A Licensed Game based on the Disney animated movie The Little Mermaid (1989). It was developed by Blue Sky Software and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis and Game Gear in 1992.
In the game, the player controls either mermaid princess Ariel or King Triton, in their quest to rescue merfolk throughout the oceans and face Ursula herself in her cavernous underwater lair. The player can also recruit the assistance of Sebastian, the crab, and Flounder, the fish, as well as an original piscine character, the digger fish.
Not to be confused with The Little Mermaid, released in 1991 on the Nintendo Entertainment System and in 1993 on the Game Boy.
Tropes appearing in this game:
- Action Girl: Ariel is the player character and is ready to kick Ursula's ass.
- Adapted Out: Prince Eric, Ariel's Love Interest in the movie, does not appear in the game at all.
- Atlantis: Stage 3 is called such, and features underwater ruins.
- Big Bad: Sea witch Ursula is the final boss of the game.
- Damsel in Distress: If the player chooses Triton, his mission is to rescue his daughter Ariel. Also, some of the polyp victims are mermaids.
- Death Is a Slap on the Wrist: Whenever Ariel or Triton lose a life, they can continue where they left off as their health meter gets replenished until they run out of lives.
- Dem Bones: Some pirate skeletons are enemies in stage 2. After defeating one, their bones break apart which the player has to avoid, otherwise they will still hit the player and decrease the life meter.
- Distressed Dude: If the player chooses Ariel, her mission is to rescue her father Triton. Also, some of the polyp victims are mermen.
- Game-Over Man: More like Game Over Woman; the Game Over screen depicts Ursula saying "You'll never defeat me! The Seven Seas bow to my power!"
- Healthy Green, Harmful Red: Ariel/Triton starts the game with a full green bar as their Life Meter. Any damage they take turns the bar to a red colour.
- Living Statue: Some of the enemies are statues: a female archer and a male immobile Discobolus.
- Magic Music: Ariel can release a normal attack that is pictured as a musical note.
- Magma Man: The first boss is a head of magma that lives in a volcanic cave and spews magma balls at the player.
- Medusa: A variation appears as the boss in stage 3: a large statue head stays immobile on the ground, while its three (very living) snake hairs spit round fireballs to hit the player.
- Morphic Resonance: Their polyp forms, in Ursula's lair, reflect their normal forms: polyp Ariel has red hair, while polyp Triton has a long moustache.
- Original Generation: The digger fish with a shovel-like nose is an original creation for the game.
- Papa Wolf: Even if the game does not have cutscenes to expand on the story, if the player chooses King Triton as their character, then the gameplay is about the king of the seas fighting his way through the ocean to rescue his daughter Ariel from the clutches of a powerful Sea Witch.
- Playing with Fire: King Triton casts small fireballs from his trident as his normal attack.
- Psycho Electric Eel: Some gray electric eels appear as enemies in stage 4.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Ariel and Triton are a princess and a king, respectively, and both take the fight against Sea Witch Ursula and rescue their people.
- Rule of Three: The player can buy icons to summon three helpers: Flounder, Sebastian, and the digger fish.
- Shipshape Shipwreck: Stage 2 is called Sunken Ships, featuring derelict ships Ariel has traverse to release the polyps and avoid sharks and skeletons.
- Shock and Awe: Triton can cast straight thunderbolts from his trident as his special attack (which has limited use).
- Star Power: Ariel's special attack (which is limited) is shaped like stars.
- Stationary Boss: With the exception of the second boss, none of the bosses move from their spots.
- Threatening Shark: Sharks exist as enemy mooks in this game. A large shark also serves as the boss for stage 2, the Sunken Ships.
- Under the Sea: Naturally, considering this game is based on the Trope Namer animated film.
- Underwater Ruins: Stage 3, Atlantis (not Atlantica, which is Ariel/Triton's home), is pictured as submerged Greek-styled columns of a goldenish colour.
- The Very Definitely Final Dungeon: Stage 4 is called "The Cave". It's very extensive, has the most amount of polyps to rescue, and has many types of enemies (returning are the moray eels that resemble Flotsam and Jetsam and the sharks, while the gray electric eels appear as the level's new enemies).
- A Winner Is You: Your reward for beating the game is a screen that says "Congratulations! You have defeated Ursula!" as Ariel, Triton, Flounder and Sebastian look up at a rainbow.
