A Glitch, or in some cases a Bug, is an error in the game that produces an effect that was unintended by programmers and appears in almost every game.
Description[]
The Glitches often arise from mistakes or errors in the game's coding which go unnoticed during development and testing of the game. Glitches can be unintentional and may cause problems to the player, but some glitches may be used to the player's advantage.
Some glitches are prominent than others and each one are specified and/or shared on a certain console (where these depends of the console's technical aspects). One of the most popular and common glitches is nicknamed "Blue Hell", which is featured in every game since Grand Theft Auto III. Once the player enters Blue Hell, they will fall for 5–10 seconds before returning to the surface.
Air Rescue health glitch[]
After passing Air Rescue and gaining 150 health points, whenever a save game is loaded, Vic's health will always be reset to 100 health points.
Broken dialogue glitch[]
(encountered on PSP) Sometimes, the dialogue in every cutscene in the game will be replaced with the dialogue from Domo Arigato Domestoboto. It is unknown why this happens.
Building Entry Glitch[]
Sometimes, when Vic charges against a building without windows or doors in a car, he will end up in the building, but since the building was never designed to be entered, it is empty inside.
Car Location Glitches[]
(encountered on PSP) Sometimes, cars appear where they are not supposed to. For example: at the bottom of a bridge, half in a building. The reason for this is unknown.
When exiting empire buildings, cars may appear submerged into the ground where the empire building's foundation is. The latter is possibly due to an error with the game ignoring object collisions with the empire buildings when loading, leading cars to collide only with the base Vice City terrain.
Cold Stare Pedestrians[]
(encountered on PSP) When the player fires weapons around or kills a pedestrian while other pedestrians attack them (except gangs and cops), they would just stand idle and lock their sight to the player until they attack them again. This was later fixed in the PS2 version.
Disappearing Brass Knuckles Glitch[]
The Brass Knuckles will always disappear after saving the game.
Enter Airtrain Glitch[]
The Airtrain is a big plane that is programmed to fly around Vice City by itself, as scenery prop. Due to a glitch it is possible to enter the plane, but the player cannot control it. The player can only cycle through the radio stations and enjoy the view. A video of it can be seen here.
Exploding Mall Taxis Glitch[]
Occasionally, a large number of taxis will spawn upside down on the top floor of Vice Point Mall's parking garage. They will shorty thereafter explode. This glitch has been confirmed on the PSP version.
Gang Hit Squad Glitch[]
(encountered on PSP) Occasionally, the gang hit squads sent out to kill Vic when a gang's hate level is high enough will not shoot at Vic. They will exit their vehicle near him and begin running around aimlessly.
Helicopter Glitch[]
Have a wanted level of at least two stars, then fly a little low in an area where the cops are chasing Victor. The police will arrest Vic in the helicopter even though he is flying.
Inactive Gang Members Glitch[]
(encountered on PSP) Often when one of Vic's enterprise locations is attacked by a rival gang, the gang members that spawn in front of the business when he arrives will be inactive. They will not react when aimed or shot at. After the attack has ended, the gang members will become active again and will run away from the business.
Invisible Biker Glitch[]
Sometimes, if a battle with the Bikers is going on, shoot them with an Assault Rifle while they are riding fast and the Angel will perform donuts with no driver.
Invisible Vic on Bike[]
Get a bike, turn the camera into the outside dashboard camera. Try to look left and right, Vic will be invisible while riding the bike. If he have a sub-machine gun, the sub-machine gun is invisible and if shot at the front, it looks like a free aim.
Narrow Wrist Glitch[]
(encountered on PSP) First, fire a Micro-SMG. If the player looks closely, one of Vic's wrists will be squeezed and will look narrow. This is caused by excessive rotating of the 3D model's wrists, and so it causes a number of odd visual glitches. These glitches do not usually have any major effect on the gameplay.
No Traffic Glitch[]
(encountered on PS2) After the eastern island is unlocked, if the player plays for a while without saving, in particular completing numerous Civil Asset Forfeiture Impound drop-offs in a row, they may encounter a scenario where no traffic (or, at least, very little traffic spawns). This does not affect pedestrian spawning, or the spawning of parked vehicles. There are some benefits to this glitch: less traffic to collide with when driving an Impound vehicle, and even up to a 6-star Wanted Level very few police or military vehicles spawn.
No traffic and Pedestrians Glitch[]
(encountered on PS2) While driving a car, move the camera facing the top of your car by holding the right thumbstick up or down (depends if invert look is toggled on or off). If the player keeps driving over the road while holding the camera facing the vehicles' roof, no new cars and pedestrians will spawn. This can be used to go somewhere quick without having to deal with traffic, but the view is limited because of the camera.
Police Helicopter Glitch[]
(encountered on PS2) Whilst on a wanted level of at least three stars, going indoors whilst a Police Maverick is pursuing Vic will cause it to freeze in mid-air, but with the propellers spinning. If the building has windows, Vic can snipe at the helicopter, providing it is in view, and it will catch fire after enough hits, but will never explode. Exiting the building will negate the damage inflicted to the helicopter, although it will still remain stationary in the sky and can now be destroyed.
Respawn at Leaf Links Glitches[]
There are two such glitches, each of them being exclusive to a platform.
(encountered on PSP) This glitch happens when From Zero to Hero has not been passed. Swim towards Leaf Links near the bridge. Victor cannot go further, due to the waves, and he will be wasted when the stamina bar is fully depleted. There is a slim chance that he respawns within the grounds of Leaf Links.
(encountered on PS2) Head to the eastern side of Escobar International, where Vic should stand on a sand pile surrounded by a few cement pipes. Jump on the end of the pipe facing east, and it will teleport the player to the golf course on the first island.
Respawn Outside Empire Building Sites Glitch[]
(encountered on PSP) If Victor jumps off to his death from the highest floor found inside a high roller drugs/smuggling/robbery empire building site, he will respawn right outside the site as though he merely exited it. His weapons will be gone as usual, though.
This only works with fall damage. Any other way of killing Victor will lead to him respawning at a hospital.
Squashed Bike Glitch[]
Drive a VCPD Wintergreen to the stadium and buy access to the Phil Collins Concert. Exit or watch the concert. When the concert is over, there is a 75% chance the bike will be squashed. Vic can still mount the bike but it will revert to normal if he manages to do so.