Looking back on the original 3D GTA trilogy, it's unbelievable how much Rockstar accomplished with that first game engine. You need only consider the three-island setup of III's islands that took a minute or so to get across and compare it to San Andreas' staggeringly huge map to get a feel for how extremely talented their coding department is. To a generation of gamers completely unfamiliar with a world this size, it made for the best stories and realisations too. "Have you got out the first city yet?", "Did you jump off the top of Mt. Chiliad?", even the emergence of genuine urban myths like if a Sasquatch could be found roaming the planes or if UFOs appeared if you stood in the right spot at the right time. In short, San Andreas was the culmination of a developer wanting to build the biggest, most believable and enjoyable 'world' on the other side of a screen yet - and coming at a time when thousands of youths were going through major 'rap phases' anyway, that only served to help cement itself in gaming legend.
