I agree with you too. Everything was really detailed and there was a ton of side-things you could do if you didn't enjoy the missions.
Grand theft auto san andreas was the best one. It had cities which looked real and could explore them all the way. The details were done well, and also the size was big and huge area to explore which was amazing.
In my opinion San Andreas had a perfect balance of sub urban and rural areas without forgetting the almost never ending desert to mess around. Besides that, Vice city is the second best from my experience.
I think what makes a huge difference between San Andreas and the other two cities is how varied a landscape you can find in California. The place just lends itself for some fun at the city and once you get bored of that you can go off-roading in the country side. I think that's the thing that makes San Andreas stand out from the other two cities, which are also great in their own way.
San Andreas is still the best city in my opinion. I've played in it the most and there's so much more to do.
San Andreas isn't really a city, it's more of a state, and so far it's the best because it's quite complete with multiple towns and cities, while the HD games had only one city and in GTA 5's case some small towns. As for the best city, I love San Fierro, the foggy streets are really great for a killing spree, always made me go nuts.
The first GTA I have played is Vice City, but I agree that San Andreas is three times as large as Vice, and better. Never played Liberty City though, so for me it's either Vice City or San Andreas.
I haven't completed GTA SA yet to say that it has a better city overall, but I saw enough to say that it was an ok city. I still like Vice City better though, maybe because it was also my first GTA game and I liked the soundtrack that accompanied it. However, the 90's rap music is so not my type, and when I enter a car the radio is mostly tuned in to those stations.
San Andreas had that true "American" vibe attached to it, which made things more intriguing to play. This vibe was very welcome among with the storyline and characters, too. Such a great game. If it wasn't outdated, I would play it more, but unfortunately I'm busy with GTA V, haha.
Compared to VC and LC, SA was by far the best and most fun. Like you said, the pure variation of the countryside made going back to the city feel so boring. Looking for Bigfoot was half the fun of SA for me, can't do that in LC.
I've played all the GTA games since Vice City was released and San Andreas is definitely my favorite! I really hope that someone would remake it with HD graphics. The map is gorgeous.
