If there was a game to define an era and an entire genre, the title must go to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto.

The seminal version that kicked the opposition into the long grass was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. While there have been numerous iterations since then, GTA fans will always have a soft spot for the San Andreas episode.

The mobile version remains faithful to the original as Carl finds himself back in San Andreas and almost immediately gets picked up by the cops before he has even unpacked.

Features

● Great storyline

● Good graphics for the era

● Lots of missions

● Free-roaming

● Large map

More

Despite the epic success of GTA: San Andreas and its enduring affection, giant question marks are hanging over the mobile version.

One instant red flag is that the game hasn't been updated since 2019, a couple of centuries in gaming years. This last update throws Rockstar's commitment to the franchise into severe doubt.

This is curious as Rockstar has just announced that they are pulling the plug on GTA Online for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Quite why they have allowed GTA: San Andreas to limp on this long is difficult to fathom.

It's all the odder as even a cursory glance at the Google Play reviews demonstrates there's a long history of glitches and bugs appearing. Despite the review shade zingers being aimed their way, there's little to no evidence that Rockstar is listening.

Meanwhile, it appears that the Editors over at the Apple App Store are asleep at the wheel. The iOS version still warrants an Editors' Choice badge and a 4.6 out of five by users.

However, you should probably not read t● much into that, as the last user review was way back in October 2019.

Like Carl Johnson, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas refuses to die. He may not have aged, but old Carl must be 120 by now. But still spritely when you can finally get him to move in the direction you want to go.

It's pretty sad. Rockstar should do the decent thing and kill off Carl and San Andreas once and for all. We would then be left with memories of what used to be, not forever tainted by the neglected bugfest that the mobile game has become.

According to the Google Play blurb, the mobile version was developed by War Drum Studios. But, interestingly, they no longer exist. Instead, the domain now points to Grove Street Studios, a nod to the iconic street in GTA: San Andreas.

PROS

● An era-defining game that all GTA fans love

● A chance to relive your gaming days of old

● Retro graphics

● Multi-language support

CONS

● Extremely buggy to the point of being almost unplayable in some cases

Price - $6.99

How to use

If you feel lucky and have $6.99 to burn, GTA: San Andreas is still downloadable from Google Play and the App Store. Unfortunately, the game has recently been negatively reviewed on Google Play and currently sits at 3.8 out of five.