Welcome to my seventeenth Guide without a co-author.
This guide has been written to help the SMS Completion Project. Unlike most
SMS games I have written a guide for in the past, I have not had any childhood
memories of playing this game. It is a fun game that should take you less than
a hour to complete on Normal.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this guide and the game as much as I enjoyed writing
the guide and playing the game.
This section will explain how to play the game. It also lists the story and
characters of the game. Finally, you should find the subsections that explain
the uses of items and the different enemies useful when you play this game.
Menu Options
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Up Button = Scrolls through the options
Button 1 = Selects the option on the screen
When Swimming
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Directional Buttons = Move Ariel or Triton around in all directions
Button 1 = Attack (Normal is selected by default)
(HOLD) Button 2 + Up = Switches between normal attack or Fireball/Star
attack
(HOLD) Button 2 + Down = Summons Sebastian
(HOLD) Button 2 + Left = Summons Digger Fish
(HOLD) Button 2 + Right = Summons Flounder
When the Game is Paused
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Button 2 = Switches to the in-game map
Button 1 = Switches to your inventory
When Shopping
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Up/Down Buttons = Scrolls through the shop
Button 1 = Buys 1 item that you have selected
Button 2 = Exits the shop
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01B) Story [AM01B]
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Ursula's quest to rule the Seven Seas is close at hand. She has managed to
kidnapp the majority of the merpeople, including King Triton (or Princess Ariel
if you are playing as Triton), and turned them into Polyp. The only merperson
standing in her way is Ariel (or Triton, if you are playing as Triton).
Do not worry, as you have still have underwater allies to help you out when you
call them for help. Sebastian can fight off on-screen enemies, Flounder can
move boulders that may be in your way and the Digger Fish can dig for treasure.
Scuttle will also sell you items on your journey, just as long as you find his
shop.
Credit to vinheim for translating the back of the box. I should mention that
the above text is not the translation, but my own description of the story.
Ariel
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The main character of the story and one of the two characters you can play as.
She is a stong-willed and independant merperson who is interested in the human
world. She has a collection of human artifacts, but her only knowledge of what
the items does comes from Scuttle, who provides incorrect uses for each item.
Triton
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Ariel's father and King of Atlantica. One of two characters you can play as.
He is an overproctective father and, like his daughter, is strong-willed and
independant. He also dislike of humans.
Ursula
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A Sea Witch and the main villian of the movie and the game. In the game, she
has turned all the merpeople into Polyp and kidnapped a member of the royal
family. You must contront her to save Atlantica.
Sebastian
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The royal court composor. He is a crab that has been tasked with keeping an
eye on Ariel during the movie. In this game, he is summoned to remove an enemy
from the playing field, excluding Boss battles.
Flounder
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Ariel's best friend and the only sea-dwelling character that supports Ariel's
fasination with humans. Although he is prone to panicking under stressful
situations and is easily scared, he will help Ariel when needed. In this game,
Flounder will move boulders that may be in Ariel's way, when summoned.
Digger Fish
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I am not sure what these characters played in the movie, but they can dig up
treasure for you in the game.
Scuttle
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A seagul that is friends with Ariel. He claims to be an expert on human
objects, but all of his information is incorrect. In the game, he will sell
you items in exchange for treasures you find.
The Merpeople
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Citizens of Atlantica. During the game, they have been turned into Polyp until
you find them and reverse the spell.
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01D) Menu Screen [AM01D]
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The first option is the character that you play as. Press "Up" to choose your
character and press "Button 1" to confirm your character selection. The final
option is to choose the difficulty setting, using the same buttons as before.
Both options are explained in the next subsection.
Ariel or Triton
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The only difference I found between choosing Ariel and Triton was their special
move. Triton fired Fireballs (or maybe Lightning Balls) while Ariel fired some
Stars. It does not matter who you choose, but I preferred playing through the
game as Ariel because of the title of this game.
The "Easy" difficulty is the only difficulty level where you will only need to
collect the Polyp to advance to the Boss area. The "Normal" difficulty will
show the exit in the map in the pause menu, while the "Challenging" difficulty
will not display the exit in the map.
Allows an extra summon of Sebasitan to your current total. Sebastian will only
hit one on-screen enemy with each summon. Can only be brought from Scuttle.
Digger Fish
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Cost = 150 Gold
Allows an extra summon of the Digger Fish to your current total. The Digger
Fish will dig out treasure buried in the ground, if it is around. Can only be
brought from Scuttle.
Flounder
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Cost = 150 Gold
Allows an extra summon of Flounder to you current total. Flounder will push
boulders out of your way to allow you to progress past that area. You will
need this summon to get through the game. Can only be brought from Scuttle.
Star/Fireball
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Cost = 50 Gold
Adds another Star/Fireball to your collection. Can only be brought from
Scuttle.
Heart
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Cost = 900 Gold
Provides you with an extra life. Can be brought from Scuttle or found in
Chests.
Key
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Cost = 150 Gold
Opens one of any chests you find throughout the game. Can be found throughout
the Ocean or brought from Scuttle.
Chest
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These can either be found in the middle of the ocean or buried in the ground.
While you can not pick them up, you can open them with a Key,
Pearl
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This item gives you 200 Gold. They are pink orbs. You can find these in either
Chests or Clams.
Gold Coin
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This item gives you 100 Gold. They look like a coin that is gold (did I need to
explain that?). You can find them in Chests.
Diamond
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This item gives you 50 Gold. You can find them in either Chests or buried in
the ground.
Clam
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More of a nuisance than something that can do damage. They take 2 hits with
the normal attack to get rid off, but you may get a Pearl from them, so it is
always worth attacking them.
Moray Eel
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These enemies are most likely a referrence to Flotsam and Jetsam (Ursula's
minions). They can either be found swimming around normally, or hidden behind
rocks and ruins. I generally refer to this enemy in the Walkthrough as "Eel".
If they are hidden behind some object, they will only pounce when you are near
them. Just avoid them, when possible.
If they are swimming around normally, only attack them if they are between you
and something you want to obtain. They are fast, but weak, so just use normal
attacks.
Shark
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This enemy is a pain. The best way to get rid of these enemies (excluding the
time you face them as a Boss) is to just use Sebastian, as they have a high
resilience to your attacks and are also fast enough to avoid your attacks.
Skeleton Pirate
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Only found in the Sunken Ship. These enemies are slow and should not trouble
you to remove from the area for a while. They are quite resilient, so you do
need to take a few shots to get them out of your way. They also respawn very
quickly, so you need to be quick once they are gone.
Archer Statue
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Looks like a human floating in the water with a bow. You can remove any arrows
shot from the bow with a normal attack, but you may want to just swim past them
to progress quickly.
Discus Statue
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This enemy is a statue with one arm in the air, throwing a Discus that hones in
to your position. If you wish, you could just shoot the Discus to stop it from
hurting you. Generally, you can just swim away from them before you get hurt.
Electric Eel
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Only found on the last level. They look like the Moray Eels, but are pink
instead of dark green. They charge at you like the Moray Eels, but have an
electrical discharge during this attack. Like the Moray Eel, they only take a
few hits to remove from the screen.
Lava
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Not so much of an enemy as an obstacle. Just swim past it, trying to avoid the
spirts of lava from the rocks. The Lava and the red rocks around it will hurt
you you swim into it.
1) Excluding Bosses, you can not kill the enemies, just shove them off
the screen. Only attack enemies that will get in your way, or you
would be wasting your time.
2) Whenever you see a Clam, attack it until it is removed from the
screen as it may leave behind a pearl worth 200 Gold.
3) NEVER pause the game while you are in an area where you just removed
an enemy from the playing field, or they respawn and attack you.
4) At the beginning of the game, you want to collect 600 Gold from the
Clam at the beginning of the level. Use this money to purchase 4
Flounders (4 needed to complete the game) to help complete the game.
5) If you die and use a continue, your inventory will reset back to the
defaults for the difficulty you are playing as. This is nothing to
worry about, as levels 1, 2 and 4 have Clams that you can easily milk
to get enough money to get through the game.
6) You only need 4 Flounders to complete this game. You have no need
for Stars/Fireballs, Sebastians or Digger Fish, although using them
will make the game easier.
7) On "Challenging" difficulty, choose to get Chests with 200 Gold or
Hearts if you are not going to farm a Clam for Gold. You still need
to be able to get enough Gold to get through the game.
The main section of the guide and probably the reason why you are reading this.
Unlike most games, you can loose your lives without respawning at the beginning
of the level (or at any checkpoint you reached). This is very useful as there
is no worries about starting at the beginning halfway through finding the
Polyp. You will still respawn at the beginning of the level if you used a
continue, but all of the Polyp will need to be rediscovered as well.
Both Ariel and Triton need to pick up speed if they stop swimming, so it may be
better to just attack any enemies near the Polyp if you have stopped. Every
enemy respawns after a while (excluding Bosses), so be quick with what you want
to achieve before the return.
NOTE: Throughout this guide, I will refer to any treasure found as Gold.
NOTE: This guide will explain where every piece of Gold can be found, but
you may not be able to open all the Chests when I have mentioned
where to find them. You can either leave the Chests or come back to
them when you have a key.
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02A) The Reef [AM02A]
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Swim to the right until you get to a chest and open it for 50 Gold. Head back
to the left and dive lower when you get the chance. When you are diving, keep
to the right once you are past the Clam to avoid a hidden Eel in the rock on
the left.
NOTE: The best way to make money is to remove the Clam from the screen and
collect the pearl that may be left behind. Either way, leave the
screen and then come back and try again to get some more pearls.
Once possible, head to the right until you get to a wall. Stay as close to the
wall on the right and swim up to avoid another hidden Eel in the left rock,
then swim to the green thing (these are the Polyp) and collect the key. Head
back to the entrance of this cave, being careful to avoid the hidden Eel.
Dive to the bottom of the screen when you exit the cave and shoot the Eel that
will attack you. Once the Eel is dealt with, summon the Digger Fish to find
some treasure in the bottom-left corner that contains 50 Gold. Still near this
corner, the second Polyp is to your right, but be careful of the Eel hiding in
the rock between the newly discovered chest and the Polyp. Swim to the right
when you have a chance and you should find the shop.
SHOPPING: There is no need to buy anything on "Easy" or "Normal" Difficulty.
On "Challenging" Difficulty, you want to try and get enough money to
buy a Flounder for the next level. Additionally, buying any Stars
to make the upcoming Boss easier would always be an advantage.
Swim past the rock on the right and head to the ground. Beat off the Eel that
will be bothering you, then use a Digger Fish to get 100 Gold from a hidden
chest. Swim to the top until your path splits in two. Take the right path to
the third Polyp.
You should notice a key below your current position. Follow this rock
clockwise to reach the key without getting hit by an Eel that is hidden in the
rock face on the left. Head to the right once you get the key. Swim down to
the ground, keeping a safe distance from the rocks on the left, until you reach
the fourth Polyp.
Follow the rock face on your right to another key, then take care of the Eel to
your right. Once the Eel is removed, use a Digger Fish to retrieve a hidden
chest with a Pearl worth 200 Gold. Swim up and you should see a key in a ledge
on your right, then swim to the top. Get rid of the Shark up here (I suggest
using Sebastian) and quickly grab the final Polyp.
NOTE: People following the "Easy" section, head straight to the Boss
section below.
Follow the right rock face and you should find the entrance to the Boss area.
The entrance is above (and to the right of) the little alcove where you got the
final key mentioned in this section.
Switch to the Special Weapon (Stars for Ariel, Fireballs for Triton) as it will
make this level a bit easier in regards to taking damage. The Boss is a head
sticking out of the ground, firing a constant stream of fireballs at you. The
best way to attempt to avoid (you will most likely get hit) being hit is to
swim around the head, taking as many shots as possible.
I have seen the Stars/Fireballs nullify this Boss's attacks, so it may be an
idea to get a straight line between your shots and the Lava Demon to make this
level run more smoothly.
It takes 5 Stars/Fireballs to kill the Lava Demon.
Swim to the right and then head down the stairs you come to. When you can,
take a right and swim up to find a key. Head to the left and swim down the
second hole. There should be another hole to swim down to find a chest
containing 100 Gold.
Head back through the hole you just went through and head to the left. Summon
Flounder to push the bounder out of your way, then swim to the left. Get rid
of the Eel above you to allow easy access to the chest containing 50 Gold that
was on the same level as the Eel, then head back to where you were. Take the
gap in the floor below and follow this to the right to find the first Polyp in
this level. Head back to where the boulder was and go through the gap above
and to your left, then head to the right for the second Polyp.
Head to the left, removing two Eels out of your way, to reach a chest that has
100 Gold inside it. Swim back to the right until you can dive below the deck.
When there is a Clam to your right, take the next left and remove the Skeleton
Pirate from the screen. Quickly swim above where the Skeleton Pirate was to
obtain the third Polyp.
Two ways to get through the Skeletion Pirate:
1) If it is to the left of the floor gap you came from, quickly swim
through the gap before the Skeleton Pirate can reach you/the gap.
2) Go above the gap in the floor above the Pirate Skeleton and aim down.
Fire at it until it is removed from the playing area, then swim
through the gap.
Either way, swim up and to the right to face the Clam. Knock the Clam out of
the playing area to get through it, then swim down the stairs until you can
swim down a corridor on your left. The end of this corridor contains a key.
Anyway, once you get back to the stairs, swim down to the bottom of the ship,
then head to the left. Get rid of the Pirate Skeleton and Eel, then grab the
forth Polyp in the bottom-left corner of the ship.
Swim to the right and take care of the Pirate Skeleton, then continue on your
way. When you reach a key, you have to swim to the next level. Here, you have
a choice. Swim up to reach the shop or swim down and to the right to finish
this level. This Walkthrough will head to the shop.
SHOPPING: "Easy" Difficulty should spend money on keeping your lives at 4 and
your Stars/Fireballs stocked up at 9. "Normal" Difficulty should
have the spending focussed on Stars/Fireballs only, as lives just
cost too much. "Challenging" Difficulty would be better at keeping
the money safe until you reach the last round.
Once you have finished shopping, Swim down to the bottom level of the ship and
head to the right (you should have taken the right gap to reach the bottom
level. Deal with an Eel in your way and then continue to the right until you
reach the right wall of this ship and the final Polyp.
NOTE: People following the "Easy" section, head straight to the Boss
section below.
Swim to the left until you get to the left wall, then swim up to the Boss area.
There are 2 Sharks that you have to deal with in this area. They attack like
any Shark that you encounter during the normal gameplay, so there is not much
to say about them. Unlike the first enemy, you will not have to immediately
dodge any attacks, so you can take your time switching to the Stars/Fireballs.
The Sharks have a programming flaw where they can get stuck in the top-left
corner if they head up there at the right angle. If you notice one of them
stuck like this, just focus on the other one. Once the non-stuck Shark has
been defeated, you can just use normal attacks to finish off the stuck Shark.
3 hits with Stars/Fireballs will kill a single Shark here. You need to kill
both Sharks, so you need a total of 6 Stars/Fireballs.
Dive straight away to attempt to avoid being hit by and arrow. Keep diving
until you come to a little gap between some rocks. Edge your way closer to the
bottom and fire when the Eel and Clam is within reach. Shoot them off the
screen and only edge a bit closer if they reappear straight away. Once they no
longer appear, use a Digger Fish to get 50 Gold and collect the Polyp.
Exit the little area you are in and swim to the right. When you can, swim down
to the bottom and open the chest down here containing 50 Gold. Head back up to
the top, until you see a key on your left. Go through the broken pillar and
swim as far to the ground here to avoid an arrow that has been sent to hit you.
Once the arrow is gone, quickly exit this pillar and swim up, then to the
right. A building above you contains the second Polyp, which can be entered
through a gap on the right side (near an archer, so be careful).
When you have got the second Polyp, swim out of here continue to the right,
swimming over the archer. Keep heading to the right and you should come to the
third Polyp in yet another building. Grab it, then swim down to the Shop.
SHOPPING: "Easy" should get the maximum amount of Stars/Fireballs for the next
Boss. "Normal" needs to get an extra Flounder to be able to get
through the next level, then spend money on Stars/Fireballs.
The money you saved from the last round should be used to buy 3
Flounders to allow completion of the final round, with the rest being
spent on Stars/Fireballs.
The building to the left of the shop contains a key you want to grab. Below
the key you just got is the fourth Polyp. Below this Polyp is a Chest that you
want to open to recieve an extra life. Swim to the right of the screen,
opening another chest with 50 Gold along the way.
When you get to the bottom-right corner, use a Digger Fish to get 50 Gold. You
should see the final Polyp on the screen, but do not get it just yet, as we can
get another key from this level. Swim to the top-right corner to get the key,
then swim back down to grab the final Polyp.
NOTE: People following the "Easy" section, head straight to the Boss
section below.
From the final Polyp, swim to the left and head to the top when you can. Head
to the left until you swim over an archer, then dive to the bottom when you
can. The first ruins on the right when you start to dive is the Boss entrance.
Where the snake points will be where it fires some orbs. It will point as
close to your position as possible by the games' programming. I found that the
best way to kill it is to get the orbs attacking the ground, then quickly swim
up and fire at the Snake, then swim above the Snake and get another hit in and
finally return to where you were, after sneaking in another hit on your way
back. Unlike the first Boss, your Stars/Fireballs will have no effect against
this Boss's attack.
The Snake will be defeated once 8 Stars/Fireballs hit it.
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02D) The Cave [AM02D]
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Try to swim past the Electric Eel to open the chest containing 50 Gold inside.
Swim to the left until you can not go further, then dive to the bottom. You
will reach another Electric Eel that you should take care of (use Sebastian if
you have him). Once the Electric Eel is gone, use Flounder to move a boulder
blocking the first Polyp.
Swim back up and take the first right and then immediately dive to the bottom.
While diving to the bottom, stay on the right side of the corridor to avoid a
Eel hiding in the left wall. When you get to the bottom, head to the left to
open a chest with 50 Gold.
Swim to the right, taking care of an Electric Eel along the way, until you come
to a key below you. Grab the key and continue to the right and use Flounder to
remove the boulder in your way. There is a Clam here, which you want to farm
600 Gold from to be able to get 3 Flounders (if you did not have enough to move
the last 2 boulders) and a key for a chest that contains an extra life.
Anyway, to your right is a Polyp, if you could move the boulder out of the way.
Swim to the left until you get to a dead end, removing an Electric Eel along
the way. When you reach the dead end, swim up the first corridor (you should
have come down this corridor earlier in the game) while keeping to the right
side. When you can, take the first right and swim to the shop.
SHOPPING: "Easy" and "Normal" should stock up on Stars/Fireballs first, then
spend the rest on extra lives. "Challenging" will require buying 3
Flounders (if you did not before, or died during, the last level)
to get through this level, then you may want to buy a key for a chest
with an extra life, or some Stars/Fireballs for the last Boss.
Once you have finished shopping, head to the right and through the lava rock,
taking care of the Electric Eel around this area. While clinging to the right
wall, dive down until you are inline with the Polyp on your left, then grab it.
Head back to clinging on the right wall (to avoid hiding Eels below) and dive.
When you come to the second corridor on your right, swim up it and use Flounder
to clear the way for you. Head to the small wall on your right, the swim down
to avoid the hiding Eel. Head to the right to open the chest with the extra
life I kept talking about. Swim back to the left and then swim up (staying as
far away from the left wall as possible. When you are past the hiding Eel,
take the top corridor to reach the fourth Polyp, staying close to the right
wall to avoid another hidden Eel.
Swim back to the intersection and go down the left corridor. When you get to
the end, swim up and take the first right you come to. Follow this corridor to
a key. Above the key is a hole that you want to go through. You should have
spotted the final Polyp on the left.
NOTE: People following the "Easy" section, head straight to the Boss
section below.
Head to the left, using Sebastian on the Electric Eel (if you still have 1 to
use) and swimming through lava rock to reach the final Boss.
She sits in the bottom-left corner of the room. She will fire a bunch of
spiders at you and then rest while the spiders are still on the screen, before
attacking again. You want to dodge these spiders and attack here with every
Star you have before starting with normal attacks.
Due to there being no more Boss battles left, you could just stay in one place
keep attacking until one you are dies, although I would not recommend that if
you are playing the "Challenging" difficulty. I have done it with "Normal"
after a continue, so it is an easy way to win.
You need to use all 9 Stars/Firebals and some normal attacks to defeat Ursula.
Everyone on the FAQ Contribution General Board for help with improving my
guides and starting up the SMS and NES Completion Projects. Please check out
board 2000094 to see the latest Completion Projects and see how you could help
them out.
vinheim for translating the back of the box for me.
