Red Alert belongs in the same category as Civilization II and Quake, games that followed legendary predecessors and immediately eclipsed them. One can only wonder where Westwood can take us from here.

Still one of the most beloved of all RTS. The early CnC and Warcraft series carved the way ahead for all RTS games.
Any command and conquer buff or RTS fanatic would have at least played this once in his life time. CnC: Red Alert is still probably the best in the whole series. It further improved the original CnC: TD with more tweaks and threw Westwood into the lime light.

The story is simple.

Einstein kidnapped Hitler by travelling back into time thus preventing WW2. What our brilliant scientist failed to realise that such an action caused a power vaccum in Europe, where Stalin grew in power unchecked. Without anyone to stop him or hinder his way, Stalin began his plans for a Greater Russia where he starts by invading the entire Europe.

As nation by nation toppled under the Red Soviet War Machine, remaining European countries allied with each other in a final desperate stand against the Soviets.

This is where the War begins.

Also when the game was first released, everyone thought it was stand alone with no connection to the original CnC: Tiberian Dawn, this is not true. If you complete the last Soviet mission, you will see the link between Red Alert and Tiberian Dawn.
RA had some of the most distinctive balanced and flavour for both sides. Most RTS games are usually balanced in a Rock Scissors Paper fashion where each unit has an equalivalent. RA does not have that. Instead each side has their own weakness and strengths and RA encourages the player to use each sides own strengths to their advantage.

So if you like to play with more cunning and guile, the Allies are a nice candiate. If you just want to steam roll everything, the brutish Soviets are the way to go.
The weaker Allies fight with superior intel, finese and boast a strong navy. Their ground defenses might not be the strongest but they are arguably the cheapest and are almost independent of power, the only power reliant defense is their AA guns but the Allies have rocket soldiers that can do AA duty as well…. Offensive wise their ground units are not as strong as the soviets but they are cheaper and faster which can be a factor in deciding some games. Their sea units are another story, from fast patroling Gun boats to versatile Destroyers and finally, the dreaded Cruisers. A pair of Cruisers can shatter an entire Soviet base too easily.
The brutish Soviets boasts big powerful ground tanks that the Allies cannot match 1 on 1 as well have a highly advanced airforce and defenses. Their high tech defense like the iconic Tesla Coil is probably last word in defense but it cuts both ways. First, it comes at a costly price, shoots alittle slow and must have sufficient power to work. Thus if there is a power cut even a minor one, the Coils will deactivate leaving the base defenseless, something that the Allies can take advantage of. Soviets other only real weak point is their navy, where the land locked Russia has always ignored. At least the Submarines are stealthy and can engage most ships with impunity.
The major fun thing in RA is that the Soviets are downright evil and a chance to play the bad guy was quite rare for a game in its era. In fact the first mission involves massacring an entire civilian town, quite evil enough.

For those who have missed the CnC revolution. The game is now available in First Decade. So get a set and start playing ! You are buying ALL the CnC games anyway for a much lower price so its worth checking it out.