Another Century's Episode 2 (Challenge Run): Op-17 Battle of Sasebo
0More Nadesico stuff, mainly the introduction of the Gekigan-type enemies. Okay, seriously, watch Martian Successor Nadesico if you haven't seen it. Honestly all the series included in this game are worth checking out, but if you only watch one, then go with Nadesico. Also this stage introduces the US Army Grand Chers from Brain Powerd. The whole thing about them being American military units is maybe not important to the game, but I guess it gives me an excuse to also recommend watching Brain Powerd to understand what that's all about.
Challenge Rules:
ACE Difficulty
No stat upgrades (units have base stats for the whole game)
Special/Combo upgrades only on units that get Custom Upgrades (like the Dragonar units)
Reuse units/forms only when necessary (chain missions count as one use)
Another Century's Episode 2 is a 2006 follow-up/sequel to the original game, produced by Banpresto and developed by From Software. ACE 2 takes the fanfiction-style crossover narrative of Super Robot Wars and combines it with an arcade shooter style action game, likely inspired by games like Virtual On. Featuring machines and characters from 14 different anime series in addition to original designs, ACE 2 is a solid improvement on the baseline established by the original Another Century's Episode.