Beta Releases in Grand Theft Auto Advance

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Before the release of Grand Theft Auto Advance, there were features that were removed from the final product.

At the beginning of its development, GTA Advance was meant to be a portable version of Grand Theft Auto III for Game Boy Advance, nicknamed "GTA III Advance". This possibly means that the protagonist would be Claude and the story would be the same as that of GTA III missions, characters and vehicles.

In May of 2001, Destination Software obtained the license to develop the Game Boy Advance version of GTA III, in conjunction with other games of Rockstar Games. In November of that year, the Digital Worldwide company confirmed that it would be in charge of the publication and distribution of the game, announcing that the game would be released at the end of 2002, but its launching was delayed several times.

At the end of 2002, Destination Software lost the license and the development was given to Crawfish Interactive. During the development, the game took a drastic change and stopped being only a portable version of GTA III.

According to a formerly developer of the game, Dave Murphy, explained that this version takes place in a few months before the events of GTA III. The characters was a mix of GTA III's characters and some new ones based on their colleagues of the developer.

During the development, the company closed by economic problems and Rockstar granted the license to Digital Eclipse, changing the game's name to Grand Theft Auto Advance.

Removed content and changes

Cut side missions, radios and the "Army Surplus".

• The artwork of one of the removed characters, Joey Leone, was reused in one mission in the final game as a generic mafia member in Staunton Island.
• The Oil Slick has been cut.
• The BF Injection was different and had different colors, but in the final game there are only painted blue. Also the police car and the Borgnine was a bit different.
• Some GTA III's vehicles names can be found in the game's line codes.
• Unique Stunt Jumps was removed from the game. However, the ramps still in the game.
• Import/Export and the emergency vehicle's crane from GTA III was removed.
• Phil's Army Surplus was supposed to be in the game, but was dropped in the development. In the final version, a hospital replaced this location.
• Three radio stations from GTA III (MSX FM, Lips 106 and K-Jah) was supposed to be in the game, but was replaced by a few Grand Theft Auto and 2 radio tracks. A K-Jah advertisement can still be found in Bedford Point, near the Ammu-Nation.
  • "Mantronix - King Of The Beats", originally intended to air on the game's radio, as seen in the official trailer.
• Possibly, the gang respect feature from GTA 2 was supposed to be in the game.

Removed missions

• At least five missions from Joey Leone has been removed from the game. "Bomb Squad", "Runaway Idaho", "The Big Leagues", "Driving Mr. Mawson" and a unnamed mission about killing Triad members.
• Two missions from Mr. Mawson has been removed from the game. "Final Negotiations" and another unnamed mission about stealing or destroying a truck full of dildos in Atlantic Quays.
  • One of the Crawfish Interactive's screenshots shows a screen from the mission "Driving Mr. Mawson", and it is revealed that Mr. Mawson is a transvestite.
• Also, one mission given by 8-Ball called "Business and Pleasure" was removed and, according to the dialogue, it would be similar to the mission The Fuzz Ball from GTA III.
• A mission called "Company Car" was removed.

"Business and Pleasure", "Bomb Squad" and "Runaway Idaho".

"Final Negotiations", "Company Car", "The Big Leagues" and "Driving Mr. Mawson". Also, a mention of a character called Jonnie S.

Removed vehicles

Cut vehicles.

By opening the game's ROM (.gba file) using the notepad or a hex editor, it is possible to find some lines of code with a list of vehicles that were supposed to be part of an import/export sidemission. Interesting fact, some of these vehicles are from GTA III.

• REEFER - A recurring boat from GTA III.
• RCBANDIT - RC Bandit, a small radio controlled car.
• PREDATOR - A police patrol boat used by LCPD.
• PONY - A medium-sized van from GTA III.
• PEREN - Abbreviation to Perennial, a minivan from GTA III.
• ENFORCER - A large armored transport van used by SWAT. It was replaced by the SWAT Van in the final version of the game.
• LINE RUNNER - Linerunner its a cab-styled semi truck from GTA III.
• LAND ROVER - Unknown. Probably the Landstalker.
• INFERNO - Unknown. Possibly a script name for Infernus.
• FLATBED - A recurring heavy truck from GTA III.
• BUS - A bus from GTA III.
• SECURITY - Unknown. Possibly a script name for Securicar.
• PATRI - Abbreviation to Patriot, a four door SUV from GTA III.
• COLUM - Unknown. Possibly a abbreviation to "Columbian Car", in other words, the Cartel Cruiser.
• CHEETAH - A sport car from GTA III.
• BOBCAT - Replaced by the Monster Truck.
• WHOOPY - Mr. Whoopee, the ice cream van from GTA III. Removed for unknown reasons.
• BLISTA - A caravan from GTA III. Removed for unknown reasons.
• TRASH - The Trashmaster from GTA III. Removed for unknown reasons.
• STALLION - The Stallion was supposed to be in-game. Instead, its gang variant replaced him. A reused artwork from GTA III of the Stallion appears in the official trailer of GTA Advance.
• RHINO - Replaced by the Tank.
• SQUAD CAR - Unknown. Possibly a VCPD Cheetah version for Liberty City.

Multiplayer

An article about the unreleased multiplayer mode.

Cut multiplayer modes.

A multiplayer was intended to be in GTA Advance, with four different modes:

• Liberty City Survivor - Standard death match similar to GTA & GTA 2 on PC.
• City Circuit - Racing on pre-set routes round the three islands.
• Car Jack Crazy - Players race to collect a list of vehicles and return them to their garage.
• Special delivery - All players fight over a package which must be taken to their base.

Gallery

GTA III port for Game Boy Advance, 2001 (Destination Software)

GTA III cover by Destination Software

GTA III menu (Destination Software)

GTA III GBA first prototype image (Destination Software)

GTA III Advance (Crawfish Interactive)

GTA III Advance (Crawfish Interactive)

GTA III Advance (Crawfish Interactive)

GTA III Advance (Crawfish Interactive)

GTA III Advance (Crawfish Interactive)

A pre-release screenshot showing a BF Injection with orange paintjob (Digital Eclipse)

Pre-release screenshot of the police cars (Digital Eclipse)

Pre-release screenshot of a Borgnine cab (Digital Eclipse)

The barrel in the HUD

HUD icon

Joey Leone's artwork reused in GTA Advance

A billboard of K-JAH in the final version GTA Advance, the last bit of evidence of the stations existence carried over from the beta.

Videos

Grand Theft Auto Advance- Two Prototype Demos (Crawfish Prototypes?)

GTA Mobile Beta Version and Removed Content - Hot Topic -12

References

Full topic in GTA Forums
http://web.archive.org/web/20020601174325/http://pocket.ign.com/articles/094/094918p1.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20020610235057/http://www.digitalworldwide.com/corp_release_1.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20020610234741/http://www.digitalworldwide.com/corp_release_2.htm
http://web.archive.org/web/20021110134833/http://www.n-philes.com/php/epfyzlyylllkepayazl.php
http://web.archive.org/web/20030622210419/http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=950
http://web.archive.org/web/20160412024445/http://bripro.com/articles/gta_on_gba.php
http://web.archive.org/web/20140710142510/http://bripro.com:80/articles/gamefaqs-forum-040803.php