The Sims and The Sims 2 are now available on Steam, Epic Games Store, and the EA App.
This is a re-release, now compatible with Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Both The Sims and The Sims 2 were never made available on digital platforms, and the original disc copies have spotty compatibility with modern systems.
These games are made available, now sold as one complete bundle with almost-all extra content via expansions and Stuff Packs, as part of The Sims’ 25th birthday celebrations. The Sims is 25 years old. Time flies.
The Sims: Legacy Collection includes all seven expansions:
- The Sims: Livin’ Large
- The Sims: House Party
- The Sims: Hot Date
- The Sims: Vacation
- The Sims: Unleashed
- The Sims: Superstar
- The Sims: Makin’ Magic
- The Sims 4: Throwback Fit Kit
Yes, they included one The Sims 4 Kit in the package just to entice you to try the current Sims game.
The Sims 2: Legacy Collection includes all eight expansions but only nine of the ten Stuff Packs:
- The Sims 2: University
- The Sims 2: Nightlife
- The Sims 2: Open for Business
- The Sims 2: Pets
- The Sims 2: Bon Voyage
- The Sims 2: Seasons
- The Sims 2: FreeTime
- The Sims 2: Apartment Life
- The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack
- The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff
- The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff
- The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff
- The Sims 2: Celebration! Stuff
- The Sims 2: H&M Fashion Stuff
- The Sims 2: Teen Style Stuff
- The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff
- The Sims 2: Mansion & Garden Stuff
- The Sims 4: Grunge Revival Kit
What’s missing from The Sims 2 is the The Sims 2 IKEA Stuff pack, released between the Kitchen & Bath Interior Design and Mansion & Garden stuff packs. It’s probably a licensing issue, but publisher EA did got H&M, a fashion brand, to hop on board for this re-release.
The Sims and The Sims 2 can be purchased separately (with all associated DLCs and that one The Sims 4 Kit included) or as a 2-in-1 bundle.
What Made The Sims and The Sims 2 So Special?
Released in 2000, The Sims was an ambitious new take on a life sim from the makers of SimCity. Instead of building towns for Sims to live in, players zoomed in to a household and take control of the lives of these Sims in world inspired by 2000s American suburbia. With no specific goals in mind, players are free to lead the life of these Sims to achieve whatever goals the game allows (in this case, the game indirectly nudges for upward mobility- get a job, get a promotion and get rich and buy the most desirable object: a hot tub). Or just mess about and cause chaos. And death. And would you look at the amount of Comic Sans being unironically used in the game, iconic.
Four years later, The Sims 2 was released, bringing the PC game to 3D (though not for the first time, The Sims went full 3D when it released on consoles). What’s new is that Sims can grow up and grow old, have children that share genetics of their parents, the wants and fears system which gives these Sims more personality (and more goals than just the capitalist pursuit the original indirectly pushed for) and more. It also has movie maker capabilities, which was used a lot during the heydays of machinima (the art of making movies using in-game footage, not to be confused by the brand of the same name). We never got Season 2 of The Strangerhood, but now you don’t need to dig up an old PC to get The Sims 2 running correctly and attempt your own web series.
Both games are rooted with that 2000s nostalgia which is in vogue today. They may lack the representation modern-era The Sims are so strong of a champion are, but it’s just as important that Simmers new and old can now easily revisit the first two games.
Plus, those free-styling piano in The Sims’ Build and Buy Mode, and the catchy The Sims 2 theme by Mark Mothersbaugh are good enough reasons to play these classic life sims. Evergreen good music.
The Sims: Legacy Collection and The Sims 2: Legacy Collection are out now on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, EA App).
Source: Steam