GTA: Vice City

An open-world crime game set in a neon version of the nineteen-eighties, and the reason this formula endured is that the city is the content rather than the missions. Vehicles can be taken, districts unlock as you progress, and the police response scales with how much attention you have attracted — so most of what happens in a session is unscripted. The missions supply structure and the map supplies everything else. There is a story with characters and a progression through the city's criminal hierarchy, but the hours people remember are the ones spent driving somewhere for no reason and finding something. The driving model is arcade rather than simulation, which suits a game where you change vehicle every few minutes, and the era styling does a lot of work. In a browser it is a considerable technical feat as much as a game. The era styling deserves its own mention because it is doing more than decoration. The soundtrack, the colour palette and the vehicle designs all place the city precisely, and that coherence is a large part of why this particular entry is the one people remember from the series rather than the most technically accomplished one.