Some madman hacked Mario from the original “Super Mario Bros.” into a stage from “Mega Man 2,” and a player beat the stage and recorded the result for all to see. Check it out; it’s a bizarre sight.

I’m pressed for time this week, so this one’s short and sweet.

Title: Dino Run
Developed and published by: Pixeljam
For: Web browsers
ESRB rating: N/A

In “Dino Run” you’re a little dinosaur trying to escape the dino-apocalypse. Keep running right until you reach the end of each randomly generated stage. Eat things as you go. Don’t die along the way. And that’s about it — it’s simple, fast and fun.

Remember when Star Wars was awesome?

I do. As a teen I used to read all the book; I’ve seen the original movies a dozen times and more. Campy though they are in places, they’re incredibly good popcorn movies. I even like the Ewoks. And though George Lucas tinkered overmuch with the Special Editions in the late ’90s, they were still good fun, and it was worth going just to see them on the big screen.

But after that …

I won’t belabor all the ways the prequel trilogy dragged down the fun times of the original movies. Suffice it to say: If you have a good bad guy, don’t give him a history. And if you have to give him a history, please don’t show him to us as a happy-go-lucky kid and then a petulant teenager. Kinda takes the edge off the 7-foot half-machine monster he turns into later.

Let’s not even talk about this summer’s “Clone Wars” movie.

The best “Star Wars” stories these days are told in the games. Not all of them, of course, but enough. “Republic Commando,” aside from being a bang-up shooter, offered a nifty glimpse into what goes on behind the visor of a Clone Trooper’s helmet. “Knights of the Old Republic” is one of the best “Star Wars” tales, period, taking place thousands of years before the movies during another bitter war between the forces of light and dark.

And now we have “The Force Unleashed,” which is … pretty good. The gameplay borrows liberally from a decade’s worth of action games, but isn’t polished enough to really stand out — there are control hitches, camera problems and opportunities for numerous deaths that can’t be blamed on the player. Still, in giving you control of Vader’s secret Dark Side apprentice it at least tries to make you feel as powerful as the image at the top of this post would suggest.

The most interesting bit is the story — it’s well-plotted and well-told, allowing for the fragmentary nature of game narratives, and Vader’s apprentice is a far more likable character than Anakin Skywalker himself ever was. There’s some speculation that the game’s narrative might be reworked into a movie that would bridge the gap between Anakin’s fall and Luke Skywalker’s coming-of-age.

Who knows if it’ll happen. But I hope it does, or something similar. “Star Wars” has become weighed down by a whiny Anakin Skywalker and a mawkish love story, to say nothing of Jar Jar Binks.

Decent games are fine things, “Star Wars” needs a shot in the arm if it hopes to appeal to anyone past their tweens in the future. Maybe it doesn’t. But I hope it gets one.

(Image from LucasArts)

This week’s free game is a creepy one. But that’s OK, because we’re nearing October, the month of Halloween horrors!

Title: The Suffering
For: PC
Developed and published by: Midway
Age rating: Mature

A caveat first: “The Suffering” is the video game equivalent of a B horror movie, with all the blood and gore and scariness that implies. And like a horror movie, that’s a large part of what makes it entertaining. But take that Mature rating seriously; this one’s not for the kiddies. I first played this one when it came out on the original Xbox. It was pretty good, as I recall, though it has long since landed in the bargain bins of game stores. And now you can get it for free.

The corporeal dude in the picture up there is Torque, the anti-hero of the game. Torque is on death row in a fictional island prison off the coast of Maryland. He’s in for murdering his wife and kids. As the game starts the prison is overrun by monsters in the gruesome image of execution methods — a twisted being with swords for arms and legs represents decapitation, while syringe-studded wretches stand in for lethal injections, and so on.

These monsters are dumb but vicious, and there are also greater spirits at work on the island, like the vaporous guy in the photo, Hermes, who liked executing people so much that he committed suicide in the prison’s gas chamber so he could haunt inmates forever.

And then there’s Torque’s own inner beast to deal with. The most interesting twist of the game is that how you act while playing influences whether or not Torque was actually guilty of his crime. Leave helpless inmates to die — or worse, kill them yourself — and it’ll turn out that Torque murdered his family or was at least involved in their deaths. Work to redeem Torque and he’ll end up being innocent of the crime.

(Image from Mobygames.com)

This week’s freebie will totally “hook” you! Ha ha, get it? “Hook,” as in the title. Ha!

Anyway, the indie Web game “Gravity Hook” is about as simple to play as can be, and like so many simple games that only makes it harder. You’re this little yellow guy. You use the mouse pointer to hook on to and pull yourself toward one of the numerous floating mines in the air. Get too close to the mine you’re attached to and it’ll blow up, but time it right and you can let go and fly past it safely to grab one above it.

The goal is to get as high as you can without getting blown up or falling to the bottom of the screen. It’s tricky — really tricky. But it’s fun.

(Screen capture by Justin Hoeger)

You might have heard of a game called “Alien Hominid.” If you haven’t, the short version is that it was a banner example of indie-game success, a Flash game on Newgrounds that grew into a PlayStation 2 and GameCube release by The Behemoth, and later into Alien Hominid HD on the Xbox Live Arcade.

More recently the studio behind the game released “Castle Crashers,” a modernized four-player beat-’em-up in more or less the style of the old “TMNT” arcade games and other big coin-operated brawlers — except “Castle Crashers” is funnier and more twisted.

GET TO THE POINT, you say. Fine.

This week’s games are both by the same folks, and both are free browser-based games in the vein of “Alien Hominid,” featuring the singular art style that runs through both. The first is …

“Castle Crashing the Beard” is a spin-off that’s more of a joke than anything else — in it you play as the Blue Knight from “Castle Crashers” against the floating, scowling, bearded head of artist Dan Paladin, who is behind The Behemoth’s singular art style. It’s nothing complex, but it’s weird and fun. And weird. Which brings us to the second game …

“Dad n’ Me”  is more of precursor to “Castle Crashers.” It has similar arcade-brawler gameplay, but with a miniature Jason Vorhees-like character fighting with rival schoolkids on his way to meet his bigger, meaner dad on the other side of town. It plays a bit like a slower, less developed “Castle Crashers,” in fact. The game, like nearly all Behemoth games, has a twisted sense of humor and a fair bit of blood, so beware.

Neither game is rated, but treat them as Teen-rated games, as their content is similar to the T-rated console games these guys have released.

(Screen captures by Justin Hoeger)

As promised, here are this week’s two games, both of which hinge on the same concepts: invulnerability and explosions.

 

Title: Boombot
For: Web browsers
Developer: Kaiparasoft
Publisher: Ninja Kiwi
Age rating: N/A

First up is Boombot, in which you have a limited number of bombs with which to propel a cute little indestructible robot to the exit of each stage. Sometimes you only have one bomb; other times you have several. Sometimes there are other explosives in the stage you can set off for a boost; other times there aren’t. It’s a lot of fun, in any case. Just don’t run out of bombs or fall into any open pits, or you’ll have to try the level again.

Title: IndestructoTank A.E.
For: Web browsers
Developer and publisher: Armor Games
Age rating: N/A

And secondly we have IndestructoTank A.E. In this one you control an invincible but weaponless tank beset on all sides by helicopters, planes and other vehicles. You use the explosions of their bombs and missiles to propel your tank into the air, crushing your foes with the sheer weight of the vehicle. Same concept as Boombot, totally different execution, and just as fun in its way. There is a bit of animated blood in this one, so beware.

Enjoy!

(Screen captures by Justin Hoeger)

Here’s a fun one.

Title: Debrysis
For: Windows
Developed and published by: OUEO Factory
Age rating: N/A

“Debrysis” is about as simple an action game as can be: You drive around a little vehicle in an enclosed arena and shoot at everything that’s trying to kill you, which is everything that’s not a power-up or weapon pickup. It’s good, blasty fun.