The Little Mermaid: Capcom & Sega Games

There is a live-action version of Disney's The Little Mermaid in theaters today so I scanned a few magazine articles from 1991-93 relating to some of the games based on the animated film. I couldn't find as much coverage as I would have liked though there are gaps in my magazine libraries. Perhaps magazines also didn't want to dedicate too much space to four different games based on the same movie. For Capcom's games, I've got reviews from Video Games & Computer Entertainment (April 1991) and GamePro (August 1991) of the Nintendo Entertainment System title, plus a Game Boy game preview from Video Games & Computer Entertainment (January 1993). The only coverage of Sega's Genesis and Game Gear games comes from the February/March and April/May 1991 issues of Sega Visions which is Sega's own magazine. Sega was, of course, promoting its games and the "reviews" don't voice too much opinion other than to say that you should play them. I've not played any of these myself but based on the reviews I get the impression that most are decent, if not too easy for experienced players. The first review fell onto a second page that I edited onto the end of the first page and the page with the Game Boy preview features a preview of Viewpoint for the Neo Geo as well. 

[YouTube] Kenner's Ewok Village Playset & Accessories (1983)

https://youtu.be/pANWmEf65tw

It's May 4th and the final Star Wars post this week is for Kenner's Ewok Village Playset. While it didn't include any action figures, it's a nice playset and one of the larger ones for Kenner's original Star Wars line, perhaps only outdone by the towering Death Star. The village could have used a bit more standing room as Kenner squeezed a lot in here. There are three trees holding the main platform that features railings, a campfire with spit, and drum. One tree has a hut inside of it and another has a chute that action figures can drop down. Around the exterior are an elevator and swinging boulder, along with a net trap underneath. Shown in the video are two additional Ewok accessories: the Assault Catapult and Combat Glider. Kenner made an Ewok Battle Wagon for its "Power of the Force" series but I do not own that one. Although I didn't include the Rebel Commando action figure in the video, he can be seen in an outdoor photo below and I scanned his packaging along with many of the other Return of the Jedi characters. I put together an Ewok cheat sheet to help with the names too, though I'm missing Paploo's card so I made a name tag for him.

Ewok Village Playset

Assault Catapult & Combat Glider

Action Figures

Outdoor Photos

May the Force (4th) Be With You

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Foldout No. 2

I'm not entirely sure what to call this; it's part magazine and part poster. It's labeled number two so there is at least one other. The first section discusses the film's production, including the creation of the Ewok costumes and casting the Ewoks. It goes on to detail how the creatures in Jabba's palace were designed and has a walkthrough of those movie scenes. On the back are a variety of "strange facts" that aren't too strange but they are interesting. Once the magazine is completely opened up, the other side features a poster of Wicket W. Warrick.