Difficulty Spike: One scenario forces players to protect the La Cailum battleship while it's doing its preparation for going into space. Mooks are coming in; no problem, just send allied units towards them...until the Mooks ignore them and go straight for the La Cailum. In fact, they're slaughtering it. From this point on, it would be best to start using Spirit Commands (the franchise's equivalent of magic spells).
Ensemble Dark Horse: Shu Shirakawa isn't simply famous as the Arch-Enemy of Masaki Andoh, but rather a combination of his intellect, resourcefulness and personality. That Shu's Granzon/Neo Granzon in older appearances was receptive to players added to his status, ultimately leading to his resurrection in Super Robot Wars EX, granting Shu his own story route in that game. When more Masou KishinSequels were released, Shu continued to become prominent in the plot as a playable character alongside Masaki and his fellow Heralds, all the way into his appearance for Super Robot Wars: Original Generation, which neatly adapted his "Classic Timeline" story for the modern era. Next to fellow franchise darkhorse Sanger Zonvolt, Shu is as much of a mainstay to Super Robot Wars as its most recurring characters like Masaki.
Bian Zoldark, Lord of the Divine Crusaders, is a genius scientist who sees the extraterrestrial threat on the horizon and realizes drastic action must be taken to save the world. Forming the Divine Crusaders, Bian launches a coup that nearly succeeds in overthrowing Earth, with only the crew of the Hagane managing a resistance against him. Bian is worshiped by his men who he deeply respects and cares for, and at the end when defeated, he reveals his plan was to strengthen the heroes to face the threats in his place, dying with his last thoughts of his beloved daughter Lune.
Shu Shirakawa, Arch-Enemy of Masaki Andoh, is from a parallel world, and a genius scientist who created the super mecha, the Granzon. Devastating the kingdom of Langan, Shu lured Masaki into fighting him while escaping to the earth and assisting Bian Zoldark in his plans. Shu is well known for manipulating many heroes, including Masaki himself, constantly arranging things to his benefits. When defeated and killed, Shu is revived by the dark god Volkruss to be his servant but later manipulates things to be free and achieve his own victory, sneering that he will allow nobody to control him, not even a god as he passes.
That One Boss: Bian in Original Generation as a result of his Valsion's "Warp Field" unit ability that halves all damage taken, even if the player's attack is given a Status Buff with the "Valor" Spirit Commandnote Deal twice the amount of damage for the next attack.
", which fits the respective Super Robot perfectly.