5 GTA San Andreas features that later games greatly improved upon

Some fans may consider GTA San Andreas to be the best game in the series, but some features could always be improved upon.

These improvements don't suggest that GTA San Andreas is inferior by any means. It simply means that Rockstar has made some important improvements to GTA San Andreas's sequels. It's a natural progression for any AAA video game studio, but it's also interesting to see which new features were improved upon in a later game.

Most of these features were well-received for their time. One feature is far more minor by comparison, but it's still an interesting way to add more immersion to the GTA series. Either way, improvements are always welcome, and these five features prove that.

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Five features from GTA San Andreas that later games would greatly improve

5) Girlfriends' preferences

The concept of dating girlfriends in GTA San Andreas is fine, but hanging out with them can feel rather lifeless compared to how it's done in GTA 4. Both features have their advantages and disadvantages, but GTA 4's activities and the overall system are more detailed.

For example, rather than just a generic like or dislike system, each of Niko's girlfriends has varying levels of liking certain activities. For example, Carmen has a like value of 50% for Superstar Café, but 60% for Pizza This...

In GTA San Andreas, a girlfriend will either like something or hate it.

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4) Multiplayer

GTA Online made it a lot easier to play with one's friends (Image via Rockstar Games)

GTA San Andreas was the first 3D GTA game that included multiplayer. It was strictly local multiplayer, but it's better to have some form of multiplayer than none. Later games had multiplayer easier to access, such as Liberty City Stories supporting wifi ad-hoc mode.

Games such as Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories gave multiplayer a few different unique modes, which helped make those games stand out compared to GTA San Andreas.

Of course, GTA 4's Online mode greatly expanded this feature even further. GTA Online has undoubtedly done very well as far as multiplayer GTA goes.

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3) Climbing

Niko climbing a ladder, which is something CJ can't do (Image via GHOST GAMING BEATS)

GTA 4's parkour is on another level. It greatly expands on GTA San Andreas' new climbing feature by the addition of several new mini-features which make it more useful. For example, players can now shimmy across and aren't forced to climb instantly.

Plus, Niko can climb ladders. GTA San Andreas innovated climbing in the GTA series, but GTA 4 perfected the formula. GTA 5 also shares many of GTA 4's new climbing additions, which showcases how far the series has progressed since then.

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2) San Andreas

Los Santos looks better now (Image via GTA Wiki)

The loss of San Fierro and Las Venturas stung a bit in GTA 5, but Los Santos looks better than ever. GTA 5's superior graphics and new features helped make the state of San Andreas seem more lively than before.

New additions to the countryside have also helped make some parts of the game world feel fresher and more useful. It's also worth mentioning that GTA 5's map is larger than GTA San Andreas's map. Hence, it's a mix of both quality and quantity in this entry.

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1) Character and vehicle customization

GTA Online greatly dwarfs GTA San Andreas when it comes to customization options. Not only do players have more clothing options, hairstyles, and vehicles in the former game, but players can also select their gender. In GTA San Andreas, the player always plays as Carl Johnson.

It's also worth mentioning that GTA Online still gets updates to this day. Every major update usually adds a new layer to its already deep level of customization, which only widens the gap between the two games.

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