Tommy Vercetti is heavily based on Tony Montana from the film Scarface. They both end up in exile, both rise to power in Miami using great amounts of violence, both build an empire from a large estate and mansion, both have short tempers and are prone to violence, both work as contract killers, and both killed their collaborators and took their ex-bosses' empires, and both engage in a battle with large groups of assassins at the end of their stories. However, Tommy survives his final gunfight with his enemies, while Tony is killed. Even the mansions in the games are similar.

If you have an RPG, go to the Ammu-Nation downtown and stand on the helmets on the counter and aim the RPG to the street. Turn the RPG around so it's facing the wall, and you will see a picture of Ronald Reagan shooting a picture of Mikhail Gorbachev.

In Tommy Vercetti's room at the Ocean View Hotel, there is a poster featuring GTA III protagonist Claude. There are also some posters parodying famous movies.

In pre-release screenshots, the Blista Compact can be seen with a GPX logo on the rear. The letters "GPX" are a reference to the Honda CR-X, on which the vehicle is based upon.

In Downtown Vice City, near the Vice City News building, there is a window which the player can jump through and the player will find the "Easter Egg Room". In this room there is a brown easter egg on top of a pedestal.

During early development, there were once bus shelters around the city. The model still exists in the game's code.

There is an additional outfit that is referenced in the game's files (Textamerican.gxt>MAIN>OUTFT13). It was cut during development and was called MC Tommy.

There was a deleted character named Mr. Moffat. Tommy Vercetti and him knew each other from the past and Moffat had escaped prison again and was on the run. He called Tommy and begged him to help him. This conversation can be found in the game's files.

The Mesa Grande uses a handling line named DESPERAD, which matches an unused text entry DESPERA associated to the text "Desperado." This implies that Desperado is probably the name used for the Mesa Grande during development of the game.

The key card you steal to free Cam Jones from the holding cells during the mission 'No Escape' belongs to P. Rowe from Chuff Security Co. This is strange, as Chuff Security Co. didn't even appear in GTA Vice City (Gruppe Sechs and DBP Security are the only known security companies in 1986).

Tear Gas is in the original Playstation 2 version, but was removed from all other version of the game. However, the weapon is fully functional and can be obtained only by using trainers or modifications.

The AK-47 was supposed to be in the game, but was cut, probably having the Ruger appear as a replacement. It's model and texture are still in the game's files.

The Grenade Launcher was planned for the game, but was cut during development. Although, in the Playstation 2 version the grenade launcher model (grenlanc.dff) and its textures (grenlanc.txd) can still be found in game files. These files were removed from all other ports of the game.

Rockster Video Games is a store located in Ocean Beach, Vice City, just north of The Pole Position Club. The store is an obvious reference to Rockstar Games. The window of the store has character artworks of 8-Ball, El Burro, Kenji Kasen, and Maria Latore and the door has a Rockstar Games logo.

In the official Grand Theft Auto: Vice City strategy guide, it is stated that Tommy Vercetti is 35 years old during the events of Vice City, making his year of birth 1950/1951.

Going to the Hyman Memorial Stadium between 20:00 and 00:00 grants the player access to three side-missions; Hotring, Bloodring and Dirtring. The mission will change each day.

There is a way to be a good citizen. If a cop on the street is chasing someone, go to the guy that's running and punch him. You will then receive a good citizen bonus of $50.

There is an apartment that you can enter called 3-C. Inside the bathroom is a chainsaw and blood splatters along the walls. This is a reference to the movie Scarface, in which Tony Montana (Al Pacino) is forced to watch his partner, Angel, get brutality murdered by somebody in an apartment bathroom using a chainsaw.

Shooting the moon with a sniper rifle will make it change size.

Off the shore of Leaf Links, near the Downtown area, is a fat man who has had his feet encased in cement and thrown into the water.