Ninja Gaiden II hacks its way onto store shelves in a matter of weeks. Fortunately, Tecmo and Team Ninja graciously provided us with a multiple-level demo to give us a taste of Ryu Hayabusa's latest adventure, and it doesn't disappoint.

"Give you a hand?" BWAHAHAHA! Never mind.

The first stage takes place in the breathtaking Sky City Tokyo. It's a wonderful design, a traditional Japanese village built several hundred feet off the ground and surrounded by lavish skyscrapers. Here, Ryu pursues a gun-toting agent named Sonia, who's been kidnapped by members of the Black Spider Clan. As expected, the fight for her freedom isn't easy. Ryu must contend with members of the Clan willing to sacrifice themselves for its cause. We mean that literally – some of these ninjas grab onto Ryu and blow themselves up, resulting in massive damage to his life bar.

Other stages include Ryu's home, Hayabusa Village, where he has a brief run-in with his dad before contending with more pesky bad guys. The third stage runs through a post-apocalyptic New York City, where Ryu seeks out even more answers concerning the mysterious purposes of the Black Spider Clan.

Fortunately, Ryu isn't defenseless. He has several weapons to choose from over the course of the game. The first three are his traditional Dragon Sword, (capable of slicing and dicing ninjas as if they were cold cuts), the highly effective Fiends' Bane Bow and the reach-extending Lunar Staff. He can also throw shurikens at distant enemies and perform such athletic maneuvers as wall jumps and runs. The defensive roll move from previous Ninja Gaiden games is missing, replaced by a quick jump technique that makes him slightly more effective in combat. Best of all, Ryu can now perform "quick kills". If an enemy is heavily wounded or missing a limb, you can tap the special attack button to put them out of their misery. Watching this graceful ninja behead a Black Spider Clan member is a thrilling sight.

Along with his several abilities and weapons, Ryu also has the power to auto-heal. If he loses a specific amount of damage during a battle, he can rebuild it once he finds a spot to recover. However, you'll notice that after each battle, part of Ryu's health is colored black. This is unrecoverable until Ryu locates one of the glowing power stones on the level, which restores his full health and enables a quick game save. Luckily, there's a few of these scattered across each level -- and you'll certainly need them, judging from the overaggressive artificial intelligence.

With that said, the computer opponents are beastly. The bosses alone require a great deal of strategy and thought to defeat. Sky City Tokyo's Black Spider Clan boss, a hulking creature with multiple spider-legs, will rip you to shreds unless you act quickly. Later enemies in the second and third stages prove to be just as challenging, ranging from deadly knife-wielding dogs (they hold the blades in their teeth) to purple-horned demons that are twice Ryu's size. You'll have to act quickly to survive, even in the game's lighter difficulty.