With the release of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, new and returning players alike are experiencing Vice City in a new light, but with returning sounds. The soundtracks to GTA games are always a highlight of their satirical world-building, and Vice City is no exception with its Miami aesthetic. Unfortunately, many fans’ worries were confirmed when the songs on the GTA Trilogy soundtracks were revealed and some songs from Vice City‘s original release were missing.
Although it’s unfortunate that some tracks are missing, making the full radio playlist a bit shorter than its original 2002 version, a majority of the Vice City soundtrack is intact. There are more than five dozen songs across seven different radio stations in the remastered GTA Trilogy‘s Vice City. Fifteen songs did not make the cut, which shakes out to a bit more than another full radio station, though the missing tracks actually came from a variety of stations.
There were likely many different issues that kept certain tracks from being brought over to the remasters, but for one reason or another, Rockstar and GTA Trilogy developer Grove Street Games couldn’t reacquire the licensing rights. Michael Jackson is the most notable name on the list, but it’s noticeably full of other stars as well, like Ozzy Osbourne and Lionel Richie. Vice City‘s new, smaller soundtrack seems to be mostly an issue of certain artists withholding their music’s usage this time around. For instance, Ozzy Osbourne is also missing from San Andreas‘ songs, but it could be any number of people that own the various rights to the tracks.
Every Song Missing In GTA Vice City – The Definitive Edition
Here’s every song that was in the original Vice City, but is now missing in the GTA Trilogy:
- “Bark At The Moon” by Ozzy Osbourne
- “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson
- “Cars” by Gary Numan
- “Cum On Feel The Noize” by Quiet Riot
- “Japanese Boy” by Aneka
- “Looking For The Perfect Beat” by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force
- “Love Missile F1-11” by Sigue Sigue Sputnik
- “One Thing Leads To Another” by The Fixx
- “Poison Arrow” by ABC
- “Rockit” by Herbie Hancock
- “Running With The Night” by Lionel Richie
- “Steppin’ Out” by Joe Jackson
- “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles
- “Wanna Be Starting Something” by Michael Jackson
- “Wow” by Kate Bush
The incomplete tracklist seems to be on par with the rest of the GTA Trilogy‘s presentation. The release was highly anticipated, as is every title coming out of Rockstar, but the GTA remasters have been mocked and received some negative reactions from fans already. Securing the licensing to recreate a 19-year-old soundtrack can be an insurmountable feat, and Vice City is certainly still a quality game without a few tracks, but longtime fans will notice the missing songs among other criticisms for the GTA Trilogy.
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