Two words : old school challenge.
It seems that what's the game was made for. Hard as nails in the first run, but I rather enjoyed it.

The game is rather short in straight line but the difficulty... It was made for challengers. There is all you need for speedrun and scoring. After beating the game you unlock a Boss rush, a Challenge mode and a New game +.

The boss rush help a lot : learning pattern and trick to defeat them ; but you have only one try and do not recover health between battles. Oldschool as I said The New game + turn the World upside down and add more ennemies for even more harsh challenge... The challenge mode suffer from fram rate trouble...it may sometimes be barely playable.

Ok, I'm probably just an average gamer, but an average gamer used to those unforgiving kind of games (Kid Chameleon, Adventure of Rad Gravity, Ghouls n Ghost, Spelunker...). I needed more than a dozen of credits to beat it on the first run, and nearly half of them just for the final boss ; it's not Dark Fact from Ys in nightmare but you still need nerves of steel in front of him (victory is all in your skill).

Besides the difficulty level, the game is pretty charming. Pixel art and design are good. The musics are average but fits the game. Story is basics but it's there.

I would say that the game fits perfectly the past time where it took its inspiration, not the best, but not the worst. Nice try for a first game from a small indie studio. If you know where you put your feet in, there is something there to keep you happily busy.

It's got this hole gimmick that the whole game acts like it revolves around but it's barely utilized. Rather than integrate each dimension seamlessly it just feels like you're upside-down sometimes for no reason other than to fuck with your controls.

Potions are pretty unbalanced as the Sheep Man electric potion is useless but the Strike Man Fire/Ice balls are OP. You also unlock half your moveset right before the final level for some reason and the final boss can only be described as brutal with no real explanation for how you deal damage to him, I mean when it clicks it clicks but I was still clueless. Spritework is all this game really has going for it.

The game wants to have two hole worlds but it really just tripped over both of them.

The level design in this game is uninspired and amateurish. I understand the focus is more on combat than platforming, but like... you know when you're playing a game and you see that one enemy that makes you go, "oh no, not THIS guy again"? That was my reaction to nearly every enemy in A Hole New World. The game's main gimmick, the upside-down parallel world you flip between, adds virtually nothing to the game and is never explored to its fullest potential. The bosses (with the exception of the final two) feel more like tests of luck than skill, with bullshit projectiles and attacks that feel impossible to predict, let alone dodge.

Look, it's not horrible. There's a decent sense of progression from the new abilities you collect after every level, and the spritework is surprisingly pretty. If I knew the person who made this game, like, if they were my cousin or something, I'd tell them they did a pretty decent job. Unfortunately, A Hole New World was not made by my cousin.

K: "Hello, Potion Seller, I am going into battle and I want your strongest potions."

PS: "My potions are too strong for you, traveler."

K: "Potion Seller, I tell you I am going into battle, and I want only your strongest potions."

PS: "You can't handle my potions. They're too strong for you."

K: "Potion Seller, listen to me; I want only your strongest potions."

PS: "My potions would kill you, traveler. You cannot handle my potions."

K: "Potion Seller, enough of these games. I'm going into battle and I need your strongest potions."

PS: "My strongest potions would kill you, traveler. You can't handle my strongest potions. You'd better go to a seller that sells weaker potions."

K: "Potion Seller, I'm telling you right now; I'm going into battle and I need only your strongest potions."

PS: "You don't know what you ask, traveler. My strongest potions will kill a dragon, let alone a man. You need a seller that sells weaker potions, because my potions are too strong."

K: "Potion Seller, I'm telling you I need your strongest potions. I'm going into battle! I'm going to battle and I need your strongest potions!"

PS: "You can't handle my strongest potions! No one can! My strongest potions aren't fit for a beast let alone a man."

K: "Potion Seller, what do I have to tell you to get your potions? Why won't you trust me with your strongest potions, Potion Seller? I need them if I'm to be successful in the battle!"

PS: "I can't give you my strongest potions because my strongest potions are only for the strongest beings and you are of the weakest."

K: "Well then that's it, Potion Seller. I'll go elsewhere. I'll go elsewhere for my potions."

PS: "That's what you'd better do."

K: "I'll go elsewhere for my potions and I'll never come back!"

PS: "Good. You're not welcome here! My potions are only for the strongest and you're clearly are not of the strongest you're clearly the weakest."

K: "You've had your say, Potion Seller but I'll have mine. You're a rascal, you're a rascal with no respect for knights. No respect for anything... except your potions!"

PS: "Why respect knights... when my potions can do anything that you can."