I dont think it's possible to put into words just how much I love this game but I'm going to give it a try!
I was first introduced to this game round about 1999/2000. We'd just got our brand new Windows 95 and spent ages picking out games for it. This was one of our first purchases. The idea behind it was originally meant to be a 'virtual dollhouse' but it's so much more than that. It's a life simulator, it capitalises on the 'playing god' concept by alllowing you complete control over the lifes of your little simulated people.
It's also my favourite computer game of all time and the best selling PC game in history....
This pack offers the original, ground breaking 'The Sim's' game plus all of it's 7 expansion packs.

Included Expansion packs:

- The Sims -
The original game that spawned the never ending juggernaut that is the Sims franchise.

- Hot Date -
My favourite expansion pack. Adds a Downtown area where Sims can take dates for an evening of fine dining or to buy them gifts including flowers, chocolate and Diamond rings. New objects are themed around love, including a naughty vibrating love bed!

- House Party -
House Party is designing to give your sims the tools to throw the perfect get together. Have fun with the fancy dress costume trunk or amuse your guests by humiliating yourself on the bucking broncho.

- Makin Magic -
The ability to play as witches and Wizards. Sims should visit 'Magic town' to purchase specail ingredients to make specific spells and potions with. Other typically quirky features added by Maxis include Rollercoasters and pet dragons.

- Superstar -
Superstar is all about your simmy trying to make it in the entertainment industry (just like The Sims 3 - Late Night only much more fun to play/better made). It may be fame as a TV, star, musican, model or even jingle artist! But with fame comes a lack of privacy. I was particulary amused by the obsessed fan that followed my Sim around....

- Vaccation -
This expansion pack allows you to take your Sims on holiday. Vacation destinations include beach, skiing and relaxing countryside resorts. Send postcards and buy souvenirs for Sims back home or just laugh at the bloke dressed in a giant shark costume...

- Unleashed -
Unleashed allows your sim to complete their families with the addition of a cat or a dog (there's also birds and goldfish too but these don't really do much!). It also introduces a new vegetable garden feature, allowing you to live off the land

- Livin It Up -
Livin It Up is thr equivalent of The Sims 2 and 3 'Stuff packs'. It just introduces a few nifty new objects which weren't included in the original game. Worth it purely for the Genie!


Why I love it?
Not to turn this into a rant about old vs new, but The Sims 1 represents a time when The Sims was a labour of love by Maxis. It was their idea, their baby and they nurtured it and made it brillant. In time, Maxis was swallowed up by it's parent company EA who in my opinion, are more bothered about profit then they are about the ever loyal fans of this franchise. This is why The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 appear to lack any of the quirky sense of humour of the original 'The Sims', hence the reason I prefer the original Sims in comparison to the latest offerings.
Yes, The Sims 2 and Sims 3 offer far superior graphics but at the cost of half the fun and originality. For example, parties in Sims 3 consist of dancing, music and food. In 'The Sims House Party', they consist of strippers jumping out of cakes, fancy dress costume, dance cages and karaoke and celebrity gatecrashers!. Vacations take place in surreal made up lands, with fun arcade games and blokes in shark costumes. Whereas in The Sims 3, you go to France, Egypt or China....I don't want my sims to visit the same holiday locations as me, I want them to live in their own fantasy world!
In short, this game is just a lot more quirky and original. In my opinion, that makes it far more fun and engaging to play than some of its predecessors.

The other major advantage is that you're getting 8 games here (original + 7 expansions) for £30...in its heyday, my parents were shelling out about £20 per expansion pack! I think this gives the game a far greater shelf life because there is so much to do so you're less likely to tire of it.

Finally, because of it's age, The Sims does not need all the fancy and modern graphics that todays games require. I had to shell out £600 to find a laptop with sufficient graphics and memory to play The Sims 3. However this game, I imagine, will run on much weaker/cheaper systems.

Disadvantages
The Sims has always had an active online community. Unfortunately, this community has moved onto The Sims 2 and 3 now which means of course that there are far fewer downloads and custom content available for The Sims than there used to be. This is a real shame because I used to have some amazing downloads for these games back in the early 2000's. Now, most of these websites are dead...

You cant help but notice the lower quality graphics, especailly if you're used to stunning seamless neighbourhoods which The Sims 3 offers. As enjoyable as the original 'The Sims' is, it can be hard to go back without noticing how primitive it now seems. It's a bit like trying to go back to your Playstation after playing your PS3....

Although I've previously stated the fact that this game does not need fancy graphics/lots of memory and how this is a good thing for those with poorer quality computers, there is a possible flipside of this too. That flipside is the fact that my 64 bit bit, Windows 7 OS sometimes has trouble representing and playing the more primitive games (i.e Theme Hospital). The Sims and it's expansions are products of round about 2000 - 2004 and of course computer technology has evolved since then. So make sure you really look in to the practicalities of your machine being able to run this before buying it.

Summary
These games represent a time when The Sims still had a sense of fun and originality and it's creators worked on quality and content rather than profit (yes I'm talking about you, Sims 3 store!). If you can brave the poor graphics and relative lack of customisation options, it's well worth rediscovering this gem.