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
Ariel's Story Studio turn her into a human for three days. Ariel signs the contract and gives her voice and fins to Ursula who transforms her into a human. Flounder and Sebastian carry Ariel to shore. Grimsby tells Eric and Ariel to have fun. Eric shows to Ariel the tour of the kingdom. The two ladies are doing laundry, but one boy jumps into the water, and the mom fishes him out. Ariel pulls a puppet out of a puppeteer's hands. Eric and Ariel dance with each other and become good friends. Scuttle asks Flounder if there is any kissing involved, but Flounder