Im 24 now, but i'm a huge 80's (read: real music) fan.
I am 31, the game was perfect - storyline, location setting, music, perfect mission structure. Difficulty off the charts.
San Andreas didn't have the same magic, the storyline was predictable, after the storyline was finished i didn't have the same motivation to do rampages and other random stuff like see how long i can outrun the police for. I loved the game physics, there is something amusing about driving off the side of a mountain, rolling down the hill, finishing the roll with landing on 4 wheels AND being able to drive off

. I did this in one of the missions where you were being chased, i took a shortcut assuming i would fail and have to redo it. But i was still able to drive away and have a bigger lead against the mob chasing me.
San Andreas was very easy in comparison, i clocked it within a week. It took nearly 5 months to finish Vice City.