Before Grand Theft Auto became the biggest name in open-world games, it was a chaotic top-down crime romp. This is the original 2D universe: the 1997 first game and its 1999 sequel, played from a bird's-eye view as you tear around sprawling cities, steal cars, run jobs for crime bosses, and rack up a police rating that brings ever-heavier heat.
These early entries already had the DNA the series is famous for, open-ended mischief, dark comedy and a soundtrack of in-game radio, just rendered as tiny sprites instead of detailed streets. The London expansions reskinned the formula into 1960s Britain. It is a games-only set and very much a period piece now, but it shows exactly where the sandbox-crime genre started before the move to 3D changed everything.
The 2D era (original universe) franchise spans 3 games in the CrossBinge catalog.
Part of Grand Theft Auto.