The Lowdown on These Digital Rackets

Everybody wants a piece of the life. They see the movies, The Godfather, Goodfellas, all the pictures that got it right, and they think they know what it’s about. Loyalty, betrayal, gettin’ what’s yours… it’s a hell of a story. So some smart guys figured, why not let every Joe Schmo with a Nintendo get a taste? These video games, they ain’t just about bang-bang-shoot-’em-up. They let you walk on the wild side, see what it’s like to be in the family, to deal with the messy stuff you can’t get from just watchin’ a movie. It’s about gettin’ your hands dirty.  

The whole thing, it’s like that party game, Mafia. You got a couple of wiseguys in a room full of civilians, and nobody knows who’s who. It’s a game of lies, of figuring out who the rat is before you get whacked. That’s the business in a nutshell, capisce? It’s all about who you trust and who you put in the ground.  

So I’m gonna give you the real list, the top ten jobs in this racket. And I ain’t just lookin’ at who made the most dough. I got my own way of sizin’ things up:

1. The Story: Is it a real story, with heart? Or is it just a bunch of nonsense?
2. The Business: How do you operate? Is the action good, or is it sloppy work?
3. The Turf: Does the city feel real? Can you smell the garbage and the marinara?
4. The Legend: Is it a job people still talk about? Does it have respect?

The Three Families

The Mafia Saga

When it comes to our thing, the Mafia games are the only ones that get it right. They got class. They’re serious, like a movie, with a focus on story and realism. Each game is a trip back in time: 1900s Sicily, 1930s Prohibition, the post-war 40s and 50s, and the turbulent 60s. The history ain’t just wallpaper; it’s part of the story. They stumbled with Mafia III, making it a repetitive open-world grind, but they learned their lesson and went back to what they do best: telling a tight, cinematic story.

The Yakuza Way

Then you got the business over in Japan. The Yakuza series—now called Like a Dragon—is a whole different animal. One minute, it’s a heavy-duty crime story. The next, you’re singin’ karaoke or helping some schmuck in a diaper. It’s nuts, but that’s their thing. For years, it was a street brawler, but they took a gamble with Yakuza: Like a Dragon and turned it into a turn-based RPG, and it paid off big. Getting these games to America was a mess at first, with bad translations and cut content. The job that changed everything was Yakuza 0. A prequel set in the 80s, it was a masterpiece that finally got the series the respect it deserved in the West.

The Triad Job

For a long time, it was just us and the Yakuza. Then in 2012, a new crew showed up: the Triads. Sleeping Dogs took you to Hong Kong and threw you into their world. This game mixed the open-world style of the West with the flavor of Hong Kong action movies. It’s a cult classic, and it’s all about one thing: bein’ a man torn between two families. The hand-to-hand combat is the best in the business, letting you use the environment to finish the job in brutal ways. The story of undercover cop Wei Shen is a classic rat story, full of tension and twisted loyalties. It’s a masterpiece that finally gave the Triads their moment in the spotlight.

The Top 10 Made Games

Alright, enough jawin’. Here’s the real list. The top ten. I’ve looked at the books, I’ve weighed the evidence, and this is the final word. These are the jobs that earned their button.

10. Mafia III (2016)

Set in a New Orleans-style city in 1968, this is the story of Lincoln Clay, a black Vietnam vet out for revenge against the Italian mob that whacked his family. The story is top-shelf, told like a documentary and it doesn’t pull any punches about the racism of the 60s. The action is brutal and satisfying. The problem is the gameplay loop. You take over rackets one by one, and it becomes a real grind. It’s a flawed gem, but the story is so good and so important that it earns its spot.

9. Yakuza Kiwami 2 (2017)

This is a full-on remake of the second Yakuza job, and it’s a beauty. Built on the new Dragon Engine, it looks and plays smooth as silk. The story is a classic: Kiryu gets pulled back in to stop a war with a rival clan and faces off against their top guy, Ryuji Goda, the “Dragon of Kansai.” Goda is one of the best villains in the whole racket, a guy with his own code. Plus, the cabaret club minigame is back, and it’s as addictive as ever. A top-tier job.

8. Mafia: The Old Country (2025)

Instead of moving forward, this one takes you back to where it all began: Sicily in the early 1900s. After the bloat of

Mafia III, they got smart and went back to a tight, linear story, and it was the right move. The Sicilian countryside is a gorgeous backdrop for a classic mob story about a young kid escaping a life of slavery by joining the local family. It’s got the feel of a mob movie mixed with a Western, and it’s a confident return to form for the series.

7. Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020)

This is where they hand the keys to a new guy, the lovable goofball Ichiban Kasuga. After doing 18 years in the can for a crime he didn’t commit, he gets out and finds his world turned upside down. The biggest change? They threw out the brawling and made it a turn-based JRPG. It was a crazy gamble that worked perfectly. The story is all about the family you choose, and it’s got more heart than just about any other game on this list. A brilliant new beginning.

6. Mafia (2002 Original)

The OG. Back in ’02, this game was a revelation. While everyone else was making sandboxes, Mafia gave you a cinematic story set in a 1930s Chicago-style city. You’re Tommy Angelo, a cabbie who gets pulled into the life. The whole story is a flashback, told by an older Tommy to a detective, so you know from the start it’s a tragedy. The gameplay is clunky now, but for its time, it was revolutionary. It proved these games could be like movies. A true classic.

5. Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)

Alright, so it ain’t a pure “Mafia” game, but you gotta give it respect. This is the story of Niko Bellic, an immigrant who comes to Liberty City looking for the American Dream and finds a nightmare instead. It’s a dark, gritty, and brilliant deconstruction of the whole idea. The city felt real, the physics were revolutionary, and the story was one of the best ever written for a video game. It set a new standard for what this racket could be. An absolute legend.

4. Mafia II (2010)

For many, this is the peak of the Mafia family. You’re Vito Scaletta, a WWII vet who gets into the life with his best friend Joe Barbaro. The game’s real star is the city, Empire Bay, which changes from the 1940s to the 50s right before your eyes.¹The story is a series of vignettes from a mobster’s life, and it’s brilliant. The friendship between Vito and Joe is the heart of it all. And the ending… fuggedaboutit. It’s a punch to the gut that proves in this life, nobody gets a happy ending.

3. Sleeping Dogs (2012)

This is the job that took us to Hong Kong. You’re Wei Shen, an undercover cop trying to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad. The hand-to-hand combat is the best in the business, period. It’s a brutal ballet of broken bones and environmental takedowns. The story is a nail-biter about a man torn between two families, his loyalty tested at every turn. It’s stylish, it’s violent, and it perfectly captures the feel of a Hong Kong action movie. A unique masterpiece.

2. Mafia: Definitive Edition (2020)

This is how you do a remake. They took the classic story of the 2002 original and rebuilt it from the ground up with modern graphics and gameplay. The city of Lost Heaven looks breathtaking, and the action is smooth and satisfying. They didn’t just copy the old story; they expanded it, giving more depth to the characters and making the drama hit even harder. It’s the best story in the Mafia saga, made perfect. The definitive version of a classic.

1. Yakuza 0 (2015)

Here it is. The number one spot. The Don of all mob games. A prequel set in the 80s, it tells the origin stories of series hero Kazuma Kiryu and the mad dog Goro Majima. The story is a masterpiece, a crime thriller with more twists than a pretzel. The brawler combat is the best it’s ever been, with multiple fighting styles for both characters. And the side content, especially the real estate and cabaret club businesses, are full-blown games in themselves. This is the game that made the whole world fall in love with the Yakuza. It’s got everything. The boss of bosses. End of story.

What’s Next?

So that’s the lay of the land. This racket, which used to be all about knockin’ off Grand Theft Auto, has grown up. It’s got class now. The best jobs ain’t about havin’ the biggest turf; they’re about havin’ the best story. And the business is headin’ in two different directions. You got the old school, and you got the new blood.

In the end, that’s what it comes down to. The best games in this racket grew up. They stopped bein’ about just causin’ trouble. They started bein’ about tellin’ a story. A story about a time, a place, and a family. Whether it’s a tight, cinematic hit like Mafia or a sprawling epic like Like a Dragon, the future of the business is in the story. And that’s the way it should be.