GTA Online goes old-school with top-down Tiny Racers mode

Grand Theft Auto didn't always look like it does today. The original, released in 1997, was built around not-entirely-dissimilar over-the-top crime spree action, but featured top-down, arcade style gameplay. It's a look that Rockstar is reaching back to for Tiny Racers, a new stunt racing mode coming to GTA Online next week.

Rockstar didn't have much to say about the mode except that it puts "a new spin on classic Grand Theft Auto action," but the trailer shows groups of four cars racing along narrow tracks, DMA Design style (that was the name of the original GTA studio), battling for powerups including weapons, mines, and parachutes—which look like they'll come in handy, given elevations (and lack of guardrails) involved.

GTA Online: Tiny Racers is set to go live on April 25.