Krack's Kafe: Because They Kicked Me Out

Krack's Kafe: Because They Kicked Me Out (or just Krack's Kafe) is a HackJAM project lead by Team Aforetimes consisting of Daizo Dee Von, EvilGuy0613, Farolicious, amHunter, and Scooter102089. It is a spinoff of Krack The Hack, taking place in the Mushroom Kingdom: Beyond The Worlds series. First releasing during the 2021 HackJAM, the hack recieved the reward as the Second Best Kaizo Hack as well as the First in Life of the Party in the contest. It has recieved two updates, one of which toned down the difficulty so it matches the intended difficulty of Standard: Very Hard.

Overview

• It's specifically a hack that's advertised as the "yumpiest" in the series, so the story isn't as serious as the original Krack The Hack.
• It is one of the few SMW ROM Hacks to feature selective voice acting for many lines of the game.

Story

Introduction

It's been fifteen years since the events of Krack The Hack. Krackenwolf (voiced by Farolicious) is found caught in a local bar in their home island "Desmond" when Daizoken (voiced by Scooter102089) shows up to break him out of trouble. After returning to their home, the two argue until Krack gets the idea to win the attraction at "The Keyhole" to earn pure golden keys, knowing that it is a trap by their arch nemesis. Krack's goal is to start up his own business called Krack's Kafe. He leaves, and soon after a returning Bob-omb character named "Bill" is told about Krack's leave. When he enters a cave, a toad named Barlic warns him not to proceed further.

(This detail only in the latest update) If you go back to the hole, you'll enter Daizoken's Castle and be able to talk to him and Bill, as well as comment on two objects in the room. Daizo gives a hint about an easter egg if you beat the game, Bill wishes Krack good luck, Daizo will not let you enter the door, and if you check the oven Krack comments on how Daizo "burnt the ham".

During the game

Meanwhile at a distant factory, Krack and Daizo's nemesis "Jinker Bolts" (also voiced by Scooter102089) and his two apprentices catch wind of Krack's whereabouts. After his apprentice Jimmy (also voiced by Scooter102089) explains the situation, Jinker Bolts activates a highly advanced key-shaped weapon called "GRAND ADMIRAL KRAWN" (voiced by Farolicious), a projector robot that can simulate any environments at will. Bolts invites his one apprentice, "Jessica" (voiced by Memory Martin), to watch everything unfold.

(This detail only in the latest update) As Krack continues fourth, collecting four keys per area, he stumbles across various characters in The Keyhole. As it turns out, these people are not what they seem. The first cameo, who looks like "The Batteur" from OFF, mentions how he doesn't feel like himself and that he's lost. The second cameo, who looks like Zayken from Summoned (one of Daizo Dee Von and Farolicious's previous hacks), actually turns out to be a goomba who begs for help. The final cameo is a defeated mint-coloured yoshi named Minta who complains about his wig being ruined. Just before Krack goes to what looks like hell, Daizo calls and mentions bOs encountered KRAWN before. Bill mentions taking on the weapon as well, further adding the urgency of the situation. Daizo then asks how to spell "brootalitie", to which Krack absolutely loses it and hangs up.

When Krackenwolf reaches an area that suspiciously looks like Super Mario Bros. 3, it turns out there is another mysterious character who is running around getting through the attraction. It's none other than "Huntre" (voiced by amHunter), specifically from Hunter & Scorpion's Search for the Golden Dollar ReVised, though not the same character.

(This detail only in the latest update) After clearing the SMB3 area, if you enabled cutscenes, you get a nightmare sequence where you're back at Daizoken's Castle...except the cast keeps disappearing and blaming Krackenwolf for his failures. The next room has "Larry", "Sinemy", and "bOs" from Krack The Hack appear to also call out on Krack's decisions about the war in that game. In the next area, the ceiling is exposed and there are many floating doors. At the end is a rixzo variant of Krackenwolf, who calls the current Krack "a hack". The final room has GRAND ADMIRAL KRAWN say "All who don't realize their fault will be sent to the pain of Jinker's cult," to which Krack realizes the true danger of the weapon since it can project nightmares.

After many trials and rooms, Krack reaches the boss battle against GRAND ADMIRAL KRAWN whom has 4 attacks that are slowly introduced as the fight goes on. The boss has 12 HP, and the music in this area is a remix of "Gallery" from Deltarune known as "Distortion of Reality". When the boss is defeated, it can still kill Krack if he's low health.

The ending

With the boss defeated, so is Jinker Bolts' self esteem. However this soon turns into an oppertunity as it turns out Jessica liked the show. He twists his intentions as this all being intended, which impresses the otherwise doubtful apprentice. She leaves, but his other apprentice "Jimmy" calls him out for his attraction for her.

Krackenwolf returns to a crying Daizoken and their assistant Bill. They quickly deny their feelings that they thought Krack could've died, which is quickly dismissed when Daizo shows Krack a playback of the news. As it turns out, there was a sudden murder Krackenwolf's boss "Berk Hasslehoth" by the investigator "Garison Stradford" (played by drkrdnk). The three come to realize that Krack could be falsely accursed as the murderer.

The postcredit screen reveals Huntre's reasons for being there, talking to another person on the phone (most likely his buddy "Scorpion"). He teases that he will attempt the Keyhole again. Thus, the game ends.

After the game (exclusive to v1.0.2)

If you "punch the nose of a portrait", as Daizoken suggests, you will enter a room where you meet the developers of the game. They all talk to Krackenwolf in ways that match their personalities. Faro claims to not know why he's there, Daizo offers a cookie, Evilguy suggests he drink some milk, amHuntre steals Krack's keys, and Scooter mentions how he's the voice actor of Daizoken.

If you fight GRAND ADMIRAL KRAWN a second time, you will get a completely different cutscene that takes place years later. It shows a broken down KRAWN and a mysterious wizard character walking from the left (voiced by Daizo Dee Von). He vocally says "Hmm...very interesting."

Fun Facts

• GRAND ADMIRAL KRAWN's name is based off of "Grand Admiral Thrawn" from Star Wars, and the design is from the infamous Key Boss from Mario Gives Up.
• The initial entry was only made in the span of five days mostly because it originally started as an entirely different hack called Mushroom Kingdom: The Aforetimes (thus the team name "Team Aforetimes").
• The idea of the hack is a blend between 100 Rooms of Enemies and Krack The Hack, though the name came from the Nightmare Cafe kaizo series by Lush_50.
• Garison Stradford as a character was heavily scripted and named by Farolicious. Faro actually had to become an investigator as the backstory of the hack is based on an upcoming short story called The Jessica Assassination, yet to be released.
• drkrdnk and Memory Martin) weren't present in the original HackJAM entry, mostly because any voice actors outside of the project would be considered hack collaborators, and thus would break the 5 member rule. That is why, despite not having any levels unlike the others, Scooter102089 was credited as one of the developers.
• The intro melody of the team logo is actually the first 6 notes of Daizo Dee Von's composition "Legacy of the Ruden Koopa", whom this "Ruden Koopa" was the planned protagonist of Mushroom Kingdom: The Aforetimes. It was meant as a tiny nod to the original project.
• The purple bar tender from the intro is not William Afton from Five Nights at Freddy's, but rather a character called "Milk Hazelnut". This character was named by raocow. Milk is based off of a reoccuring purple guy character in Daizo Dee Von's youtube channel, last seen in his Sicari Remastered let's play. In the v1.0.2 update, Milk is seen wearing a red shirt with yellow stripes, and is even referenced to look like a "child murderer".
• Starting with v1.0.2, there was a nasty bug with the VWF cutscene tool where sometimes when music switches, the game crashes completely. This became a reoccuring issue, so Mellonpizza had to step in and attempt to solve the problem. This final fix was submitted when v1.0.2d was released, where the hack was finally "allowed" to be accepted.
• The rooms that pushed the difficulty up to Kaizo: Beginner initially was Farolicious', EvilGuy0613's, and amHuntre's rooms. All of them, plus a handful of Daizo's rooms, were nerfed in order to lower the difficulty all the way to Standard: Very Hard.
• Because of the difficulty switch during HackJAM thanks to BeeKaay, many people (including the judges) complained that it was too easy and story driven to be a Kaizo hack. Had Daizo Dee Von not submitted the hack right after the contest submission period ended, this difficulty switch may not have happened, or at least not as soon as it did.
• The only difference between HackJAM version and v1.0.1 is the addition of Krack The Hack's offscreen indicator.
• The five portraits seen after beaten the game are the developers. From top left to bottom right is Scooter, EvilGuy (in a plague mask), Daizo, Faro, and amHuntre. The portrait at the very far right is drkrdnk. The character that's seen if you manage to go above the level and go past the right is juzcook throwing thumbnails of his Krack's Kafe series on YouTube.

(WIP)