The button combo makes it a lot easier to execute the roll, but now it looks like the jump can be triggered during the roll. So, if you hold down and spam "A" you can effectively skip over large chunks of the levels.
edit: are you supposed to be able to roll over the spike pit in the third part of the demo if you choose the swordsman? I can't jump over it, and I can't get the jump+roll to trigger to get over it either.