Jump Start: the restaurant trigger, hideout and first normal save
Take Vinnie to the restaurant in the Brit, stop inside the blue square and finish at the hideout’s blue circle on foot.
Edition / platforms: Game Boy Advance
All guides for GTA Advance ↗- Start
- New Game · Chinatown, Portland
- Mission car
- Brit with a blue arrow
- Restaurant
- Stop completely inside the blue square
- Hideout
- Walk Mike onto the blue circle
- Afterwards
- Normal save available; Dirty Laundry unlocked
- Follow Vinnie
Reach the marked car north of the start.
- Drive the Brit
Take Vinnie towards the pink restaurant destination.
- Stop in the square
Trigger the restaurant scene and drop him off.
- Reach the hideout
Follow the pink house into its narrow approach.
- Enter the circle
Complete the objective on foot.
- Save and continue
Save after Mission Passed; the V pager starts the next job.
An editorial overview. The sequence shows mission phases, not a city map drawn to scale.
Start and the tutorial’s actual objective
Jump Start begins automatically after New Game in Chinatown on Portland. You control Mike and follow Vinnie to the car. The assignment then leads to a restaurant and finally the hideout; buying weapons or winning a fight is not required. Three important markers do different jobs: a blue arrow over a person or car, a pink radar destination and a blue interaction area in the world. Do not confuse this restaurant journey with Dirty Laundry, which becomes available afterwards. Vinnie asking you to return later does not add another passenger pickup to Jump Start itself.
Use the original controls deliberately
These are GBA buttons. An emulator’s keyboard layout must map to them rather than replacing their original names.
| Action | GBA input | Why it matters here |
|---|---|---|
| Enter and exit | L | Enter beside the marked Brit, then leave the vehicle at the hideout. |
| Accelerate | A in a vehicle | Leave once Vinnie is aboard. On foot, A instead performs an attack. |
| Brake and reverse | B; directional-pad down also brakes | Brake before the restaurant. Continuing to hold B after stopping can move the car backwards. |
| Steer | Directional-pad left/right | Use small corrections into the objective area rather than sweeping across it at full speed. |
Step by step to Mission Passed
The documented main direction is east and then north from the start to the restaurant, followed by north and west towards the hideout. Reachable objective approaches matter more than a straight radar bearing through a building.
- Follow Vinnie north with the directional pad to the parked Brit. His blue arrow identifies him. Let the conversation by the car finish instead of wandering away from the introduction.
- Stand beside the marked Brit and press L to enter. Make sure Vinnie is inside too. You need to transport him rather than driving to the next radar target alone.
- Accelerate with A towards the pink dot on the upper-left radar: first east, then north to Mamma’s Family Restaurant, which Vinnie describes as being in Portland Beach.
- Brake before the restaurant’s blue square and stop completely inside it. Simply driving across the square can miss the conversation trigger.
- Let Vinnie get out and read the new instruction. Follow the pink house symbol to the hideout rather than waiting at the restaurant for another passenger. The hideout approach runs through a narrow alley.
- Stop there, leave the vehicle with L and walk Mike towards the blue circle. This second marker requires your character on foot; parking a car on it does not substitute for the interaction.
- Enter the circle and wait for Mission Passed. Afterwards, the game explains normal between-mission saving and opens the hideout menu.
- Choose Save Game and confirm with A if you want to save. Read Vinnie’s following pager message. The restaurant’s V marker starts Dirty Laundry; it is not an unfinished Jump Start objective.
Recognise arrival instead of searching for another objective
At the restaurant, the blue square is a vehicle stopping point. At the hideout, the blue circle is an on-foot destination. That distinction explains most apparent trigger problems. The white radar arrow represents your position; the pink dot or house identifies the current destination. A building can block a direct approach, so use the street that actually reaches the entrance. If you overshoot the restaurant, make a controlled correction and stop properly rather than assuming the entire tutorial must be restarted.
Troubleshooting
Check the active objective and the last conversation that actually registered.
| Problem | Specific check |
|---|---|
| At the restaurant, no new scene | Is the Brit stationary inside the blue square, with Vinnie aboard? Reaching the pink radar area alone does not trigger the scene. |
| Vinnie remains behind | Return to his indicated area if the assignment is still active. Do not move away while he is boarding; his death or abandonment can fail the tutorial. |
| At the house, no completion | Get out and walk Mike onto the blue circle. Leaving a vehicle in the alley is insufficient. |
| A save menu appears instead of another journey | That is the intended post-Mission Passed sequence. Save or resume play, then read the subsequent pager instruction. |
Saving and edition boundaries
Use the normal hideout save after confirmed completion if you want to avoid replaying the opening. The original manual also describes Start → Quit Game with a saving option during an assignment. Distinguish that interruption facility from an acknowledged mission completion; this guide does not promise an arbitrary reloadable mid-objective checkpoint. Emulator states are separate again. Coverage refers to GTA Advance on Game Boy Advance, not GTA 1 on Game Boy Color or GTA III with its different streets and controls.
Short FAQ
Must you keep the Brit throughout? Use the marked car for Vinnie’s ride; the contemporary walkthrough permits changing vehicles after dropping him off. Should the hideout already contain free weapons? Supplies are added through later achievements, so an initially empty items menu is normal. Does the garage permanently store a car? The garage does not permanently store vehicles. What confirms success? Mission Passed before the saving explanation, rather than merely seeing a house icon on the radar.
Researched from the original GBA manual, contemporary FAQs and mission-specific tutorial text; no firsthand playthrough claimed. Separately checks the vehicle square, on-foot circle and post-Mission Passed saving sequence.
Recommendations and interpretation are editorial. Information may change after the date shown above.