Vice City's side missions are a major component of 100% completion — you need to complete specific levels of several vehicle-based missions to hit the full percentage. They also unlock meaningful rewards. This guide covers every side mission, how to start it, what it asks of you, and what you get for completing it.
How to start: Enter any law enforcement vehicle (police car, FBI car, Rhino tank, police helicopter) and press the mission start button (F in the browser version).
What you do: Chase down and eliminate criminal targets that appear on the map. Each wave sends more criminals and they become progressively more armed and aggressive.
Requirement for 100%: Reach level 12 without dying or abandoning the mission.
Reward: After level 12, your maximum health increases to 150. Also earns good money per level.
Tips: Use the Rhino tank. It's impervious to most damage and can simply drive through targets and vehicles. In the tank you can do Vigilante to level 12 without breaking a sweat. If playing in a car, a Sabre Turbo or Sentinel XS provides good durability. Target the criminals from range before they can shoot back.
How to start: Enter an ambulance and press the mission start button.
What you do: Pick up injured pedestrians and deliver them to the hospital. Multiple patients appear per level and each level adds more patients. The ambulance is slow — plan efficient pickup routes.
Requirement for 100%: Reach level 12.
Reward: Maximum health permanently increases to 200. Combined with the Vigilante bonus, you can reach 200 max health — making the game significantly easier.
Tips: Drive the ambulance carefully — patients can be thrown out of the vehicle if you crash hard. Plan routes by looking at the map before each pickup. The time limits get tighter at higher levels but the routes become more familiar.
How to start: Enter a fire engine (found at the fire station in Little Havana or occasionally driving around) and press the mission start button.
What you do: Drive to burning vehicles and use the fire hose (automatically triggered when you get close enough) to extinguish them. Multiple fires per level.
Requirement for 100%: Reach level 12.
Reward: Tommy becomes immune to fire. This is permanently useful — walk through explosions, flamethrower attacks and burning vehicles without taking damage.
Tips: The fire engine handles terribly — it's enormous and slow. Let the automatic hose do the work; your job is just getting close enough. Plan your routes efficiently. At higher levels multiple simultaneous fires appear in different parts of the city — tackle the closest ones first.
How to start: Find a Pizza Boy scooter outside the Well Stacked Pizza restaurant on the corner in Ocean Beach. Climb on and the mission starts automatically.
What you do: Deliver pizzas to customers scattered across the district. Each delivery requires navigating to a target marker and pressing the delivery button (the scooter has a pizza box on the back).
Requirement for 100%: Complete 55 pizza deliveries.
Reward: Maximum armour increases to 150. Highly worthwhile.
Tips: The pizza scooter is slow. Memorize the likely delivery locations near the restaurant and plan efficient routes. You can complete 55 deliveries across multiple sessions — the count saves with your game. Early deliveries are close and easy; later ones spread further across the island.
How to start: Enter any taxi cab and press the mission start button.
What you do: Pick up fare passengers and drive them to their destination before the timer expires. Passengers tip more for faster deliveries.
Requirement for 100%: Complete 100 taxi fares total (can be across multiple sessions).
Reward: Hydraulics added to all taxis and extra money from fares.
Tips: 100 fares is the most time-consuming side mission purely because of volume. Get into a rhythm — pick up, deliver, pick up the next immediately. The Cabbie variant of the taxi handles better than the standard Taxi. Don't use cheats during the taxi mission as they can break fare detection.
The Hyman Memorial Stadium in Downtown hosts three events that unlock at different times:
All three count toward 100% completion. The Hotring Race is the trickiest — the AI is competitive and the oval layout means you're constantly fighting for position. The Hotring Racer spawned by the HOTRING cheat is helpful preparation for the feel of the vehicle.
Several RC vehicle missions are triggered by approaching specific locations — an RC helicopter downtown (required for one Diaz mission), RC planes near the airport. The Diaz RC helicopter mission is one of the most complained-about in the game. Take it slowly, learn the building layout, and don't rush the later bomb placements.
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