The Sims 1 & 2: Legacy Collection Review-in-Progress – Still Sul Sul Good
The Sims 1 & 2: Legacy Collection are a much needed and long awaited reminder that the classic Sims PC games are still as unique, genre-defining, and addictive as ever.
Courtesy of EA, ImpulseGamer got Early Access to both The Sims 1: Legacy Collection and The Sims 2: Legacy Collection re-releases ahead of their surprise launch. Both collections include the base game (The Sims 1 and The Sims 2) and all officially released expansion and stuff packs for their respective titles, which is a huge boon for both fans and newbies who never managed to experience all the high-quality content that was released for both games over several years. Both collections can even be bought together via The Sims 25th Birthday Bundle.
As a Millennial raised on hours of creating dysfunctional Sim families, this is my homecoming.
The demand for these legacy collections is for good reasons beyond just nostalgia. The Sims 1 never received a re-release on digital storefronts until now, which forced fans to hunt down original physical CD copies to play it, while The Sims 2 did receive an Ultimate Collection on Origin (now the EA App) but was de-listed soon after. This meant both games and their expansion packs have been fairly inaccessible for most people for several years – until now.
So, are these drastic remasters, or faithful re-releases?
Booting up both games, it’s clear EA’s focus is on preserving the original experience with under-the-hood updates to optimize the games and their expansions for modern PCs and operating systems. That means there is no new content, gameplay mechanics or revised user interface to be found, at least from what I’ve seen. Instead, these are the original gameplay experiences of The Sims and The Sims 2 and their substantial expansion add-ons in all their glory, for better or worse.
For instance, The Sims 1: Legacy Collection (now a slim 3.5GB install) loads in its original 4:3 aspect ratio (black bars, no widescreen) and only offers standard toggles (Low, Medium, High) for shadow, lighting, texture and effects quality. However, the game now loads super fast, its frame-rate is consistent (still at 30fps, though), and abnormal crashes and graphical glitches which occurred when playing the original The Sims on anything past Windows XP seem to be a thing of the past based on my playtime so far. It didn’t take me long to appreciate the simpler nature of the original game’s graphics, with the pre-rendered backgrounds, character models, world objects and the isometric camera view looking as good as ever, largely owing to the game’s very distinct turn-of-the-century meets retro fusion art-style.
The Sims 2: Legacy Collection (a considerably condensed 12.3GB install) is the bigger victory in terms of technical improvements. Even if you owned the The Ultimate Collection or all of the retail CD packs back in the day, getting The Sims 2 running to a satisfactory degree was a chore to say the least, with both official and unofficial patches required for expansion pack compatibility, general bug fixing, 4GB large address aware support (the original game only allowed for 2GB of RAM to be used), modern CPU compatibility and widescreen resolutions.
It’s not hard to imagine my joy when I was able to boot straight into the game with all official expansions installed and no tinkering required to start playing, though the initial load times are still a bit naff. The graphics and performance options are largely the same, with refresh rates up to 100hz supported and basic toggles for object and texture detail, lighting, effects, reflections and shadows. Playing the game at max settings without FPS stuttering or compromise is a bit of a dream come true after only ever experiencing The Sims 2 on crappy integrated graphics cards of the 2000s, and I’m sure that will ring true for many returning fans.
Even after all of these years, the core gameplay loop of both The Sims and The Sims 2 is just as compelling and time-consuming as they were on release, and the amount of content that each expansion pack brings to the table is staggering – and it’s now all included in one convenient purchase. The first game is far simpler by today’s standards, it’s true, but its quirky Y2K tone (the mysterious phone calls and whimsical soundtrack are so damn good) and emphasis on tending to your individual Sims’ everyday needs honestly feel refreshing when compared to modern titles or the micromanagement and open-world approach of the third entry.
Having access to official expansions like Makin’ Magic and Hot Date for the first time also feels like a revelation in terms of re-discovering the first game’s breadth of content compared to my memories of its original launch, and I bet there will be plenty of returning fans and curious new ones who will experience the same thing here. It’s also just damn good to have official, legal, easy access to the game which started it all.
However, it’s The Sims 2: Legacy Collection that is the bigger gift from this 25th anniversary surprise launch, in my opinion. The Sims 2 was revolutionary for just how far it pushed the simulation genre and extensively built upon the foundational gameplay mechanics from the first game, and it easily still shows today in this much needed re-release. The sheer level of detail, from the Sims’ animations to their facial expressions to the number of interactions Sims can have with the world and each other, is still so impressive that it’s not insane to say that it definitely gives The Sims 4 a run for its money when compared side-by-side (if you don’t believe me, watch the comparison video embedded below).
That’s not even yet including the endless amount of added content from its eight official expansions, many of which I got to dive into for the first time. Seasons, Apartment Life and Open for Business add-ons in particular bring substantial new gameplay mechanics that have made my head spin in terms of the range of fun new options (dynamic weather, whole new living scenarios for neighborhoods and public lots, playable careers) and the time it would take to actually experience it all (challenge accepted).
All in all, both Legacy collections are an eye-opening reminder that we once got far more bang for our buck with older Sims titles, and I really hope EA pays attention to fan feedback to these re-releases and learns some lessons from the past to improve the value of Sims content in the future.
The Sims 1: Legacy Collection, The Sims 2: Legacy Collection and The Sims 25th Birthday Bundle are available now to purchase on Steam, EA App and Epic Games Store. You can expect Impulse Gamer’s full review in the coming days.
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About the Author
Nathan Misa A senior writer for ImpulseGamer.com and former writer for MMGN and Ninemsn, Nathan has been reviewing video games and interviewing talented developers since 2012. As a nostalgia tragic eternally tied to the glorious 1990s, he's always playing retro gaming classics whenever he's not entrenched in the latest RPG, or talking your ear off about why The First Law book series is better than Game of Thrones - to anyone who dares listen.
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