The Little Mermaid

リトル・マーメイド —人魚姫— (Ritoru Māmeido: Ningyo Hime)NES, Game Boy1991

  1. JP1991
  2. NA1991
  3. EU—
  4. RUDendy

Capcom's The Little Mermaid was released in Japan as Ritoru Māmeido: Ningyo Hime (リトル・マーメイド —人魚姫—) and as The Little Mermaid in North America. It exists on both the NES and the Game Boy.

The Little Mermaid was developed and published by Capcom in 1991 for the NES and Game Boy, based on Disney's 1989 animated film. The Famicom version came out in Japan on 19 July 1991, with the North American NES release the same month. Tokuro Fujiwara produced it; Yasuaki Fujita composed the NES music and Hitoshi Sakimoto the Game Boy music.

Ariel fights by trapping enemies in bubbles and throwing them. She also digs in the sand for treasure and uses shells to open chests holding power-ups. The adventure spans six stages, from the Coral Sea to two battles at Ursula's castle.

The two versions look and sound noticeably different, from stage intros to music. The Game Boy version had a second life in North America in 1997, when it was re-released under Nintendo's Player's Choice label.1

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA The Little Mermaid NES July 1991 Capcom 1
NA The Little MermaidPlayer's Choice re-release Game Boy 1997 Nintendo 1
JP リトル・マーメイド —人魚姫—Ritoru Māmeido: Ningyo Hime NES Jul 19, 1991 CapcomCAP-3U 2
None The Little Mermaid Game Boy 1991 Capcom 1

Also known as: リトル・マーメイド —人魚姫— JP2Ritoru Māmeido: Ningyo Hime JP2Русалочка RU3

Box art by region

  • The Little Mermaid box art, North America release
    NA The Little Mermaid
  • リトル・マーメイド —人魚姫— box art, Japan release
    JP リトル・マーメイド —人魚姫—

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • GameplayNESGame Boy

    On the NES Ariel swims down from the top of the screen to the starting point of each stage, while on the Game Boy she simply starts there.1

  • AudioNESGame Boy

    On the NES only the opening part of each stage theme plays, once, while the Game Boy can loop the full track; the boss music is also in a different key and much faster on the NES.1

  • GraphicsGame Boy

    The Game Boy backgrounds are simpler, and a lost heart vanishes completely instead of leaving an empty heart outline as on the NES.1

Reception

By December 1991 the game had sold 500,000 copies and was described as a big hit with female players, who made up most of its audience. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it 27/40.1

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2ja.wikipedia.org
  3. 3overclockers.ru
  4. 4ja.wikipedia.org
  5. 5ja.wikipedia.org
  6. 6ja.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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