Summary

• GTA: Vice City authentically captures the '80s Miami vibe with neon architecture, era-style cars, and iconic landmarks.
• The game offers over 20 hrs of gameplay with diverse missions, including drug deals, gangs, and building an empire as Tommy Vercetti.
• The music in GTA: Vice City enhances the '80s theme, setting the tone for an immersive experience reminiscent of real-world Miami.

GTA: Vice City is one of the most popular games in the GTA franchise, and a huge part of this was its explorable recreation of Miami. Rockstar recreated Miami Beach pretty perfectly in GTA: Vice City - albeit with the usual exaggerated flare the series is known for - through '80s music, yacht parties, clothing styles, and neon buildings that make the player feel as if they are right in the heart of the Floridian city in the 1980s.

A huge part of the '80s vibes stem from GTA: Vice City being heavily inspired by Miami Vice as well. Every other mission includes the player dealing with drugs or gangs in the city. Taking on the character of Tommy Vercetti, the player must retrieve the money from a drug deal that went bad. As Tommy begins building his empire and exploring Vice City, it is clear that Rockstar created the game to mimic Miami in every way.

Many Iconic Hotels Make An Appearance In GTA: Vice City

Including The Colony Hotel, Which Gets An Amusing New Name

The architecture in Vice City is almost identical to the buildings in Miami. The Colony Hotel in Miami, for instance, is remade in GTA: Vice City as the Colon Hotel. The Hotel's appearance is very similar to real-life Miami, identically matching with the blue neon sign. Although players can't enter the Hotel, it is nice to see familiar landmarks in the game. Another landmark in GTA: Vice City is the Cape Florida Lighthouse in Key Biscayne. Players can enter the lighthouse and can even find a rare item around the area.

The famous Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami makes an appearance in GTA: Vice City. Renamed as the Ducum Inn Hotel, the landmark can be found in the Vice Point area in the game. The Hotel's half-circle shape is identical to the real Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. Players can't enter the Ducum Inn unless they are playing GTA: Vice City Stories, which is different from GTA: Vice City, with its own story and a different playable character. The Fontainebleau Hotel is one of the most historic buildings in Miami and was made famous through many movies and TV shows.

GTA: Vice City's Map Is A Close Replica Of Miami

With Its Vehicles, Attire, And Communities Encapsulating A Specific Era

The map in GTA: Vice City comes to a point like the state of Florida and even has islands that resemble those in real-world Miami. Where North Bay Village and Normandy Shores golf course is in Miami, Vice City has a similar layout in the same location. The place called Little Haiti is in the game as it is also in the same place as it is in Miami. When in comparison, Miami and GTA: Vice City's maps are almost identical.

Another part of Vice City that fits Miami's real world is the characters' clothes. The majority of the clothes worn in Vice City include Hawaii-type button-down shirts or mafia-style outfits. The 1980s were a time for pastel suits, and they definitely flourish throughout the game. The majority of the women in the game wear swimsuits or dresses, and protagonist Tommy Vercetti can change clothes with many different outfits available in the game that fit the Miami lifestyle that was shown on-screen in the '80s.

GTA: Vice City also features more than 120 era-style cars to further recreate the '80s aesthetic.

Throughout GTA: Vice City's 20-hour campaign, players can interact with various nationalities common in Miami, completing various storylines for the Haitian and Cuban groups. The Cuban missions include Umberto Robina, voiced by Danny Trejo in GTA: Vice City, and while many of GTA: Vice City's characters can slip into caricatures to match the GTA series' tone, it's the wider representation of these cultures that helps to make Vice City seem so much like real-world Miami.

GTA: Vice City's Music Sets The Real-World Miami Tone

GTA Radio Had A Variety Of Era-Appropriate Songs

In GTA: Vice City, the music gives the game the '80s theme it is looking for. Being on a yacht while a Hall & Oates song plays in the background is an iconic moment. The era of music throughout the game is an excellent selection for the setting. Although some songs are missing from the GTA: Vice City radio in the Definitive Edition due to various licensing deals expiring, Rockstar picked suitable soundtracks to capture the Miami feel in the '80s as players explore the city.

Rockstar Will Be Revisiting Vice City In GTA 6

Offering A More Up-To-Date Recreation Of Miami And The Wider State Of Florida

GTA: Vice City captures the '80s lifestyle in Miami in exaggerated but often accurate ways through its clothing, neon architecture, and music hits, and overall, it does a great job making players feel like they are in the real-world Miami in the heart of the 1980s. Rockstar is looking to revisit the iconic Vice City location - and the wider state of Leonida - in Grand Theft Auto 6 in Fall 2025, and from what was shown in the anticipated sequel's trailer, this should better represent a modern version of Miami, much like how GTA 5 brought San Andreas out of the 90s and into the present day.