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Game tapes. Blondie. “Miami Vice.” Egyptian Lover. These are pop-cultural milestones that bring me back to a time of innocence—a time when the only worries I had in life were whether I’d pass my sixth-grade algebra test, or if baby girl Kim Eberenz was going to pass back a note I secretly delivered during class. Really, who knew that the coked-up, mobbed-up ’80s would culminate in an orgy of fun and violence otherwise known as GTA: Vice City? Not me, amigo. Not me.

Yet for all those who grew up worshipping the sockless, ball-busting antics of Crockett and Tubbs, Vice City isn’t just the ultimate flashback—it’s the ultimate payback. Picking up conceptually where GTA3 left off, Vice City lets you play a mug’s game against the sonic backdrop of cold-war Reaganomics. In fact, if there’s ever an award given for “Best Music in a Video Game,” Vice City would win totally uncontested. What I love so much about this game is that it co-opts pop music and moments that so deeply resonate with gamers of my generation and gives them new context and life to the game. Thanks in no small part to the ambitious collection of ’80s mega-hits, everything is at once new and strangely familiar when you play Vice City. In this case, however, familiarity isn’t just simple nostalgia; in terms of look and feel, it’s almost déjà vu.

Hardened GTA3 criminals expecting a huge leap in visuals will probably be disappointed. With its bigger environments, more detailed textures on objects, huge transparent bodies of water and scorching reflections, the graphical improvements in Vice City are subtle but effective. At a glance, however, this game does resemble GTA3—if only visually. Where this prequel really comes into its own is in the narrative department; whereas I could care less about the nameless, faceless hero in GTA3, Tommy Vercetti—Vice City’s very own Scarface—has a name, an attitude and plenty of character. I actually found myself wanting to play the next mission just to discover what would happen to ol’ Tommy in his struggle to go from small-time crook to big-time crime lord.

Of course, those of you who play GTA for its chaotic, organic game design will also find plenty of anarchy in Vice City. With new vehicles like motorcycles, scooters, speedboats and helicopters, you can literally spend weeks exploring every crevice of every crack alley, killing, looting, jacking or buying up anything in your path. And the beauty of it is, no day spent in Vice City ever unfolds the same way twice.

My occasional gripes with the game have mostly to do with the controls when you’re on foot. The auto-targeting system, although slightly improved, still feels unreliable when you’re in a pinch (which is most of the time). Plus, aiming in first-person view is touchy and often frustrating. Minor complaints, to be sure, for a game that can seemingly do no wrong. A peerless, one-of-a-kind gaming experience.