Anyone who says that has clearly not played these games, let alone try to beat them without cheats. Especially GTA1, which is OHKO without armor. I only technically beat these games because there's another way of earning money that's much easier after getting a solid multiplier from pickups and easier missions.
To be fair, a lot of the difficulty comes from the tank controls, and if there were analog shooting controls these games would have been a tad easier.
i've played every version and honestly the Dreamcast version is the worst version, which is a honest shame as i think it could've been the definitive version if it was optimized properly and utilized the systems features, seemed the port was extremely rushed sadly.
To be fair, a lot of the difficulty comes from the tank controls, and if there were analog shooting controls these games would have been a tad easier.
This is a must watch if you're interested in these original games!