The Game Boy Color version of Grand Theft Auto was unabridged, which was quite a technical achievement due to the sheer size of the cities, converted tile-for-tile from the PC original, making them many times larger than most Game Boy Color game worlds were because of the handheld's limited hardware.

This Game Boy Color version also had an exclusive character named Kelly, who could be renamed Sumner, and activate a cheat code which unlocks 15 characters, based on the games' creator. Wanted Levels were represented by a trouble bar in the Game Boy Color.

The game also features a radically different soundtrack from the PC and PS1 versions, replacing all the songs that play on the radio and menus in those versions with 8-bit instrumental tracks composed by Anthony Paton.