Boy I wish I was around for 1.0. Probably would have liked it while the game had a heart and soul despite a terrible launch.
I think it's incredibly easy to look back at 1.x with rose-colored glasses. Yoshi managed to salvage it pretty nicely, especially in regards to the storyline, but man... the game was clunky and boring. At a certain point, I only really played it because I knew the game would be revamped.

I think the 1.x format had a lot of potential, and with time it could have been grown into a good game. But you really didn't miss anything by not playing 1.x as it was.