I was thinking about that. I'm not sure I agree but I hear what you're saying.
I will say that by the 2000's they had hit on a good interface for the game so the changes were likely to be less drastic.
I was looking at some other vids too and by around 2004, I think it's basically 80% of the game you have today.
None of this is really meant as a criticism either. Just observing.