New York is burning, and Joe starts his quest in a small, ruined town. You'll encounter some of the most basic enemies in the game within a few seconds, namely some guys with swords who run towards you. Watch out for the fire streams which bursts out of the ground -they won't kill you, but will knock you back and potentially let an enemy come over and get a free kill. The hostages here are all very easy to find.

Some more challenging enemies will appear in the form of guys with shield/boomerang weapons. Wait until they throw their shield and then send Yamato in to stun them, allowing you to make a close-range kill. The other enemy type to watch out for are the soldiers. These guys have guns, and will shoot three rounds off before having to reload.

The next part of the stage takes place further into the destroyed town. One thing to look out for in this level is when the screen starts to shake, as some rocks will fall from above and can kill you if you don't get out of the way. The majority of hostages here are easy to find, although there is one located directly above another, meaning you'll have to make two jump ups.

There will be a couple of earthquakes in this stage which cause the ground to rip open. Sometimes Yamato will fall down, but he'll magically appear again after a few seconds. Near the end of the stage, some new enemies will smash out of some windows. These armored soldiers have claws, and can roll around quickly. Using a close-range attack should see them off.

As Joe walks on through the town, a lightning bolt will suddenly bring out the first boss: Stomper. He will make small jumps, which cause some rocks to fall from the top of the screen.

His only other attack is his fire breath, which can be avoided by ducking. Due to his heavy armor, his only weak spot is his head. You will need to jump and throw a few shurikens to hit him. Whilst he's fairly easy to defeat -surprisingly if you make contact with him you won't die, but will be knocked back -it can be difficult to avoid being hit if he uses his stomp and fire breath together, as you might not have enough time to avoid the rocks and fire. Be ready to use a ninjitsu attack if you can't get out of the way.