What hardware am I playing these games on ... a 16GB Nook Tablet rooted with a custom Jelly Bean 4.2.2!

Some have asked what system I was using to play the games on for comparison sake so I have updated the blog with the specs over on the right.  Just a quick rundown thought.  It is a rooted Nook Tablet with 16GB storage and full Android Jelly Bean, the original B&N software is completely gone.  This is a great tablet, it is fast and has played everything I have thrown at it.  I recommend it to anyone who has the knowledge to root it and make it a real tablet.

Grand Theft Auto III (5 Stars)

Now this is simply amazing.  This is a perfect re-creation of Grand Theft Auto III on Android with touch controls.  And the game works very well.  It is an amazing feat and show just how powerful of a gaming system an Android device is.

The first thing you will notice are the graphics.  To say they are spot on would be an understatement.  Now you can't compare this to the high end Grand Theft Auto IV but it is spot on for the Playstation 2 original.  The animation is fluid and there is no tearing or blurring as you move around.  If you would have told me in 2001 when Grand Theft Auto III was first released on the Playstation 2 that someday we would be playing this game on your phone I would have laughed at you and possibly ridiculed you.  These graphics shouldn't be possible on a phone but here you go.

The sound is just as impressive.  Everything is here from the speech, to all the sound effects to the best part ... the radio stations.  I remember the first time I picked this game up and found the talk channel I would just drive around to listen to it.  The commercials on the channels are hilarious also.  In my opinion the Grand Theft Auto Game with the best tunes was Vice City, which is pretty amazing to me since I really don't like 80's music.  It just fit with the game so well though.  The music in this game is spot on though and very fitting for the game. Just like the graphics the sound just amazes me that you can get this kind of quality out of a phone.  It just shows you how far our phones have come when they are as powerful as a Playstation 2.

If there was one part that does take getting used to is the controls.  Playing the game without physical buttons does take a little getting used to but once you do it is pretty natural.  Instead of just having a non-descriptive triangle, square, circle or "X" buttons they actually have icons on the screen.  For instance there is a brake and gas pedal, a fist and a door.  It makes it very easy to know what each button does instead of having to remember that the triangle opens doors etc.  Besides the gas and break buttons when driving there is just a left and right arrow so controlling the vehicle are very easy and intuitive.  

Everything is here from the sounds to the missions.  This is a fantastic re-creation of the Playstation 2 classic and is as much fun today on an Android device as it was 11 years ago.  My Android device is the Dell Streak 7 and this game is gorgeous on it.  If you pick this game up you will not be disappointed.