Developer: Blue Sky Software Publisher: Sega Released: 1992 Genre: Action
As much as we associate Capcom with the Disney license Sega has as much of an illustrious history with the House of the Mouse as well. Many of their Genesis titles are some of the best Disney games around. Some are hidden gems like Quackshot. But like Capcom they have their share of failures as well. Someday I would like to know what went wrong with Fantasia. The Little Mermaid isn’t as bad as that game but has few redeeming qualities. You are better off rewatching the movie than playing this one.
Despite the name this is not an adaptation of the movie. The game simply uses the characters and setting for its own unique adventure. As either Ariel or King Triton your mission is to change all ten polyps in each level back to merfolk before fighting an end level boss. There is virtually no difference between the two aside from their means of attack.
Both Ariel and Triton have a regular attack and a limited special attack. Ariel actually uses her singing voice while Triton attacks with lightning. Aside from attacking you can summon one of three fishy friends to aid you in some way. Flounder pushes rocks out of your way. Sebastian acts as an invincibility item. And lastly the digger fish will help find hidden items. The treasure you find is currency in Scuttle’s shop. Honestly outside of Flounder you don’t need to bother as the game is incredibly easy even on higher difficulty settings.
The stages in Ariel are absolutely massive and possibly it’s only good attribute. Each of the four levels is dripping with secret areas and hidden items. If scavenger hunting is your idea of fun than Ariel has it in spades. Some of the maps have two halves, like the pirate ship. If you go straight for the merfolk you’ll most out on a ton of items. In fact that is where the keys and helper fish mostly come into play. But as cool as the large levels are there is a lot of wasted space. Being big just for the sake of it is not fun. It also forces you to deal with the awful controls more than you should have to.
The controls in Ariel are flat out bad. Ariel and Triton skate when they move; stopping suddenly does not exist. Something as simple as moving in a straight line is harder than it should be. One could say that since they are underwater it makes sense for them to slide around. But that isn’t fun. You will rage as they get caught in simple corners or flail around trying to access tight spots. It is lucky that the game is so easy as cheap hits pile up. You can take an astonishing amount of punishment, and so long as you have extra lives your health is immediately replenished rather than sending you to a checkpoint. Even on the highest difficulty setting you can easily brute force the game, not that it is necessary. Even the lowliest gamer will finish this in fifteen minutes.
You know what is probably the most disappointing of all? Ariel has low production values as well. Even if the games were bad Sega did not slouch on the production values. Fantasia is a truly awful game but I’ll be god damned if it doesn’t look fantastic. The same does not apply here. The drab undersea environments are boring to look at and are lacking in detail. The choppy animation doesn’t help matters either. But even worse than the graphics has to be the music. Not only is the soundtrack a pathetic bastardization of the film’s epic score but every level has a grating metallic sound that endlessly repeats. It is hard to believe this is the same team that would go on to push the Genesis with World Series Baseball and Vectorman. This was a low priority project and it shows.
In Closing
Ariel the Little Mermaid was always going to be a hard one to adapt. Sega went about it in the wrong way. I am literally astounded anyone was satisfied with how the game turned out and released it in this state. Capcom’s NES game might have been simple and easy but it was at least mildly fun. Ariel is a cheap cash in by comparison. Don’t reward their lack of effort with your money.
