Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – Story and Arcade Mode Differences

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge features the return of the mean, green quartet and their friends to the sidescrolling beat ’em up scene, and you love to see it. As someone who put their fair share into Turtles in Time in the olden days, it really makes my heart swell to see the boys back again. This isn’t just a simple beat ’em up this time, though. This time, we’ve got two different game modes to sink our teeth into. Here are the differences between Story and Arcade mode in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge – Story and Arcade Mode Differences

In a quick nutshell, Arcade mode is more in line with the classic sidescroller paradigm that you may remember from Turtles in Time and similar games. Story mode, meanwhile, is a little more open-ended and features a progression system, similar to River City Girls or Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

Story Mode

Story mode is good for players who really want to sink their teeth into the TMNT experience and get the most possible mileage out of the game.

In Story mode, all of your characters start out at level one, becoming progressively stronger as you defeat enemies, uncover upgrades, and generally make progress. You can spec your characters however you like for a more bespoke experience.

You can also freely return to any levels you’ve already completed, and in fact, you’ll need to, as there are collectibles to find and NPCs to complete challenges for, both of which will provide more rewards. In the event you get your butt kicked, worry not; Story mode doesn’t use a lives system.

Arcade Mode

If you’re in a rush and don’t feel like dealing with all of the sidequesting rigamarole, Arcade mode is for you.

Arcade mode is a straight progression of one level to the next, no backtracking, no side activities. Just you, your character of choice, and a whole lot of action from start to finish. There’s no leveling either; all characters start with their levels maxed out. It’s up to your personal skill.

Do note that, unlike Story mode, Arcade mode does use a lives system, and if you lose all of them, it’s game over. There’s also no save-stating or suspending allowed. You either finish the whole game in one run, or you don’t finish it at all.

Related: Best PS4 Couch Co-op Games

One last note: no matter which mode you’re playing, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge features full drop-in multiplayer. Other players can come and go from your session as they please without affecting your progression. This is especially handy for Arcade mode, as one player can keep going even if another runs out of lives or needs to leave.