GTA III, Vice City and Liberty City Stories get native New Nintendo 3DS ports

Three Grand Theft Auto games are heading to New Nintendo 3DS hardware through one sizeable homebrew project. The reGTA Complete Collection is currently in development, with a release planned for early October. It brings together native 3DS ports of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, building on the re3, reVC and reLCS projects. It’s a much bigger undertaking than a simple emulator setup. Each game runs through reconstructed engine code adapted for Nintendo’s handheld hardware, with work going into controls, loading, graphics, audio, interface changes and the console’s dual-screen setup. The collection targets New Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS XL and New Nintendo 2DS XL systems. Older 3DS models aren’t supported.

Three GTA games, one 3DS project

Each game gets its own conversion rather than sharing a single generic setup. Grand Theft Auto III uses re3, Vice City runs through reVC, and Liberty City Stories uses work based on reLCS and reStories. From there, each port has received changes aimed at getting Rockstar’s older open-world games running within the limits of New 3DS hardware.

The lower touchscreen plays a part too. Game information and controls can appear on the second display, with touch input, Nintendo button prompts and an interface for entering cheat codes. Performance work remains part of development. Asset streaming and loading have been adjusted, with fixes covering crashes, graphical glitches, audio issues and problems unique to individual games. Some demanding areas can still push frame rates down, so development isn’t finished yet. Early October remains the planned release window.

GTA III puts Liberty City on the small screen

Grand Theft Auto III first arrived in 2001 and changed Rockstar’s series dramatically, moving its crime sandbox into a fully 3D city. Players control Claude, a silent criminal working his way through Liberty City’s gangs, Mafia families and assorted employers. Its structure became the blueprint for much of Rockstar’s output over the following decade: accept missions, explore a large city, steal vehicles and cause a remarkable amount of trouble between jobs.

The reGTA edition runs on re3. For the handheld port, loading and streaming have received changes aimed at keeping Liberty City moving on New 3DS hardware. Vehicle materials have received fixes, several stability problems have been addressed, and motion blur has been removed. Players will need game data from the original PC release. The collection doesn’t package Rockstar’s commercial assets with the port itself.

Vice City gets a separate conversion

Vice City followed in 2002 and moved the action away from Liberty City to Rockstar’s fictional take on Miami. Tommy Vercetti leads the story, starting as a recently released criminal sent south for a drug deal before building his own criminal operation across the city. Property ownership became a larger part of progression, and the game widened GTA III’s vehicle selection with motorcycles, helicopters and other additions.

Its 3DS conversion is built on reVC. Development work covers faster loading, particle effects, vehicle highlights, character geometry, water rendering and several stability fixes linked to aircraft and high-speed asset streaming. Vice City gets its own lower-screen presentation too, rather than copying the GTA III interface unchanged. Original PC game files are required here as well.

Liberty City Stories presents a different challenge

Liberty City Stories is the odd one out in the collection. Rockstar originally released it for PSP in 2005, with a PlayStation 2 version following later. Set in 1998, several years before GTA III, it follows Toni Cipriani and his work for the Leone crime family.

Bringing it to 3DS involves more than transferring an existing PC-oriented engine project. The reGTA version draws from reLCS and reStories, with extra work covering mission scripts, save data, cutscenes, vehicles and changes to Liberty City triggered by story progress. Development has reached the point where the main campaign has been completed during testing on physical New Nintendo 3DS hardware. Side missions and optional activities remain part of ongoing testing.

Early October is the current target

reGTA Complete Collection is still being worked on, so the version arriving in early October may continue changing before release. What players can expect is already fairly clear. Three GTA games are being converted into native New 3DS projects, each with its own engine work, interface changes and handheld fixes.

You’ll need a compatible New Nintendo 3DS-family system and the required original game data. If development stays on its present schedule, GTA III, Vice City and Liberty City Stories will arrive on New 3DS hardware in one package early next month.

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