GTA Advance uses a cheat-mode activation step before its individual button sequences. It does not use the original GTA's player-name words or GTA IV's phone numbers. The controls in this guide refer to Game Boy Advance buttons, even if the game is displayed through another device.
The game follows Mike in Liberty City and was developed by Digital Eclipse. Its separate game profile explains that history; this article concentrates on documented inputs and their limitations.
How to activate GTA Advance cheat mode
During play, hold A + B + Start together. The documented confirmation includes a cheat-mode message and coordinates. Only after that step should the individual sequences below be entered. The plus sign means simultaneous input here; commas in the later codes mean one button after another.
The iGrandTheftAuto Advance reference records the activation and individual effects. Repeating the activation combination is documented as switching cheat mode off. That is not the same as promising to reverse money already added or every change already saved.
Money, weapons and recovery
Add $15,000:
Left, Right, Up, Down, L, L.Weapons:
Left, Right, Up, Down, A, A.Armor:
Left, Right, Up, Down, A, L.Health and vehicle repair when driving:
Left, Right, Up, Down, B, B.
All four begin with the same directions, so the final two buttons determine the effect. A mistaken A or B can therefore be more significant than the longer directional portion suggests.
Wanted level and gangs
Lower wanted level:
Left, Right, Up, Down, A, R.Raise wanted level:
Left, Right, Up, Down, R, A.Switch between maximum and zero wanted level:
Left, Right, Up, Down, R, R.Toggle gang hostility:
Left, Right, Up, Down, B, R.
Notice the reversed final pair for raising and lowering pursuit. The maximum-or-zero toggle is not the same instruction as a single reduction, and gang hostility is not simply another label for police attention. Choose the effect according to the system you want to change.
Why older lists disagree
Some historical pages duplicate a sequence under different effects. The GameRevolution archive, for example, assigns the same A-A ending to both weapons and armor. This guide follows the more clearly differentiated iGrandTheftAuto list rather than silently reproducing both claims as consistent.
NextPlayIntel has not performed a hardware test of these entries. The discrepancy is worth retaining as an editorial note until a version-specific check is available. A citation establishes where a claim came from; it does not turn contradictory sources into direct observation.
Mission selection is a different procedure
The linked Advance reference also documents mission selection from the main menu: enter Left, Right, Up, Down, L, R, then hold Start and press A. This is a menu procedure, unlike the ordinary in-game sequences above.
Mission selection should not be described as a clean substitute for earning normal campaign progress. Loading or selecting an activity and completing the story through its intended sequence are different operations. Keep existing progress separate when experimenting with this menu.
Original hardware and emulator mappings
L and R mean the GBA shoulder buttons. If another controller is mapped to them, use the configured GBA inputs rather than guessing from the physical button names. Likewise, a touch overlay labelled Start must send the same input as the original Start button for the activation chord.
This does not establish native PC, PlayStation, Xbox or phone editions of GTA Advance. It only explains why the original control vocabulary remains relevant when a game is displayed in a different environment.
Troubleshooting GTA Advance cheat inputs
Check the cheat-mode confirmation, then the four directions, then the last two buttons. Try one effect at a time from an unchanged progress copy. If a code gives the wrong result, record the exact release and mapping before adding more codes, because stacked changes make the original problem harder to identify.
For the other handheld GTA games, read Liberty City Stories codes and Chinatown Wars codes. Their input systems are different despite sharing the GTA name.
Sources & verification
Sources last verified on . This article covers published information, not hands-on testing.
Editorial & update notes
AI-assisted research and writing based on the linked references. This is not a hands-on review. Cheat codes have not been tested by NextPlayIntel; platform and edition limitations are explained in the guide. Images are labelled AI-generated illustrations, not gameplay screenshots.
