Ariel the Little Mermaid who the player selects, both characters play the same, and feature two attacks for defeating enemies, a "normal" and a "special". Side characters from the film, like Flounder and Sebastian make appearances, and can aid the player in their quest. There are a total of 5 stages, 4 regular, each featuring a boss fight at the end, with the fifth one being exclusively a final boss fight against antagonist Ursula. The Genesis version of Ariel the Little Mermaid has received mixed to negative reviews. "AllGame" gave the game a somewhat positive review, stating a young child may enjoy it, but
Ursula (The Little Mermaid) the kingdom in a man’s world, having been kicked out for no specific reason." In her book "Emerson Goes to the Movies: Individualism in Walt Disney Company's Post-1989 Animated Films", author Justyna Fruzińska claimed that "the masculine rule of Triton is presented as positive and opposed to the negative, feminine rule of Ursula". "Understanding Disney: The Manufacture of Fantasy" author Janet Wasko accused the film's treatment of Ursula of "eliminat[ing] many of the female characters and undermin[ing] [the] feminine power" present in Andersen's fairy tale. However, Wasko also argued that Ursula could possibly be considered a mother figure for Ariel;