You do not necessarily have to finish every job. What matters is reaching the required score and then driving to the chapter exit.
At first glance, the original GTA looks like a game about chaos. It is really a game about numbers. Released by DMA Design on 28 November 1997, it follows the rules of an arcade machine more closely than later games in the series: lives are limited, every chapter has a score target and a multiplier controls the pace.
The game barely explains its most important rule: you do not have to do everything. A chapter ends not after the final job, but once you have enough points and then reach the exit. Knowing this changes the entire approach.
A second lesson usually follows several unnecessary restarts: dying and being arrested are not two versions of the same failure. The numbers make the difference clear.
The game contains six sections across Liberty City, San Andreas and Vice City. Each city is visited more than once.
Progress is linear: completing one chapter automatically unlocks the next. You cannot freely choose a city.
You must score one million points in the first chapter. The requirement rises in later sections.
Points are not the same as cash. They determine progress and are awarded for almost every action in the city.
Reaching the target does not end the chapter. You must then reach the marked destination.
Many attempts fail unnecessarily on this final drive: the score target is complete, but the route to the exit remains dangerous.
A job begins when you touch a ringing telephone box. Each chapter has its own selection of missions.
You choose the order. No individual job is compulsory, and they can be attempted in any sequence.
With a higher multiplier, every subsequent action earns more points.
It largely determines whether you reach one million in twenty minutes or only after an hour.
When you die, you lose a life and all your equipment; the multiplier also returns to its starting value.
This threefold penalty rewards more cautious play than the top-down perspective initially suggests.
If the police arrest you, the multiplier is not reset, but merely halved.
This is tactically important: in a hopeless situation with a high multiplier, arrest is cheaper than death.
There are no unlimited attempts. Once every life is gone, the chapter starts again.
Collect extra-life bonuses even when you are not under immediate time pressure.
Explore the area before accepting a difficult job, and remember the main roads and important destinations.
The camera shows only a small area ahead of the vehicle. Map knowledge compensates for the limited view.
Avoid gunfire and collisions during theft and delivery jobs: too much damage can make the mission impossible.
This also applies to nearby explosions. It does not matter who set the vehicle alight.
Missions are not the only source. Kill Frenzies, bonuses and timed challenges can close the gap when no jobs remain.
This is particularly useful in later chapters, where the score target is high and the number of missions limited.
Save stronger weapons for a job instead of using them in a random street gunfight.
Since death costs all your equipment anyway, unused ammunition hoarded until then is wasted twice over.
Answers to the main questions about this subject
The game consists of six chapters in three cities: New York-inspired Liberty City, San Francisco-inspired San Andreas and Miami-inspired Vice City. Each city is visited several times, and progress is linear.
No. Jobs are optional and can be played in any order. To complete a chapter, you must reach the score target and then drive to the marked exit.
Being arrested is cheaper. Death costs one life, all equipment and the multiplier. An arrest merely halves the multiplier, which makes a major difference when its value is high.
The first chapter requires one million. The target rises later, so the same style of play is no longer enough and points earned outside telephone jobs also become important.
It increases the score awarded for every subsequent action. One million is distant without it, but the total rises much faster with it. Abandoning a dangerous mission can therefore be wiser than losing the multiplier through death.