The Retro Perspective
Before GTA 6’s immense open world, 1989 arcade hits mastered direct action and memorable design. Their lessons still matter today.
Modern gaming tends to measure ambition in map size, animation counts and production budgets. GTA 6 belongs firmly to that tradition. Yet several enduring arcade games from 1989 offer a useful reminder that technical scale and lasting enjoyment are not the same thing.
That year produced action games that could explain their appeal in seconds. Strider, Golden Axe, U.N. Squadron, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Final Fight all made distinct impressions despite tight hardware limits. Their influence provides a useful lens for considering what players may value in Rockstar’s sprawling sequel.
Strider understood the value of motion
Capcom’s Strider placed an agile sword-wielding hero in a science-fiction world that made a strong visual impression with comparatively limited resources. The movement was central to its identity. Players could understand the protagonist’s abilities almost immediately by watching him leap and attack.
There is a lesson here for GTA 6 movement and combat. Elaborate animation matters, but the player needs to feel in control. A beautifully rendered character can become frustrating if common actions are slow or unpredictable.
The strongest modern systems balance physical credibility with responsiveness. Motion should communicate weight without making every input feel delayed.
Golden Axe made cooperation instantly readable
Sega’s Golden Axe offered three distinct characters and a shared fantasy journey. Its appeal came partly from how clearly each hero differed and how naturally friends could join the action.
Rockstar is approaching cooperation from another direction with the relationship between Jason and Lucia. The characters’ shared circumstances provide a narrative reason for working together, even though the launch game is described as a single-player experience.
The connection is conceptual rather than mechanical. Golden Axe demonstrates that memorable partnerships depend on clear roles and complementary abilities. GTA 6’s protagonists will be more convincing if their differences influence what players actually do.
U.N. Squadron made progression meaningful
Capcom’s U.N. Squadron combined side-scrolling shooting with pilots, aircraft and upgrades purchased using money earned in play. The system gave short sessions a practical decision: which investment improves the next attempt?
A large open world can easily drown such decisions in menus and currencies. Meaningful progression requires choices that alter the experience, not just larger numbers. Cars, weapons and equipment have more impact when players can understand their strengths and disadvantages.
The lesson is not that GTA should imitate an arcade shooter’s upgrade shop. It is that rewards feel worthwhile when their purpose is obvious.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made the social experience central
Konami’s 1989 arcade game turned the animated series into a four-player beat-’em-up. Its attraction was not an elaborate narrative branch or a giant map. It was the immediate pleasure of sharing a cabinet with friends and fighting through familiar scenes.
Grand Theft Auto’s online history shows how important shared experiences can become. However, Rockstar has not fully detailed the next generation of its online offering for GTA 6’s launch. The comparison is therefore about social design, not a claim that the new game will include a particular multiplayer mode.
Four people crowding around an arcade cabinet and friends sharing a persistent digital city are very different situations. Both succeed when players generate memorable moments together.
Final Fight made its city feel dangerous through clarity
Final Fight’s Metro City was built from limited backgrounds, exaggerated enemies and direct combat. It never needed thousands of enterable interiors to communicate a place under pressure. Every screen reinforced the central conflict.
GTA 6 promises a much larger and more reactive version of urban life. The danger is that extraordinary detail can obscure a clear sense of purpose. Strong environmental storytelling helps players understand what a neighbourhood is, who lives there and why a particular conflict matters.
A detailed street is impressive. A detailed street that communicates a story is more memorable.
What arcade limitations encouraged
Short sessions and expensive arcade hardware pushed designers to communicate quickly. Players needed to recognise dangers, understand basic actions and feel rewarded almost immediately. A long tutorial was rarely an option when someone could simply walk to another cabinet.
GTA 6 operates under very different commercial conditions, but clarity remains essential. A huge tutorial, complicated interface or impressive mechanic without an obvious purpose can interrupt the freedom an open world is supposed to provide. Older games are useful reminders that accessibility and depth can coexist.
Different eras, similar design questions
Decades of technological change separate modern open worlds from these earlier arcade traditions, but several questions remain familiar. Does movement feel good? Are choices meaningful? Can players understand what is happening? Does the environment give them a reason to care?
It is tempting to treat older games as simple and new ones as sophisticated. In reality, arcade developers often solved difficult problems by removing everything that did not serve the central experience.
When Grand Theft Auto VI arrives on 19 November, its impressive scale will receive deserved attention. What may determine its longevity is whether the moment-to-moment play remains as clear, satisfying and memorable as the classics that came before it.