The best Rockstar games available on Nintendo consoles

rock star games is best known for his grand theft car series, although subsidiary Take-Two has many other great titles to its name. Sadly, most of these were never released on Nintendo consoles due to how underpowered some of the more recent ones were, but there are one or two big exceptions.

The best Rockstar games on Nintendo consoles tend to be Switch versions of classic games that were released decades after the originals. However, there are also a handful of less demanding Rockstar titles that were available on previous Nintendo platforms, including the Wii, DS, and even the Nintendo 64.

7

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

An exceptionally rare example of a handheld spin-off done right

The majority considers Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars be the best laptop GTA game of all time, at least when it comes to titles developed with portable devices in mind. It was released for the Nintendo DS in early 2009 and sees players take control of Huang Lee: a member of the Triad who attempts to recover his father’s stolen sword. The gameplay is solid throughout and the story is fantastic, although the visuals don’t hold up as well as those found in some of the other great Rockstar games that came to Nintendo consoles.

6

Silicon Valley Space Station

An out-of-the-box rarity with unique gameplay mechanics

Silicon Valley Space Station

Systems

Developer

DMA design

Released

October 1, 1998

Strictly speaking, Silicon Valley Space Station was developed by DMA Design, which was the studio responsible for the first GTA game. However, as DMA Design was eventually incorporated into Rockstar (which was formed after Take-Two Interactive acquired GTAfrom the publisher, BMG Interactive), it seems fair to call it a Rockstar game. Released for the N64 in 1998, this futuristic platformer saw players control a sentient microchip and use it to kidnap a series of robotic animals to solve puzzles and prevent the titular space station from colliding with Earth. It’s a hugely underrated Rockstar game and is still worth checking out today; if only because of how unusual it is.

5

THE NOIRE

An innovative detective game with cutting-edge visuals

The motion capture technology used during the development of THE NOIRE It was groundbreaking for its time and led to some of the most realistic video game facial expressions on the market. Unfortunately, when the game arrived on Nintendo Switch more than half a decade later, the graphics looked a little dated and the gameplay wasn’t much better either. Fortunately, the story and writing at least hold up well, as do the numerous cases and investigations that players are expected to solve.

Related

The best detective games with realistic crime solving

Although not all of these detective games take place in realistic environments, they feature incredibly realistic methods of solving crimes.

4

Rockstar Games introduces table tennis

A surprisingly good sports simulator with impeccable ball physics

Rockstar Games introduces table tennis

Systems

Developers

Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Leeds

Released

May 23, 2006

Many people were surprised when it was revealed that Rockstar San Diego would be developing a table tennis game. However, what on paper should have been a fairly boring affair ended up being one of the best sports simulation games of its time, with the title’s advanced physics and fast-paced gameplay proving to be a hit with many players. Like many other Rockstar games, it also has an excellent soundtrack, perfect for long fights against fierce rivals.

3

Bully

A controversial classic that still stands the test of time

Bully was the first release from Rockstar Vancouver, which was formed after Take-Two Interactive acquired Barking Dog in 2002. The game was created using the Grand Theft Auto: San Andres engine and allows players to cause mayhem in an open-world sandbox, although that’s where the similarities between this and Rockstar’s flagship franchise end. Players take on the role of Jimmy Hopkins: a delinquent high school student struggling to adapt to the prestigious Bullworth Academy. He presents some innovative ideas and a pretty fun narrative, even if some of the mini-games that players are forced to participate in fall a little short.

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Great open world games set in mundane environments

An open world game doesn’t have to have an extraordinary environment to be good, as these video games demonstrate.

2

Red Dead Redemption

A bittersweet taste of the Old West

Some players were a little disappointed with the amount of effort Rockstar put into the PS4 port. Red Dead Redemption. However, for hardcore Nintendo fans who missed the original release, the Switch port wasn’t all that bad, despite its high price and low frame rate. The game itself remains one of the best open world games of all time, taking players back to the year 1911 and the decline of the American frontier. It has aged quite well overall and can still be a lot of fun to this day. That said, those coming straight from the 2018 game’s prequel may need a little time to adjust, as there’s a very noticeable quality gap between the two titles.

1

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition

Three influential works of art for the bargain price of one

Given that Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition Basically just three games in one, it already has a pretty big lead over all the other Rockstar games that can be played on Nintendo consoles. The fact that those games are three of the most influential open-world games ever made also helps. It’s certainly debatable whether these are truly the “definitive” editions of the 3D trilogy, but it would be nearly impossible to argue that these fan-favorite titles still aren’t very fun to play today.

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Further

The best open-world Switch games, ranked

There are plenty of great open-world games on the Nintendo Switch, and the following releases are the best of the best.