A Hole New World
Release Date: May 19, 2017
OpenCritic
Steam
A Hole New World is a 2D side-scrolling platform game inspired by productions from the golden age of NES console. The game has been developed by the Spanish developer Mad Gear Games and is a demanding old-school production without any tutorials or handicaps. The player is equipped with a single weapon and a simple set of moves, with which he has to handle the encountered dangers using only his creativity and agility.
A Hole New World is a side-scrolling platform game set in a fantasy world and featuring pixel-art style. The game has been developed by the independent Spanish Mad Gear Games and is now available on PS4, SWITCH and etc.. The creators boast that their game does not include any tutorials or modes with facilitations – A Hole New World is a demanding game inspired by titles available for Nintendo Entertainment System, such as Mega Man and Castlevania.
The original version of A Hole New World has been created in 2014 during Ludum Dare 30, where the participants were tasked with developing a game within a limited timeframe. To finance the final version of the game, the developers decided to use the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform.
Plot
Long ago, the idyllic land of Versee has been possessed by evil. In order to defend its dwellers from suffering, the creator of Versee – a goddess named Yakshini – has divided the world into two parallel universes. The evil has been imprisoned in the dimension known as the Upside-down world.
This deed has weakened Yakshini. Previously, mere mortals were no match against the powerful goddess; now, however, nearly anyone could trap her and use her abilities. To secure herself from such possibility, Yakshini locked her power inside five gems interspersed across the parallel worlds – after that, she vanished.
The action of the PS4, SWITCH and etc. release of A Hole New World takes place after the evil Lord Baduk from the Upside-down world finds the Gem of Darkness that gave him the power to open a portal to Versee allowing him to invade the peaceful land. The only weapons able to stop the invaders are the potions brewed by the Potions Master, who serves the King of Versee. Aided by a small, yet powerful, fairy named Fäy, the main protagonist sets off to fight the forces of evil. On his journey, he gets to visit numerous locations including the dark regions right at the heart of the darkness – the Upside-down world.
Mechanics
The PS4, SWITCH and etc. release of A Hole New World is a 2D side-scrolling platform game, in which a player observes the action from the side-perspective and, going rightwards, has to jump over the obstacles, gather useful items, and fight multiple enemies.
The game described herein stands out from other platform games in terms of the ability to travel to a parallel universe called the Upside-down world, the holes in the ground. While in other platform games falling off the platforms ends with character’s death, in A Hole New World the main protagonist emerges from the mirror image of the in-game world – he goes to the Upside-down World and, thanks to the inverted gravity, can walk on the ceiling. Performing a jump in this world results in going down.
In both worlds, a player is bound to encounter multiple enemies. The developers have prepared over 30 types of foes to defeat, i.a. slow giants that can turn themselves into fast lightning balls, shield bearers invulnerable to frontal attacks, agile and jivey wolves, flying ghosts, and even such incredible adversaries as rain clouds bombarding the main protagonist with icicles. The elite among the forces of darkness are the powerful bosses – each one exhibiting unique attacks.
A player can use two types of weapons to defeat the enemies – the first one being the potions brewed by the main protagonist, while the other one in the form of Fäy’s powers. She can concentrate a magical nimbus around her and shoot forward like a bullet, dealing damage to the encountered enemies. The main protagonist carries countless potion vials, which can be thrown at the enemies in different directions. The basic type of a potion simply deals damage to the enemies, however, during one’s journey, a player gets access to additional potions with incredible powers. The Lightning Potion causes a thunderbolt to strike where the potion lands, the Potions of Ice and Fire turn into a magical ball that switches from ice to fire and back again with every hit, while the Blood Potion unlocks the double jump and Dash Attack.
Game modes
A Hole New World for PS4, SWITCH and etc. revolves around the story mode focusing on the adventures of the Potions Master and Fäy the fairy. During the campaign, a player gets to visit five distinctive regions, experience several available story endings, and test his skills in additional game modes such as Boss Rush Mode, Challenge Mode, and Game+.
Technical aspects
The PS4, SWITCH and etc. release of A Hole New World features a pixel-art style. Moreover, the developers decided to implement into their game an optional CRT mode allowing one to change the visuals to make it similar to the CRT screen. The audio layer of the game is very atmospheric and fits the visuals. The soundtrack has been written by Daniel Pellicer and is available in two versions – 8- and 16-bit.
Last updated on August 18, 2017
Videos and Screens
Nindie Spotlight: 8 / 10 by Nindie Spotlight
While many times I find throwback titles like this to be tedious, failing to inject enough modern touches into classic gameplay styles, once I got rolling I found A Hole New World to be very satisfying. With some creative level layouts, a diverse set of enemies, and some memorable boss fights the developers behind it put very visible effort into giving you an incentive to forge on and get through the tough sections. If you’re itching for a mix of the old, new, and the unexpected A Hole New World is easy to recommend.
Nintendo Insider: 7 / 10 by Darren Palma
A Hole New World is decent enough to blast through for some nostalgic kicks. While there’s certainly a challenge to this title, the difficulty balance between the bosses and levels do seem worlds apart. It’s a brief experience on the whole, but the New Game+ and Challenge mode you unlock once you beat it do provide some longevity aside from collecting the 150 gems, at least. The upside down element does give the game an interesting spin. Although, the lack of platform puzzling that could have easily taken advantage of the mechanic can, unfortunately, leave it feeling a bit gimmicky overall.
SwitchWatch: 65 / 100 by Jordan Humphries
I’m not going to lie when I say that had A Hole New World been released on the NES back in the day, there’s no doubt in my mind it would be considered a classic of the console along with Mega Man, Castlevania, Zelda and so on. Times have moved on however and even though there’s a case of quality retro about it, it’s still held back by some of the pet peeves of the era. It has some nice visuals, music and decent controls but I think modern gamers won’t have the patience for it and that’s including me, the last two levels really soured my enjoyment since they went about difficulty in the wrong kind of way. I’m pretty sure retro fiends will still get a kick out of it though. It’s above average, bordering on good, but not quite there for me. A few tweaks and it could have been an excellent retro adventure.
A Hole New World Summary
Platforms:
PC Windows May 19, 2017
PlayStation 4 September 5, 2017
Xbox One June 9, 2017
Nintendo Switch March 1, 2018
Developer: Mad Gear Games
Publisher: Dolores Entertainment
A Hole New World System Requirements
PC / Windows
Minimum: Intel Atom 1.6 GHz, 1 GB RAM, graphic card 256 MB GeForce 8600 or better, 950 MB HDD, Windows XP(SP3)