MarioFanaticXV: They don't play "exactly like" the other games. The feel a lot slower than later games (and I didn't like Tiberium Sun as much because it also felt kind of slow), and the old engine with its outdated pathfinding just feels like too much of an annoyance to deal with most of the time.
What I'm saying is that GDI and Nod don't feel very different in CnC1. Similarly, I feel there's not enough difference between the Allies and the Soviets in RA1. To be fair, I may be spoiled because my introduction to RTS was StarCraft, where there's almost zero similarity between the races- and I've come to expect this from most RTSs. In future games, I felt I was more or less granted this, but the first two felt like each side only had a few special units that made them truly unique.
darthspudius: Starcraft and the original C&C are in a league of their own. Want to talk about path finding, Starcraft is awful! I love that game but it's not the best example of a great RTS if we're going down this road. :D
Don't get me wrong, StarCraft's pathfinding is certainly outdated as well, but with a few exceptions, it was workable. CnC1 and RA1 was far, far worse in that regard, to the point it was nearly unplayable at times, and I felt I constantly had to babysit my units at every single turn, lest they go off in some completely random path that would never lead them to their destination.
Oh, also, superweapons were completely worthless in RA1; I love the Chronosphere and Iron Curtain in RA2, but being able to only target one unit at a time with them? They weren't even worth building.
