 It goes without saying that Capcom was one of, if not the best third-party game developer for NES. We're used to hearing all about the Mega Man series, DuckTales, Rescue Rangers, Bionic Commando, or Darkwing Duck, which I looked at a few months ago. I want to keep it going down that path a bit further by looking at the Little Mermaid. Yes, it's yet another side-scrolling platformer, but it's different for a few reasons. 1. It's almost entirely underwater, so you have the freedom to swim around pretty much anywhere on the screen. 2. Today, or most people watching this video, are the target audience for a game like this, and I know that because this game is very short, and very much on the easy side. I mean, you can beat this game in less than 30 minutes easily. In other words, Little Mermaid is extremely kid-friendly, so if you have a Wii One at home that you'd like to get into video games, Little Mermaid is a good way to go. One odd thing about this game, though, is that it spoils the movie within the first 30 seconds of the opening cutscene here. I don't think I've ever seen that before. The game more or less gives away the ending of the movie, and the game's story takes place after the movie concludes. Ariel has to, uh, turn back into a mermaid somehow, and save her friends in the ocean from the tyrannic rule of Ursula. How? By fighting to the death, of course. Well, sort of. By shooting bubbles, trapping fish in them, throwing them at other enemies, throwing shells, and flipping your tail and stuff, and you do this across five stages. For as short and easy as Little Mermaid is, it's still a well-made game, just as you'd expect from a Capcom Disney game. There's no complicated nonsense, no tricks, no bait and switch. You have tons of freedom to swim around, dig into the sand and find hidden items, open treasure chests, and level up your bubbles. The visuals and music do a great job capturing the spirit of the movie, especially the cutscenes here. They're every bit as good as you'd see from games like Little Nemo or Ninja Gaiden. So yeah, it might be easy to gloss over a title like The Little Mermaid, but it definitely has its strengths. For example, if you just got done trying to get past the terrible tunnel in Battletoads for the 47th time, and you're about to put your head through the wall out of frustration, take a moment to play Little Mermaid. It's a quality, stress-free game that's sure to calm you down a bit. And other than the bizarre way it spoils the end of the movie, it does a very nice job representing the movie's universe by capturing the music, visuals, and colors of the original Disney movie. And in addition, if you have young kids at home, and you want to get them into gaming, this would be a great start.