R-ACK
R-ACK is a 2021 yumplike lead by Daizo Dee Von assisted by an anonymous group called Team JANK, a parody group that has no relation to JUMP Team. Like the YUMP series, R-ACK embraces it's chaotic heritage by throwing anything at the wall and seeing what sticks. The hack is most notable for levels like This Level Contains Every Switch Palace Switch, yoshi has an appetite, Land Land, The Coin Hunters (An entire level that plays like the entirety of The Coin Hunt by WhiteYoshiEgg), mario globetrotter, I was once a bird, and the multiperson level real final with it's original song, boss, and ending. In 2023, it's sequel ~omh~ was released featuring double the exits.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers, and is recommended to beat the game before reading further.
Overview
- Unlike the YUMP series, R-ACK's level creators remained anonymous with no way of revealing the true creators. Some have revealed themselves outside of the game (Daizo Dee Von being Scissorman).
- Has an entire hack inside of itself with The Coin Hunters, having a fully functional title screen, overworld, and set of levels. It's made as a spoof to WhiteYoshiEgg's hack, "The Coin Hunt."
- Uses the ExGFX Mario patch to make some levels a lot more distinct (Your Friendly Neighbourhood Mario and Land Land use different Mario sprites, whom also appear as NPCs in the latest version of R-ACKVILLE)
- The first to have content releasing later in the year (The May 12th Update introduces a brand new 100% completion level from Team JANK's next project "~omh~", as well as and a super secret boss)
Story
You are tasked with controlling an abstract being called "The Plumber" whom can be referred to by either gender, and be named Mario or Luigi. Your mission is to simply traverse the landscapes. Along the way, The Plumber meets a handful of variants of himself, and can even stumble across a godly entity. It's revealed at the end that The Plumber views the world as nothing worth salvaging, so the world burns when you defeat the final boss "Goaldobadorrer."
While some speculate that ~omh~ came after the end of the world, it's actually a "midquel" which takes place in the "cat world." The most interesting detail is that the entirety of ~omh~ is skippable, as there are multiple pathways to the end of the game.
Characters
The Plumber
The protagonist. Is a being of pure interpretation, being represented as "Mario" from the Super Mario series. Inspired by OFF's "The Batter."
Spider-Plumber
A different character separate from The Plumber. According to a raocow's talkhaus post, "Petario M. Parker was bitten by a radioactive Scuttlebug, and competed in a wrestling competition. After he won, he let a criminal get away, resulting in his Uncle Benji M. Parker dying by the same crook. The Scuttlebug reminded Petario of the spiders he found in Brooklyn, so he adopted the name Spider-Plumber." The story is clearly a re-interpreted retelling of most Spider-Man stories and the "canon events." This character is playable in "Your Friendly Neighbourhood Mario," and also is an NPC in R-ACKVILLE. He also makes a brief cameo in ~omh~.
Badly Drawn Mario
A badly drawn interpretation of the titular character "Mario" drawn with as few detail as possible. Mainly playable in the level "Land Land," but is also found in R-ACKVILLE. There are various references to him in ~omh~, from being a drawing to having his head found. He also appears as an NPC found in the "32 Screen Storehouse" in Team JANK's 25 exit Questionable Hackjam entry "BOXMAN TANO and the Quest for the VIP Pass."
The Coin Hunter
A black and white variant of Mario, taken straight from the SMW ROM Hack "The Coin Hunt" by WhiteYoshiEgg. He's not found in R-ACKVILLE, thus being debatable if this isn't just The Plumber in a different aesthetic.
God Luigi
Only appearing if you have 49 exits, he will give words of wisdom if you talk to him in R-ACKVILLE. If you "kneel" to him instead, he'll give you the slip that there's many secrets to find. His chaotic doppleganger, "Evigi," appears in ~omh~. Is hinted as the one who created The Plumber and gave him his sacred mission.
Citizens of R-ACKVILLE
In R-ACK, you find R-ACKVILLE after clearing the main exit of "A level that introduces mechanics and stuff and tech." As you clear various levels, more NPCs will appear in this village. The characters who appear by default are a nameless coin dude, a chuck named "Daniel Novair" (the image represented), and a chuck with a hammer head named "Hammer Head" who is cited as a reference to the Canadian live-action comedy series "Corner Gas."
Sometimes, a yoshi named "Joey" will appear. He'll comment about how poor you are.
When you clear the various levels featuring the other plumbers, they too will show up (except The Coin Hunter). 49 exits in, God Luigi will show up.
Goaldobadorrer
The main antagonist, revived once more thanks to events seen in ~omh~. His name is based off of "Gadobadorrer" from the game Brandish II: The Planet Buster. He's foreshadowed a few times, thus is worshipped by the SECONDARY EXITS and the citizens. Once he's defeated at the end of the game, the world is destroyed. The boss theme theme that plays when you fight him, remixed by Hooded Edge, has the alternate name "DESTROY THE WORLD."
You can also fight a green and yellow variant of him known as "Megagoaldobadorrer," but The Plumber's mission will not change if you fight him this way.
Reception
Despite the slow traction it had when it first released, it's gained a pretty good traction as a classic from both SMW Central, but also the Twitch SMW communities. A lot of the praise was thanks to the game's sense of humour, as well as the tech behind a lot of the levels. Bonkers gimmicks such as "Yoshi Has An Appetite" became iconic to the game, and many were impressed with the game within' a game aspect of The Coin Hunters. The final boss especially was received well, even with a softlock that was patched out in later updates.
In 2023 it has lead to a followup, first shown off as "R-ACK 2" through an april fools trailer before eventually being known as "~omh~." The game was actually teased a few times within' R-ACK, even having the level "EXPLOSION CITY" appear as a 100% completion reward accessible through R-ACKVILLE. It's clear that "Team JANK" made it's impact in the SMW hacking community.