Yes they did. In fact, on launch, there was something like 50+ features that were in previous Sims base games, that were not in TS4's base game on launch. And even though a lot of those features were re-added in patches or DLC, there's still a large amount of features that are still missing, i.e. ownable cars, burglars, pool tables, home phones, and newspapers. Also, the AI is complete dogshit, with things such as Sims standing around before doing things (aka simulation lag), queue dropping, and obsessions with not taking care of their needs, i.e. getting water from the sink, while their Bladder need is in the red.
The issues that TS4 has, is due to it being originally developed as a multiplayer game, similar to The Sims Online. After SimCity 2013 got massive backlash for it's always-online play, TS4 had to be hastily patchworked changed to a single-player game. Those inherent issues are things that cannot be fixed by patching, but only by throwing the game away outright and starting over, and doing it right.
Unfortunately, given the previews of The Sims 5 (aka Project Rene), it looks like EA are making the same mistakes with the next Sims game.