DS Review: The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure

I'm not gonna lie - I've always been a big geek for the Little Mermaid. (I blame my affinity for long-haired redheads almost entirely on her.) I've probably had every different variation for every system of the Little Mermaid games - she pales second only to Snow White for me as far as Disney princesses go, and there's never really been any Snow White games (save for a tiny pixelated handheld LCD game). So it comes as no surprise that I'd naturally *have* to try this one out.

It's a charming little game with a cute storyline. You're sent out by King Triton to help figure out what is causing these massive sea quakes, and to help the inhabitants of the ocean that have been affected by them. Each victim has its own mini game that you have to play on different parts of the ocean map; none of which are particularly difficult, but help flesh out and further the storyline.

You collect tiger shells all throughout the game to help towards Flounder learning new tricks - but these tricks are little more than useless unlockable easter eggs, because they aren't really good for anything other than just being cute.

It takes a little while to get used to the preciseness of the stylus controls for certain activities, such as digging up the human treasures. Speaking of which, does anyone else find it curious that, despite being under the sea for as long as these artifacts supposedly have, all of them polish up into perfect white, silver, or platinum? I would have figured the seawater would make them lose their lustre. Your thoughts?

Which brings me to the singing treasure chests... Trust me, if you have a little girl that's playing this game, this is likely their favorite part in the entire game. For an adult playing this game through? It just proves to make you feel silly and question what you're really doing, playing a Little Mermaid game. One thing I found helps with this feeling is, rather than singing the notes? Hum them instead. Granted, it has a harder time registering higher pitches through hums, but it can be done. (I did it.)

The music is actually very pleasant and cheerful, and not to the point where one feels the need to turn the sound down/off. It was very reminiscent of the Caribbean music in the movie. The graphics in the game aren't exactly terrific, but for the age-range this game is aimed at, they're more than passable. The 2-D graphics on the top screen remind me of the oldschool DOS/Windows 3.x games, whereas the 3-D graphics look like they're from about 1995. Still, they're not bad, and especially for being on such a small screen, I think they're okay.

I completed the entire game, beginning to end, over the course of just a few hours. It's pretty darn easy, but there's enough of a challenge there to keep a girl's interest while at the same time, letting her feel special for her easy accomplishments. I liked the game for its nostalgia factor. It brought back many happy memories from my childhood of playing in swimming pools with my sister and cousins, all pretending to be mermaids. I'm also showing my age here, but it also reminded me of a verrrrry old game, "Treasure Cove", which I loved.

I'll generously give this game a rating of 7 out of 10 seashells. Definitely one of the better Ariel titles out there.