There have been plenty of exciting nostalgia hits in recent years, but few have been greeted with as much joy (among PC players, especially) as The Sims and The Sims 2 being re-released today as part of the series’ 25th birthday. The Legacy Collection versions of these two iconic life sim games come stuffed with almost all of their respective expansion packs and a few small enhancements for modern setups and systems – but these are not full remakes or remasters. And that’s disappointing some Sims fans.
Available through EA Play, Steam, Epic Games Store, and Windows Store, PC players can now pick up and enjoy the first two The Sims games without searching for your old physical copies in the basement, finding second-hand discs at thrift stores, or jumping through many hoops to get them digitally in some form. The Sims is the origin of the entire life game genre, and The Sims 2 ramped things up with more detail and a bewildering amount of add-ons (as you’ll see shortly).
Available to purchase together as a $40 bundle or individually, The Sims and The Sims 2 Legacy Collection are already getting fans teary-eyed and reminiscent. Admittedly, I did expect a few more players on (re)launch day – we don’t know what’s going on on other platforms, but on Steam peak concurrents topped out at 1,846 people for The Sims and 4,157 for The Sims 2. Despite those numbers, there’s no escaping the fact that they’re bringing a lot of joy to plenty.
Not everyone’s impressed though, with complaints largely centered around how few actual improvements and bug fixes have been made. Admittedly, EA has not at any stage said that these are remasters or remakes – it’s simply getting these classic games to work on Windows 10 and 11 systems and on your shiny, widescreen monitors. So I feel those criticisms are quite harsh. I’m seeing a few reports on forums and in Steam reviews (for The Sims 2, especially) of crashes. The Sims 2’s user score is also currently sitting at a ‘mixed’ 60%, at the time of writing, as a result. But some fans are simply seeing this as a ‘cash grab,’ with no real improvements made to either game.
Whatever your view on the technical state of the game, you are getting a lot of content for your cash. The Sims Legacy Collection comes equipped with the Livin’ Large, House Party, Hot Date, Vacation, Unleashed, Superstar, and Makin’ Magic expansions.
The Sims 2 Legacy Collection features the following, massive list of add-ons: University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Bon Voyage, Seasons, Free Time, Apartment Life, Holiday Party Pack, Family Fun Stuff, Glamour Life Stuff, Happy Holiday Stuff, Celebration! Stuff, H&M Fashion Stuff, Teen Style Stuff, Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff, and Mansion & Garden Stuff. Jheez.
Now, the only logical thing left to do is point you towards our The Sims 1 cheats and The Sims 2 cheats guides. Because who isn’t playing with cheats?
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