Awesome / Ace Combat 2

• The new boss battles introduced in Legacy are quite the sight to behold, all of them being unique and challenging in their own way:
  • The mission Easy Money plays out just like in the original game. That is, until Keynote interrupts the end by warning you of an incoming squadron. What follows is a duel against Lancer Squadron, who despite being a Warm-Up Boss, teaches you how to combat different squadron tactics like those from Zero. It's also pretty satisfying to see their leader, Albert Wahlberg get shot down for his hubris.
  • Hunting Season begins with a massive aerial dogfight against many enemy aircraft. Pretty standard stuff, until they bring out Beast Squadron, who pretty much surround your ass like a pack of... well, beasts. You could take Keynote's advice and pick them off one-by-one, but it is much more satisfying to beat them in their own game.
  • Then there's Seagull, which isn't just a faithful remake of the original, but the setting takes place in Skully Islands, the setting of the very first game. Then there's the hellish gauntlet against Cocoon Squadron, USEA's best naval squadron. Z.O.E. shows up yet again in the mission to pester Phoenix, but it is easily driven off despite Cocoon Squadron taking potshots at you. And then, the final phase, which is nothing but pure adrenaline from start to finish, all topped off by... a rap song? And it's somehow one of the best songs in the game.
  • The mission Toy Box has Phoenix destroy a satellite weapon meant to take out the incoming Ulysses asteroid. All seems well after it ends, until Beast Squadron comes back even after being shot down in the previous fight. This time, he's not messing around; He's not only packing his usual tactics, but decides to take it up a few notches by dishing out the Electronic Warfare System to jam your HUD. And Phoenix STILL utterly annihilates him despite the odds being stacked up against him.
  • The mission Final Countdown is pretty much the most difficult mission in the game barring the Extra Missions; The first part is a gauntlet against the rebellion's Last Stand, sending out their entire naval fleet to pepper the sky with bullets. Then it all goes south when the XB-10 gets involved in the fray, but luckily all three of them are shot down. And yet it STILL isn't over, as now Phoenix has to contend with the last Ace Squadron of the game: Albireo. Unlike Beast and Cocoon Squadrons' leaders (who play dirty in their attempts to bring you down and are colossal douchefaces), Albireo's flight lead... is a genuinely nice person who just wants to retire after this mission. He also genuinely sees Phoenix as a Worthy Opponent and even teaches him a few tactics during their battle. Make no mistake, however: Albireo is easily the most difficult boss in the main story and is considered as the most powerful Ace Pilot in all of USEA. Sadly, unlike the other squadrons who are faced with Uncertain Doom, Albireo is the only one Killed Off for Real.
• Scarface One/Phoenix himself is a Memetic Badass comparable to the likes of Mobius 1 and the Demon Lord of the Round Table himself. A rather impressive feat for the first protagonist of the series.
  • Phoenix has already gained notoriety for stopping the Skully Islands Insurrection during the events of Air Combat and destroying the Sky Fortress. Now he's hired once again to take down the Usean Rebel Forces, making him one of the two Aces in the series to be playable in multiple games.
  • He quickly becomes The Dreaded later in the game, to the point where you could hear the enemy forces panic at the mere mention of his callsign. Like Cipher before him, the Rebel Forces send in their top aces to dispose of the dreaded Firebird. None survive.
  • Phoenix has quite the list of superweapon kills in the series; He's taken down the Sky Fortress from Air Combat, the Anti-Ulysses Satellite Cannon, Fortress Intolerance and every Zone of Endless-integrated aircraft, including the ADF-01 FALKEN.
  • Immediately after the liberation of St. Ark, Phoenix chases down and destroys a guided nuclear missile aimed for St. Ark. That's right! The Phoenix beat the Rebels' asses down so hard they had to resort to nuking him. And even that failed!
  • According to the wiki, the Z.O.E-integrated ADF-01 FALKEN Phoenix fought contained records of both Cipher and Pixy's flight data, which means he's fought an AI version of two legends of the Belkan War piloting an even stronger version of the ADFX-02 Morgan. Imagine that, multiplied by four.
• The Extra Mission before the afforementioned Z.O.E gauntlet has the Phoenix fighting against 100 ENEMY FIGHTERS! And winning!
  Keynote: "100 enemy aircraft down! You did it Phoenix! You are the pride of the Allied Forces!"