5 amazing facts about GTA San Andreas

There are some amazing facts about GTA San Andreas that are always worth sharing with fans.

GTA San Andreas is arguably the greatest GTA game ever made. It's the second best-selling GTA game of all time, and the legacy it left behind is simply outstanding. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of amazing facts worth talking about.

Not all facts have to be something seen in-game. In the case of this article, these facts are mostly about GTA San Andreas in a general sense. It should be stated that these are just five interesting facts, not necessarily the top five must-know facts.

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Five awesome facts about GTA San Andreas

5) The mission, Body Harvest, is a reference to an earlier game

The Combine Harvester as it appears in Rockstar's older game, Body Harvest (Image via Fiendly)

More specifically, it's a reference to a game with the same name by DMA Design. DMA Design would later become Rockstar North, so it is interesting to see them reference their old roots.

There is even a moment in Body Harvest where the player could get a Combine Harvester from a farmer to shred some zombies. Of course, CJ's version is bloodier compared to the green blood seen in the N64 title.

4) Largest map out of the 3D universe

In fact, GTA San Andreas has the second-largest map in the entire series, just behind GTA 5. In GTA San Andreas's case, there were three major cities (Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas), two of which don't show up in GTA 5.

None of the other maps in the 3D universe come closer to San Andreas's sheer size. Both Vice City and Liberty City pale in comparison, which only added to how massive GTA San Andreas felt.

3) The most storyline missions out of any GTA title

End of the Line is an iconic mission, and it's just 1 out of 100 (Image via GTA Wiki)

GTA San Andreas is number one in terms of the sheer number of storyline missions at 100 playable missions (101 if one counts the introduction). By comparison, GTA 5 boasts 69 storyline missions (not counting alternatives).

It's one of the reasons GTA San Andreas feels so big. Having a big map helps, especially since it allows missions to be sprinkled throughout it.

2) GTA San Andreas could have had multiple protagonists

Speaking of GTA 5, there's some interesting info found in an old interview from Jeuxactu with Leslie Benzies, where Leslie states:

"We had already thought about multiple playable characters in San Andreas, but we couldn't put it up for technical reasons."

The article was originally in French, but it is interesting that one of GTA 5's most iconic features was originally considered for GTA San Andreas. Mods do exist to replicate this feature in GTA San Andreas, but not too much info exists on the other playable characters.

1) The best-selling PS2 game of all time

The PS2 (Image via Amazon)

GTA San Andreas isn't just a great game, it was an insanely successful title for the series. According to the Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition, it sold over 17.33 million copies.

The second best-selling PS2 game was Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec at 14.89 million copies, whereas the second best-selling GTA title was GTA Vice City, which sold 9.801 million copies.

This game was everywhere back then (partially thanks to the Hot Coffee controversy), so it's not surprising that it sold so well.

Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.