinatown

[07:27] Wars game box and shoving a tiny

[07:29] original GTA game cartridge into my

[07:32] system for the first time was such an

[07:34] awesome moment. I'm also a huge fan of

[07:36] hip-hop, so the game's opening story

[07:38] cutscenes being laden with heavy drums

[07:40] and Wuang Clan style Chinese string

[07:42] samples for a beat that legendary artist

[07:44] Ghostface Killer and MF Doom wrapped on

[07:46] to promote the game was also one of

[07:48] those mind-blowing synergies of so many

[07:50] things I loved coming together.

[07:56] It really all was just a dream come true

[07:59] and it felt right to be back in Liberty

[08:01] City again, even one that looks so

[08:02] different to Nico's. And it was totally

[08:04] surreal using the same stylus I used to

[08:07] pet Nintendo dogs to hotwire a stolen

[08:09] vehicle and go on a violent killing

[08:11] spree on the way to a big ticket cocaine

[08:13] deal.

[08:16] Hell yeah, Rockstar. That said, as much

[08:18] as I love the touchscreen features

[08:20] across every version of Chinatown Wars,

[08:22] they're likely what's holding the game

[08:23] back from being ported to modern

[08:25] consoles. They'd work just fine in

[08:27] handheld mode on the Nintendo Switch

[08:28] consoles, but they'd need a bit of an

[08:30] overhaul to function properly on the

[08:32] PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, which is a

[08:34] shame since I really wish more people

[08:36] could experience this classic entry in

[08:38] one of the most successful video game

[08:39] franchises of all time. Playing

[08:41] Chinatown Wars in 2026, which I do, uh,

[08:44] doesn't just make me nostalgic for being

[08:45] there when the game first released. It

[08:47] makes me nostalgic for an era when

[08:49] Rockstar took weird swings like

[08:51] Chinatown Wars. It was an era when Grand

[08:53] Theft Auto got spin-offs, story DLCs,

[08:55] and quirky little handheld ports, and

[08:57] they all tried to show the franchise in

[08:58] a new light. These days, it seems like

[09:00] every single idea for a new GTA story or

[09:03] gameplay mechanic gets dropped directly

[09:05] into GTA 5's online mode, where they

[09:07] will instantly print money for Rockstar,

[09:09] a strategy they'll definitely continue

[09:11] to implement in GTA 6 and GTA 6's online

[09:14] mode. And while it's cool that people

[09:16] can play one GTA game for 13 years

[09:18] straight while still regularly seeing

[09:20] new content, it's hard not to miss a

[09:22] world before GTA Online where the series

[09:24] add a bit more flexibility. One where

[09:26] unique side stories could exist

[09:28] independently instead of being dripfed

[09:29] into a massive multiplayer mode.

[09:31] Regardless, we'll always have Chinatown

[09:33] Wars, an immensely satisfying and

[09:35] totally kick-ass GTA game that you can

[09:37] take with you anywhere. If you missed it

[09:39] when it first arrived, or you're looking

[09:40] for something to revisit while waiting

[09:42] for the next gigantic entry in the Grand

[09:44] Theft Auto franchise to arrive this

[09:46] fall, you should definitely go play it.

[09:47] There's no other GTA game quite like it.

[09:50] If you'd like even more of me talking

[09:52] about GTA, check out my lengthy and

[09:54] extensive video about the rise and fall

[09:56] of GTA clones, an entire genre of video

[09:59] 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.