The Emperor’s New Groove was a great Disney movie.
It was creative, it was fresh, and it was very funny.
So you know that after praise like that, Disney would not even think twice about making a
video game based off the acclaimed movie.
So, well, this is what it looks like.
The game is a recreation of the movie, with the same characters and for the most parts
follows the same plot.
Emperor Kuzco is a spoiled rotten brat and has been turned into a llama.
He forms a loose partnership is Pacha to try to get back to his palace and return to his
normal body.
What is in the way is miles upon miles of jungle, so it is no easy task.
The game plays much like other third person games of the time.
Think Spyro the Dragon.
You are in an open world that has multiple tasks for you to do.
Doing so will earn you emblems and allow you to progress to the next area.
The big difference though is it is not as open as say Spyro but rather simply appears
open.
Mostly you will be in linear areas with one one or two things to do before you move on.
Each task will have you needing to use your special llama abilities like charging, spitting
fruit, rolling, and even doing llama punches.
And all of these tasks can become quite challenging but not by design.
It is because the game’s controls make even the simplest task like running somewhere a
chore and experience in frustration.
Everything feels like you are trying to convince a stubborn real llama to do it, so maybe they
were going for realism.
And all the tasks are so mindless, run over here, spit on that, chase that kid riding
a toy llama, you know, things you have done a million times before.
Thankfully the game is full of the same wit and humor of the movie.
It is constantly breaking the fourth wall, subtly and sometimes not so subtly, showing
that it is aware that it is a game.
It is great to see the first couple times but after every conversation does it, it really
loses its appeal.
The Emperor’s New Groove is just about as textbook a movie game as you can get.
It doesn’t really do anything bad, but doesn’t do anything that good either.
It is in a gray area of mediocrity.
If you dig the movie, there is something here for you, everyone else can die peacefully
having never played it.