The Sims 2 for sure. 100%.
I know there are a lot of newcomers to TS4 that are probably turned off by TS2. The benefit of being able to grow up with TS2 was that TS2 was entirely new. It's kind of like playing a new Mario Kart and then going back to the original Nintendo version. If you weren't there to witness it while it was being released, it will seem outdated and perhaps even stodgy. Of course there will be people that can appreciate a game or a movie or a song no matter the time period or era, as long as it is well-made. Not everyone can do that with TS2. Sometimes they can only see the surface and they get turned off.
TS4 is a subpar Sims game, but as a game on its own, I think it is decent. A lot of people will enjoy it and if it is their first introduction, they may not be able to appreciate older versions. I remember showing my nieces and nephews how to play TS4 about 2 yrs ago. They really loved it. But then they started to get bored, so I showed them TS3. They were obsessed. I think they would be turned off by TS2 or TS1. Because they are younger so having TS2 or TS1 would feel extremely outdated. But TS3 was still relevant enough for them.
