I'm kind of sorry for not posting here earlier - I've been busy preparing my own stuff until today and just got around to finishing it right now.
I'm not sure what happened to my playing habits, but... Hack 2 has been the first hack I've played in well over six months. It's one of the hacks I took note of over the past months, and one of the few I saw myself playing.
And what a hack it was! I really like what gimmicks you've come up with, and in what creative ways you used them. A few spots, admittedly, had questionable difficulty, but it's safe to blame that on my rusty playing skills.
Also, oh boy, the ending. I almost feel bad now for making Mario go through all this. >_>
I do believe I've gotten farther than the people who've complained about the final level (
that is, I've found the doubler voucher
), but the hack has still left me unsure if that's the true ending. I also found no indication of a contest whatsoever - has that been edited out since? A bit of clarification would be neat.
Either way, you've done a great job. This is a more than worthy sequel to Hack, and if you ever make another one, be it filled with gimmicks or in the spirit of SMW2+3, I'll be sure to play it.