I remember finishing Tanglewood and immediately heading online to state that this 2018 Sega Mega Drive game belongs alongside the greats. I stand by it.
The game from Big Evil Corporation is so well designed, especially with its pixel art. On first glance it would be easy to mistake it for a Sonic clone, or an attempt at another mascot platformer. But that’s not the case. It’s a platform puzzler.
Nymn, a creature that looks a lot like a fox (if I remember rightly it’s set on another planet), has to rescue Fuzzls by rolling them back to their nests much like balls of yarn. Once in the nest, the Fuzzls grant you a temporary power that can be used to solve more puzzles and save more Fuzzls.
There is no real combat in the game. The monsters are all part of the puzzle and can be trapped. The platforming elements share their DNA with those mascot platformers mentioned earlier, but the puzzles are more in line with something like Lemmings.
I find it truly astonishing that a system released over thirty‑five years ago is still capable of providing new games like this. It’s not a high‑score chase, or a platformer based on skill or speed. It is its own experience entirely. It reminded me of everything I loved about the Mega Drive era.
Coded by Matt Phillips in assembly language specifically for the Mega Drive, games like this are why the real gaming era will never die.
Tanglewood is available on most major platforms, Evercade and of course the Mega Drive