I never had the opportunity to play sims 1. But I started on Sims 2 and to this day its still my favorite. Sims 3 is a close second (might even be a tie between 2 and 3), 4 just isn't there yet for me to really like it like I like the other two that I've played.
I just always feel starved for content in sims 4. If I buy a new pack I'm good for probably 5 hours to keep my self busy but after that I'm always asking myself. "okay.... so now what?" plus my sims 4 sims all feel the same. I think the sims 4 has some wonderful ideas that I feel aren't utilized to their full compacity.