| The Emperor's New Groove | |
|---|---|
 North American PlayStation box art | |
| Developers | Argonaut Games(PS/PC) Sandbox Studios(GBC) |
| Publishers | Sony Computer Entertainment(PS) Disney Interactive(PC) Ubi Soft(GBC) |
| Producers | Mark Bevan(PS/PC) Jamie Walker(PS/PC) |
| Designer | Stephen Jarrett[4](PS/PC) |
| Programmers | Harrison Bernardez(PS) Jani Peltonen(PC) |
| Artists | Stuart Scott(PS/PC) Wayne Billingham(PS/PC) |
| Composer | Justin Scharvona[5](PS/PC) |
| Platforms | PlayStation,Microsoft Windows,Game Boy Color |
| Release | PlayStation,Windows Game Boy Color |
| Genre | Platform |
| Mode | Single-player |
The Emperor's New Groove is a 2000platform game developed byArgonaut Games for thePlayStation andMicrosoft Windows. It is based on the 2000 animated filmof the same name. An abridged version was developed bySandbox Studios for theGame Boy Color.
The Emperor's New Groove is aplatformer in which the player controls Kuzco from a third-person perspective, progressing through a linear succession of levels based on locations from the movie. The primary goal of the game is to get to the end of each level without losing all health.
Throughout the levels are placed several coins. Collecting all coins in a level rewards the player with a large gold coin and is necessary for 100% completion. To achieve this, the player is usually required to defeat enemies and uncover secrets within each level.
Some levels involve Kuzco drinking magic elixirs, turning him into a frog, a turtle, or a rabbit, each with specific abilities needed to complete the level.
The PlayStation and PC versions ofThe Emperor's New Groove loosely follow the plot of the movie, from which they also include severalcutscenes at the start or end of certain levels.Emperor Kuzco has been transformed into allama by his evil advisor Yzma, who has subsequently taken over his throne. Kuzco befriends the peasant Pacha and together they seek to confront Yzma and her henchman Kronk to obtain an elixir that will return Kuzco to his human form. There are some characters that do not appear in the movie, such as an unnamed boy riding a llama-shaped bike who throughout the game challenges Kuzco to a race.
Argonaut Games founderJez San noted that the game's development team tried to keep the game's plot and setting close to that of the movie while also "exaggerating some elements of the movie that would make great game scenarios", specifically pointing to the scene in the movie with the roller coaster leading to Yzma's laboratory, which played a minor role in the movie but was made into a much larger aspect of the game.[6]
The PlayStation and PC versions ofThe Emperor's New Groove were developed using the samegame engine asCroc 2, following Argonaut's common strategy of reusing game engines and development tools from their previously created games.[7] Argonaut developedThe Emperor's New Groove at the same time asDisney's Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge,[8] another 3D platformer also built from the Croc 2 engine.The Emperor's New Groove shares many graphical and gameplay similarities toNasira's Revenge as a result of this.
Before its release on the PlayStation, Argonaut believed thatThe Emperor's New Groove had potential to be updated and rereleased on upcomingnext generation consoles,[8] but an updated game was never attempted. The PlayStation version's voice acting and subtitles werelocalized into nine languages for thePAL region.[9][Note 1]
Demo versions ofThe Emperor's New Groove on PlayStation were exhibited at theEuropean Computer Trade Show in September 2000, alongside other upcoming games fromDisney Interactive.[10]
ADVD-Rom demo ofThe Emperor’s New Groove was included on the DVD release of the game's respective movie counterpart, accessible by inserting the DVD into a PC.[11]
In 2010, the game was ported to thePlayStation 3 and thePlayStation Portable as aPS one Classic digital download on thePlayStation Store.[12] In 2012, the game was also made downloadable for thePlayStation Vita.[13]
| Aggregator | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| GBC | PC | PS | |
| Metacritic | N/A | N/A | 66/100[14] |
| Publication | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| GBC | PC | PS | |
| AllGame | N/A | N/A |   [15] |
| CNET Gamecenter | N/A | N/A | 8/10[16] |
| Computer Games Strategy Plus | N/A |  [17] | N/A |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 5/10[18] | N/A | 7.5/10[19] |
| Game Informer | N/A | N/A | 8.25/10[20] |
| Gamekult | N/A | 5/10[21] | 6/10[22] |
| GameRevolution | N/A | N/A | B−[23] |
| GameSpot | N/A | N/A | 7.5/10[24] |
| IGN | N/A | N/A | 6.5/10[25] |
| Jeuxvideo.com | 12/20[26] | N/A | 13/20[27] |
| Next Generation | N/A | N/A | [28] |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | N/A | N/A | [29] |
The PlayStation version received "average" reviews according to thereview aggregation websiteMetacritic.[14]
Writing for video game news websiteIGN, Jeremy Conrad compared the gameplay of the game to the games in theSpyro the Dragon trilogy of games, noting the similarities in controls and gameplay style. Conrad stated that the game "doesn't offer anything that we haven't seen before" and criticizing the game's difficulty and short length, while praising the gameplay for its variety and "spot-on" controls and also praising its graphics and music and highlighting the game's self-aware dialogue as an enjoyable aspect.[25]
Reviewer Jon Thompson ofAllGame spoke positively of the game, praising it for its graphics, music, and controls while also criticizing the game for its short length.[15] Sam Kennedy ofElectronic Gaming Monthly praised the game's presentation, noting that it had "wit and sarcasm" similar to the film it was based on, but was more critical of its gameplay, calling it "a mixed bag" and praising the level variety but criticizing the repetition of certain gameplay elements.[19] Star Dingo ofGamePro's website-only review commended the game's self-aware sense of humor and level variety, though they also noted the game's similarities to other 3D platformer games, concluding that "The Emperor may have found himself a brand new groove, but the gameplay sits squarely in the niche formed by a thousand other 3D games...".[30][Note 2] Frank Provo ofGameSpot was critical of the game's sound quality and low difficulty and particularly criticized the camera as being "jittery and out of control" at times, but ultimately lauded the game's variety and presentation, noting the game's graphics to be "underwhelming from a visual standpoint" at the beginning of the game but becoming more interesting as the game progressed, concluding that the game "does more right than it does wrong" and calling the game "pretty, funny, and pretty funny- the way a Disney game should be".[24] David Chen ofNextGen said that it was "Neither challenging nor captivating, but a solid game nonetheless."[28]
By August 2001, the PlayStation and PC versions ofThe Emperor's New Groove had together sold 400,000 units, which Argonaut Games deemed as disappointing.[31] As a result, the game did not generate any royalty income for Argonaut during the year following its release.[32]
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