SEGA AGES: Thunder Force IV includes a ship from Thunder Force III, Kids Mode, and more

Just like SEGA AGES: Sonic the Hedgehog, SEGA is adding in some bells and whistles for Thunder Force IV. The details come from the newly-opened official website, which has a few more screenshots to check out.

STYX Mode: A mode where you can play as the FIRE LEO-03 “STYX,” the fighter spacecraft used by the player in Thunder Force III. While you can play using all of the weapons from Thunder Force III, will the older model spacecraft make the fight harder in Thunder Force IV? STYX Mode is unlocked by clearing Original Mode once.

Original Mode: Enjoy the original Sega Genesis / Mega Drive version of Thunder Force IV. You can choose between the Japanese and overseas game versions. Also, in addition to being able to increase the difficulty by configuring slowdown reduction, you can also configure whether the background music stops or continues during voice-over playback when powering up like the original version.

Kids Mode: A beginner mode with a lower difficulty from the original version that offers handicaps such as the player not losing their weapon upon making a mistake. This is based on the element added to the Thunder Force Gold Pack 2 version of Thunder Force IV for Sega Saturn.