The Disney company has had a long participation in the history of video games, since the popularity of consoles and the interest of people grew in the mid 80's, many of the famous animations of this great company began to appear in different video game cartridges, in order to enrich the great hype of those years, giving rise to a variety of titles both good and bad, among them there is one that I particularly find excellent, this is The Little Mermaid.
You may find the name somewhat childish, due to the story that the 1989 movie has transmitted, however, appearances are deceptive, since it is a quite fun game with an excellent difficulty curve, starting from the simplest to reach levels that are not so complicated, but quite acceptable for an average player, these small details make it an excellent alternative to the games of yesteryear.
The events of this videogame are a sequel to the movie The Little Mermaid, since Ariel (the main character of the game), must return to the sea to stop Ursula's evil plans, thus preventing her from taking over the Triton kingdom, once she finishes her work she can return to the arms of her prince Eric.
In The Little Mermaid for NES we can find 6 levels, each one of them will have its own design inspired by the original movie, but taking care of unique details so that they are not repetitive, also in each one of them a challenge awaits us, something very classic of the games of that time, a boss which must be eliminated to continue with the adventure.
Despite being a game in which at all times we are under the sea, its gameplay is very fluid and good, the programmers knew perfectly well that we would control a character which is very skilled in the water, for this reason Ariel's movements at no time will be clumsy, so we can be able to easily dodge enemies and their attacks in most cases.
We have great freedom of movement at all times, so we can move in the 8 directions of the d-pad, as a weapon to eliminate our enemies we will use a wave that emits the tail of Ariel, this produces a bubble that is able to enclose them, thus grab them and throw them, something similar to the Mario Bros. games. This bubble can increase its power by collecting some red pearls, increasing the range and distance of this attack.
Ariel can also be able to grab certain objects that allow you to open chests and move much more easily, these are necessary if we want to find hidden objects or simply increase our power in the attack. Sometimes we can get out of the sea, but here we will realize that we can not move with the same ease, forcing us to jump several times to introduce us to our marine world.
The game is relatively short and is not as difficult as other games on this console, it can be finished in 15 minutes as long as you know all the patterns of the enemies, although this is not a fundamental requirement. Finally, we can highlight its music and sound, aspects that offer the player a good experience at all times.
In conclusion, The Little Mermaid is an excellent game developed by one of the best companies of those years, CAPCOM, which makes it a good classic of the 80s. Its simple gameplay, attractive levels and good sound make it a title that is perfectly playable today.