Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – Still a Smoking Gun on the Xbox 360!

If you have been listening to me bicker and babble about the best backwards compatible games for the Xbox 360 – then you already know that I am yapping about here. However, for those of you who are just tuning in, or who may not be in the know, Microsoft allows for you to download a backwards compatibility emulator that allows you play a few hundred of the original Xbox classic masterpieces on the Xbox 360 gaming console. Why? Because there were so many gamers that got peeved when Microsoft announced that they would not be releasing anymore, or licensing any more, games for the Xbox, that many felt ripped off, considering most of us had acquired pretty large collections of games when they released the Xbox 360. So to counter this vociferousness, they decided that they would make the most popular games for the Xbox playable on the Xbox 360, and guess what, it wouldn’t be right if they excluded Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas from that lofty list…now would it?

You are placed in the shoes of a would-be gangster returning to the virtual city of Los Angeles (San Adreas in the game) to reclaim your lost turf. However, the city has gone amuck, and the minute that you land two corrupt cops are already on your tail making you run illegal errands for their benefit. Little do they know that you have a one up on them and will get the better end of the stick later on! Now that you are reunited with your family, you must take to the streets and start the gang war of all gang wars. Stealing, killing, transporting and selling drugs, capping cops and anybody that gets in your way as you cycle, drive, fly and bust lead to reach your ultimate destination: king of the streets.

Amazing graphics for the time and the best free world of any Xbox gameâ??and you can easily play it on the Xbox 360, provided that you have the emulator installed of course. Hundreds of hours of game play make it hard to put this monster down.

â??Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas offers one of the main reasons for owning an original Xbox console, aside from Halo of course. The massive free world, the many different side missions, the many different weapon sets, cars and buildings that you could enter, planes that you could fly, trains that you could hijack, and helicopters that you could pilot, touched on previously uncharted waters for any video game on any console, including the PC. The added and very controversial â??Hot Coffeeâ?? scene (nude scene that could be unlocked in the game) only added to this muster. GTA San Andreas will always remain an all-time favorite for both consoles! Thanks very much for everything you do Rockstar!â?

My Score: 9.9 out of 10

Check out the original San Andreas Trailer Below