Cruise The Streets Of Vice and Liberty In Style

Before we start, do you like it when I use the asterisk and place my digressions at the bottom of the post? I kind of figured with my tendency to digress, that it might be appreciated if I saved that for the end. Just curious, let me know, if ya care one way or the other.

I've been replaying Grand Theft Auto 3 recently, which is a little odd. I usually stick to playing Vice City if I'm doing the GTA thing, spending my time tearing around on motorcycles, continuing my endless war with the Haitians*.

But playing GTA 3 reminded me how much I like the Banshee in that game. It's one of the faster cars, and it handles better than the other fast cars (the Stinger, Cheetah, or Infernus, though Infernus is a cool name for a car). But almost equally important, is I think the Banshee is a really beautiful car, and well, aesthetics are important to me when it comes to transportation. Just look at it. Doesn't that look like a nice car? It's sleek, and it's a convertible. The only other convertible in the game is the Stallion, and that thing isn't anywhere near as fast, nor does it handle well. Seem to spend most of my time trying to stop skidding from one side of the road to another in those. Image is important, after all. Especially since those who want you dead seem to recognize you no matter what you drive, so you might as well drive a nice car when you're about to be shot at. Gives you a better chance of escaping the gunfire at any rate, and it shows that you're unconcerned by their murderous rage. You're out for a pleasant drive, and if they don't like, well, you'll just run them over at a high rate of speed. That's what repair garages are for.

That lead to one of my big disappointments when I first started playing Vice City**. They still have the Banshee, but it's just blah. it's body style doesn't seem all that different from most of the other high performance machines, so it lost some of it's appeal for me. Plus, it's not a convertible! I guess it still drives roughly the same, though it doesn't seem like it. It seems slower, and I certainly don't get the feeling it handles as well, but that may just be because I spend so much time on the bikes. With those, your shirt starts flapping as you pick up speed, and that doesn't happen with the cars, so it might be throwing me off. And the cars really can't compare to some of the bikes when it comes to turning***. It's not as if the Banshee is a bad car in Vice City, and if you need to make a getaway you can do a lot worse, but it's not what I go looking for when I just want to drive, nor do I try and keep at least one in my garages at all times. I'm just shallow like that.

*I'm convinced that voodoo lady that is their leader had Vercetti drugged when I ran missions for her, and I can't very well let that stand, can I? So war it is.

**Well, besides the fact that when I started I couldn't seem to ride a motorcycle for more than three seconds. It was a running gag. I'd hop on a bike, start to pick up speed and either turn too tight or some jackass would cut in front of me and I'd go flying - minus the bike.

***Still better than the Angel and Freeway bikes. They're Harley analogues, I suppose. Terrible at turning, and a pain in the ass to stop. I'd rather drive the Faggio (a little scooter) than those things, just because you're less likely to go skidding across the pavement while trying to turn a corner.