What if Grand Theft Auto was represented in Super Smash Bros? [GTA V and San Andreas style Concepts]

[RGFS]

I know, I know, please hear me out on this one. This is a series with two particular games I personally love for all the effort, love, and quality put into them, like Smash Bros. As such, I felt compelled to get more people thinking about this inclusion by wasting my time on a full presentation with essentially all the content that could be added just to get a few people either thinking about the idea or maybe even supporting it. Hopefully you go through the ideas and let me know your thoughts, (even if you despise everything about it.) Have a nice day! Thanks for giving this post any of your time.

The looks and style are all captured in the presentations so I hope some of you get a kick out of that.

Here is an Imgur link with both GTA V and San Andreas Concepts presented fully.

Here is a google drive link to the PowerPoint presentations. You can do anything you want with them. Use them to your hearts content.

First Section is Grand Theft Auto V with Michael having Franklin and Trevor as echos: An unlikely but best case scenario for representing GTAV but all three of them could be the standalone fighter. Michael is mainly first because he was created first, you control him first in GTAV and he's always put first when Rockstar orders them but Franklin is my personal pick for a standalone fighter and Trevor is the fan favorite and the one who made the biggest splash so it could be any of them. It is what it is, but the other characters could be part of two Special Ability inspired Final Smashes.

Second Section is what if CJ from San Andreas was the only GTA fighter: Not as likely as V but the main community and meme love he has in the west shouldn't be underestimated. Franklin could also be an echo fighter with some slight changes. I designed CJ to be from his endgame appearance so he's more skilled with weapons and has a more similar body build to Franklin instead of being as skinny.

I felt the best way to go about representation is to make one game specifically take center stage like how Persona 5 and Final Fantasy VII did since they all have enough uniqueness to them like Fire Emblem characters. The series is to broad and expansive to represent all of them equally well and GTA V fits mainly well as the Ultimate GTA bringing all the big elements people love back in one way or another to an extent. The other games and characters like Tommy from Vice City will mostly get music, spirits, costumes, and stage cameos. In the end, I'll still be glad with any Rockstar Games anti-hero being represented.

As a certain gunslinger would say, I implore you to read through and think about this.

Why did I do this? I guess it was the potential.


Sources:
Grand Theft Auto Clones Wikipedia article

Free GTAV crashes the Epic Games store

GTAV World Records

GTAV breaks sales records in Japan shattering the records from Vice City

GTAV alone has sold over 130 million copies

Sakurai takes his hat off for Red Dead Redemption 2

Wikipedia: Grand Theft Auto V list of accolades

GTAV Metacritic

GTASA Metacritic

Dan Houser and Reggie talk about each others' companies respectfully

LA Noire coming to Nintendo Switch with the next generation versions

GTA Chinatown Wars at Nintendo's 2008 E3

TakeTwo says Switch games have been successful

Microsoft and Nintendo relationship

If you take anything from this, please check out the music, A lot of it is great.
V Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1tOGflDc6nspnc3whGu6NOnXgsfkV3T5
SA Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1tOGflDc6ntGwA9SiEcjWAul4ozJOSiw

If you take anything from this or maybe don't even like this idea, inclusion, or moveset. I hope you at least see it as a way to realize how the character you personally want may be more likely than you expect from taking a look at these once impossible crossovers. I'd personally be almost has happy to see one of them just be a Mii costume or some of them to be spirits in this amazing gaming celebration.

 

[RGFS]

While I did make my case hear I do feel one thing that does make it more improbable in my mind is that Rockstar Games doesn't seem to like pushing their characters or brand into to many areas, They're already too far at the top so they may just find it too weird even after collaborating with companies for other things. The most collaboration has been between their own games sharing a universe more or less.

They did make Kubrick figures of GTA so maybe they're not too against odd collaborations. GTA Online and Red Dead's more fantastical side has show Rockstar isn't against being involved with wackiness at least.

I might as well mention I'm starting to get a feeling that if we don't get any sort of gunner focused character or a different one is picked than GTA, I could totally see a Mii Costume round where just one of the characters like Claude or Trevor get a nice little Mii costume. With how Nintendo of America didn't mention Fallout and Assassin's Creed when they were added, I can see something like that happening again and make it SSBU x Claude or Trevor. Maybe even SSBU x John if Red Dead Redemption gets a Mii Costume.

 

[TheSmasherNamedArete]

Why no one has commented on this boggles me. It's a very well put together post.

Eh, besides that, I feel as if a Rockstar representative is highly likely. If not bound to happen at some point. Sure, they make games for adults, but that hasn't stopped Sakruai from adding any other M rated characters in the past.

And though I would love to see CJ be that character, I think if any Grand Theft Auto character got in, it'd be Cloud. Seeing as GTA 3 was the game that really put Rockstar on the map, and revolutionized open world gaming for years to come. The only reason I see they would add V or SA characters is because of sales or memes. Though CJ is the only GTA character to have a jetpack, which would make for a perfect recovery.

That all said, I wouldn't put any thing past Sakruai and his team. Especially for characters that come from successful series. GTA isn't obscure in any sense. If you need proof, look at the sales of V.

Lastly, there's no doubt in my mind a R* rep will appear in a Smash game. If not Ultimate, a future title for certain. They've made too much of an impact on gaming over the last 20 years to be ignored. Leaving R* out of Smash would be like if historians left America out of history books. Or if Jump Force excluded Naruto. Though seeing as this is the ULTIMATE Smash, I'm willing to bet GTA will be at the very least referenced before all the DLC is said n done. Could be wrong, but hey, what are bets for!

 

[RGFS]

Why no one has commented on this boggles me. It's a very well put together post.

Eh, besides that, I feel as if a Rockstar representative is highly likely. If not bound to happen at some point. Sure, they make games for adults, but that hasn't stopped Sakruai from adding any other M rated characters in the past.

And though I would love to see CJ be that character, I think if any Grand Theft Auto character got in, it'd be Cloud. Seeing as GTA 3 was the game that really put Rockstar on the map, and revolutionized open world gaming for years to come. The only reason I see they would add V or SA characters is because of sales or memes. Though CJ is the only GTA character to have a jetpack, which would make for a perfect recovery.

That all said, I wouldn't put any thing past Sakruai and his team. Especially for characters that come from successful series. GTA isn't obscure in any sense. If you need proof, look at the sales of V.

Lastly, there's no doubt in my mind a R* rep will appear in a Smash game. If not Ultimate, a future title for certain. They've made too much of an impact on gaming over the last 20 years to be ignored. Leaving R* out of Smash would be like if historians left America out of history books. Or if Jump Force excluded Naruto. Though seeing as this is the ULTIMATE Smash, I'm willing to bet GTA will be at the very least referenced before all the DLC is said n done. Could be wrong, but hey, what are bets for!

Oh wow. Nice to see a few people actually took a peek at this specific post. I'm not surprised this post didn't gain traction, it's so crazy at first glance that even people who like both series may initially see it as impossible. I'm more surprised this post actually gained any attention recently. Was it because of the Lamar roasts Franklin meme gaining a resurgence?

Thanks for commenting! I always appreciate it when people let me know their thoughts about GTA in Smash Bros, especially if they support it. I do understand the initial "wow they would never touch that series" thought process. I initially had it with Bayonetta and the religious connection Castlevania had always made me not feel confident it would ever be in Smash and yet both are Smash fighters.

I initially really was thinking Claude would be the cleanest and most likely GTA rep to implement. My mind went to Final Fantasy VII and how Cloud Strife was a sort of classic protagonist from a series with a revolving door cast with VII being the most popular game in the series that truly put them on the map. Then I realized a small detail, while Claude and GTAIII did put the series on the map in a bigger way than ever, that wasn't the end of the line for the series' growth and impact. VC and SA both did better numbers and expanded the series and the industry to new heights. Then GTAIV did that again even if at 25 million units, it sold a little less than SA's 27 million.

Then GTAV happened. Up until this game, the highest-selling GTA game in Japan was VC with III and SA not being as popular over there. GTAV quickly broke those numbers and is still very popular over there to this day. Putting aside the immense critical acclaim, it's weird to really realize how big of an impact GTAV still has made on the industry. At this point, it has amassed 135 million units in total. There are more copies of this game sold than Nintendo Switches sold. This game that released in 2013 has sold 20 million more copies in 2020 alone. That is more than the lifetime sales of Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, and the newest Pokémon game. It's only a million less than the lifetime sales of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I'm still shocked writing this, who are these 20 million people just now buying GTAV??

I'll take any GTA character, but it's almost clear to me that GTA in Smash would be handled more like Persona 5 or Dragon Quest XI where the newest game is the most popular and relevant one so it gets placed front and center. The acclaim, importance, popularity, and memes all rolled into one almost make V a certainty if GTA was considered. Nintendo has worked with Rockstar Games and even the GTA series many times before. We still know very little about that GTAV remaster coming in the second half of 2021 but if they do what they did with LA Noire in 2017, we could finally at least see a Switch port of GTAV being announced. At that point, if we do get a GTA character, there's no way he isn't from V.

Well, all we can do now is hope GTA gets into Smash in some form, I gotta say I'm more hopeful than I was before after seeing characters like Steve and Sephiroth get in, but I'll still be very thrilled to see spirits or a Mii costume. Once more, thanks for the kind words. Have a great night!

 

[Geno Boost]

i want GTA rep to get the Hero and Steve treatment basically representing multiple GTA games/characters at once
-GTA san andreas
-GTA5
-GTA vice city
-GTA4
CJ, Trevor, Tommy, Niko all playable alt
i think this would be the perfect representation for a GTA rep as a whole
seeing Tommy and Steve together in the same game would be funny

 

[Geno Boost]

Ho boy I did not expect this but it’s seems there is are better chances now that GTA rep could become a reality in the next smash game

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition is coming to #NintendoSwitch later this year! pic.twitter.com/kBHqkcfc52

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 8, 2021