Leaked screenshots are one thing, but to truly experience the power of a ninja you need to see him in action. Fortunately, GameTrailers has footage from Tomonobu Itagaki's live demo of Ninja Gaiden II at Microsoft's pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference.
Itagaki says the "world's best action game" is "pretty far in development," as evidenced by the eight stages available on the demo's stage select screen (including one that intriguingly shows the Statue of Liberty). Only one level gets played in the live demo, though -- a Venice-style aqua city. Our favorite ninja is shown using a scythe-like sword, a pair of longswords and a set Wolverine-style claws against ninjas, military types and some green-blooded dragons. The action will be familiar to anyone who has played a modern Ninja Gaiden game, with plenty of bloody severed enemies and dramatic zooms for particularly vicious kills.
Unfortunately, the demo ends just before a battle with the towering red-eyed spider-beast shown above. Here's hoping we'll get some hands on time with the game when the Tokyo Game Show starts this Thursday.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]
