I never liked GTA2, maybe because of the point of view or the controls, I never could drive a car or do something with great accuracy.
But man when GTA 3 was on, everything changed ... all that 3D freedom to to whatever and whenever you wanted was amazing. Filling the wanted stars and surviving as much as you can to the man in black was a real challenge.
The cars, the streets, music, radio - this game had everything, it was raising up the stakes, making the first truly open world game and it was the best seller of 2001.
GTA V perfected in every way this game and it is by all means the best GTA ever made but the 3rd was the revelation, the genesis, starting point for the true success of Rockstar as a game developer.
Yes, no doubt this is a pick for the best games ever made ... easily ... poor Maria, why she had to complain so much ...