I just bought the sims 2 the other week , I have played sims 4 and 3 as well . I think they are all great in there own ways but sims 2 is the best , I haven't even bought all the expansion packs yet and it's super fun , only the extra commodities ( comfort and environment are annoying) . Sims 3 was awesome for open world and slightly improved graphics whilst still maintaining the sims 2's theme so I think that's second best . Sims 4s graphics are the best and it's a much smoother game but the gameplay can get boring after a few hours of playing and the relationships seem a bit fake and robotic, unlike sims 2 , but it's still good particularly sims 4 cas. I haven't played the sims 1 but I think that even though many don't care for it now it was amazing and game changing at its time