10 Classic Video Games That DON'T Hold Up

2. The Sims

Games Sims
EA

The Sims 1, like many games on this list, changed everything when it came out, and it was an absolute joy. This one is a victim of just how far the series has come and how much it has evolved. Now the series offers more ways to play than ever, it looks gorgeous, you can play the whole thing as an RPG if you want to, there’s complex trait systems and a suite of ways to individualise your characters.

Whether this came to a head in The Sims 3 or The Sims 4 is debatable but going back to the 2000 original makes absolutely no sense.

Though it set the groundwork for almost every system and feature in the game, including a bunch of the townie NPCs who would go on to be mainstays for the net 20 years, the visuals just don’t look good any more, the UI is ugly, the animations are super stiff, and your options to engage, build, and play around are just a lot more limited. All that said, the soundtrack for The Sims 1 is simply stunning so I have to give it that.

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Contributor

Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.