Play Command & Conquer (beta) Online

I remember hearing about a version of Command & Conquer that was supposed to come out for the Sega Genesis. It was developed by Westwood Studios, the same team behind the PC original, but it never actually got a full release; only a prototype exists. For a console from that era, the idea of a real-time strategy game was pretty ambitious, given the limitations of a controller compared to a mouse and keyboard.

In this version, you control either the Global Defense Initiative or the Brotherhood of Nod, building a base, harvesting Tiberium for resources, and training infantry and tanks. The main objective is to destroy the enemy's base and structures while defending your own. Key mechanics include managing your power grid, as destroyed power plants shut down your defenses, and navigating the map screen by screen since the full battlefield doesn't fit on one display. The pace is methodical, requiring careful resource management and unit positioning, and it can be quite difficult to manage everything efficiently with a D-pad. Playing it feels like a clever, if sometimes cumbersome, attempt to translate a complex PC game onto a console.