It is well known that the remastered Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy has its fair share of glitches. These bugs are so prevalent that Rockstar has apologized and promised to fix the games with future patches and updates. Still, there are plenty of these glitches worth noting for gamers stuck with a fun yet flawed game.
Although most glitches are troublesome and break the narrative, there are plenty of bugs that offer humor without much frustration. These mistakes have popped up in numerous compilations and clips online and across social media. Similar to how 2020's Cyberpunk 2077 error clips and images were traded and talked about on the internet, the most notable GTA glitches are being noticed by gamers and the media in 2021.
Oversized Cars
Occurring mostly in GTA III, this glitch happens when players move to their left and right quickly. Somehow, this will make the car start to grow in width until it starts to take up more than two lanes. The visuals are rather hilarious and cause things like tires to start clipping into the car.
These are some of the few glitches that do not completely break the game but can create either hilarity or frustration given the situation. If the player is in a chase and just happens to accidentally do this because they are moving the car around, it could create problems with controlling the car and escaping through narrow passages and streets. The glitch is easily avoidable as the player should minimize moving needlessly unless they absolutely have to.
CJ's Face
This glitch is another one that is pretty small in comparison to some of the game-breaking ones. In San Andreas, if the player is on either a motorcycle or scooter and uses the backward camera function, CJ's face will take up the entire screen. This has become one of the more popular glitches because of just how zoomed-in CJ's face is and how hilarious the visuals are as a result.
So far, this only happens in vehicles that are "open" and not cars, helicopters, or planes. Still, this glitch can be annoying if someone is involved in a chase on a bike and cannot use the backward camera function. It seems this issue is only found in San Andreas and could have made some of the harder missions like in Vice City even more difficult to complete.
Cars Interrupting Cutscenes
GTA Trilogy's cutscene glitch is akin to how the chaos mod in Grand Theft Auto V can create some unintentionally hilarious cutscenes. While fans are enjoying a memorable GTA V quote, either a vehicle or civilian will completely interrupt the scene. Although mostly seen in San Andreas at CJ's house, drivers who just want to cause problems will interrupt a cutscene and run over either characters or the player as well. This happens quite often in GTA V with NPCs punching the characters in a cutscene.
This is arguably one of few glitches fans would probably have no problem with. This is because it is rather small and causes no issues with missions, allowing players to progress through the game without being too distracted by the chaos happening in the background.
Flying Cars & Explosions
It is unknown what exactly causes this glitch, but it occurs in all 3 games in the GTA Trilogy. The main feature of this bug is that when a collision occurs, the impact sends people or cars into the air, defying the laws of gravity as a result. Not only will this bug send the player's vehicle spinning into the air, but it will also likely cause the car to explode for no reason.
These are one of the glitches that can cause a lot of problems during missions. Usually, if this glitch is activated, it guarantees the player will be unable to complete their objective or mission. The other problem is that this glitch is not easy to avoid as it can happen at any time given the right circumstances.
NPCs With Superhuman Speed
This one might not happen often but is still funny when it does. At random points, either in a car or on foot, some NPCs will have super speed. If they hit players, this can either knock them off a motorcycle or send their car flying into the air. This is another glitch that is not easy to avoid, especially since dodging these Flash or Ghost Rider knockoffs would require excellent reflexes. The panic felt by players when they see a car coming at them at an accelerated speed can be likened to when coming across a lethal Dark Souls NPC.
Unlike some other glitches, it is odd as to how this one could exist, especially since the player cannot really "activate" it like other ones. Still, it can be pretty funny to be flung off a motorcycle by a random super-powered NPC and it doesn't impact gameplay too much to be a major concern.
Killer Trains
This is another bizarre glitch that thankfully occurs only in the GTA III part of the trilogy. Civilians that try to get on the train will fall in between the ground and train and just die. However, it is not just one or two civilians that can perish but, as seen in one compilation posted by YouTube user Banden, it is multiple people who fall victim to this train that murders random individuals.
Since Rockstar is working on patching the game, this might be one of the few glitches that might not get fixed since it does not really impact the player much. While the player cannot fall victim to this deadly train, it does break the immersion factor of the game by causing an unintentionally hilarious visual that distracts from the intensity of GTA III's breathless narrative.
Floating Civilians & Cars
At random points through Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Remastered, some civilians and cars will just start floating in the air without any reason. On top of that, NPCs might be permanently tethered to the player and start following them without moving but just floating. It is a creepy but funny glitch that can catch any player off guard.
Despite how funny this glitch can be at first, this is one that should be patched. The visuals can cause a lot of distractions for players trying to perform missions especially if these motionless beings start to block the player's view when aiming a weapon or driving a car.
Random Vortexes And Wormholes
Whether it is the player, NPCs, or random objects, everything seems to be sucked under the map and reappear at random spots. A lot of games have this issue in random spots sometimes, but there does not seem to be a pattern in any of the remastered games. Sometimes, there is even an invisible floor over spots where there should not be, such as over a river in San Andreas.
While the fictional cities deal with the multiverse colliding causing these wormholes, these do create some funny moments that are perfect to talk about. Thankfully, these have not resulted in failing missions judging by some of the clips. Although, if these issues are not fixed, modders usually have a way of fixing these things as they did with The Witcher 3.
Unexpected Plane Crashes
Much like the NPC's interrupting cutscenes, San Andreas seems to have an issue with its airplanes. For example, planes are constantly crashing into various things throughout the city. In one cutscene, a plane flies straight into a transmission tower. Even though CJ looks unfazed, it is hilarious for players to watch as they are in the middle of a dramatic side quest.
In the more rare but spectacular plane on the ground glitch, gamers might be walking down the sidewalk and all of a sudden a jet will just nosedive and explode in front of them. This will probably be one of the many glitches patched in the future, but it will always be remembered by players at launch.