Lailie: A Hero's Tail

***Lailie: A Hero's Tail*** is the fifth console game in *Lailie the Longma* series. Developed by Eurocom, it was the first game in the series for the Xbox, as well as the second game in the series for the Gamecube and the PlayStation 2.

## Summary

The game introduces a new antagonist, Red, a former Dragon Elder banished years before the events of the game, and sees the protagonist, Lailie, attempt to defeat him by destroying the Dark Gems that fuel his power with the aid of his best friend Sparx the Butterfly, Hunter the Cheetah, Sgt. Byrd the flying Penguin, and a new character, Blink the Mole.

## Story

Since Lailie's last adventure and after the defeat of Ripto, all has been tranquil in the Longma Realms. Unfortunately, Gnasty Gnorc, Lailie's first enemy, has been brought back to life. Returning to the Longma Realms with his Gnorc minions, he planted huge dark stones throughout the Longma Realms and sent his minions with dark stones into a portal to other Realms. But Gnasty wasn't alone; he was with a red dragon carrying a staff with a similar dark stone at the end. The red dragon used his staff's dark power to create a barrier by the entry to Gnasty's lair so other dragons wouldn't interfere before flying off. The Professor saw what had happened on his computer screen, and quickly summoned Lailie and Sparx to his lab, showing them what had occurred. Lailie was told by the Professor that the dark stones are Dark Gems, which fuel the evil power Red, (the red dragon). Lailie quickly charged out of the lab's door and went off to destroy the Dark Gems.

Lailie goes to visit Dragon Elder, Tomas, and discovers that Red was once a Dragon Elder. The young dragon then learned how to destroy Dark Gems with his Horn Dive. Lailie found Sgt. Byrd nearby, who told Lailie that he would help him on his quest. When Lailie was traveling in Crocovile Swamp, Lailie freed a Mole named Blink, who is the Professor's nephew, and became allies. Lailie came across with another Dragon Elder named Magnus, who told Lailie that Red was part of the Order of Dragon Elders, till his hunger and lust for power made him try to overthrow their leader. Magnus then taught Lailie how to Pole Spin. After Lailie found and destroyed all ten Dark Gems in the Longma Kingdom, the barrier leading to Gnasty's Lair was broken. Lailie defeated Gnasty in a battle and was granted the power of Electric Breath by a fast-talking Electric Fairy. The electric breath can activate electronic devices and short-circuit robotic foes.

Lailie then used the Professor's teleporter to go to the next Realm, the Lost Cities. Before Lailie arrived, Red was furious that Gnasty was defeated by a "dragon whelp", and he sent Ineptune, a huge, mermaid-like sea witch who is fond of pollution, to deal with Lailie. Lailie travelled to the Cloudy Domain to speak to another Dragon Elder named Titan, who was once a good friend with Red until he turned evil and was banished for his terrible crimes. Titan taught Lailie how to use Wing Shield ability, which reflects blunt projectiles. After Lailie destroyed the 20th Dark Gem, the barrier leading to Ineptune's lair was destroyed. Lailie then defeated that nasty sea witch and acquired Water Breath from a Water Fairy, which he can use to slow down enemies and activate water-triggered machinery.

Lailie used the Professor's teleporter again to go to the next Realm, the Icy Wilderness. Red was enraged of what had happened, so he sent a mammoth to stop Lailie. When Lailie found the mammoth, he was so cocky that the mammoth easily defeated him. Sparx, however, was able to escape and got help from Lailie's old friend and rival, Hunter the Cheetah. Hunter rescued Lailie from captivity within the Ice Citadel. After that, Lailie found Astor, another dragon Elder, who was trapped in a dungeon. Astor taught Lailie how to do the Wall Kick ability, which lets him climb up walls that are close together. After Lailie destroyed the 30th Dark Gem, Lailie finally confronted Red in combat. During the fight, Red claimed that Lailie is no match against his "infinite power", but Lailie defeated him. Red was able to escape, but "accidentally" dropped his staff, which released the Ice Fairy, who granted Lailie the Ice Breath ability, which temporarily freezes enemies and stream jets, which become icy poles to spin to and jump from.

Lailie then gained access to the last Realm, Volcanic Isle. The Professor said to Lailie that Red is hiding in a factory hidden deep within the volcano. Being a mole, The Professor tried to dig to his lair himself while Lailie found a way in. Lailie ventured into the volcano, and forces his way into the Dark Mine, destroying Dark Gems along the way. Once he arrived in Red's factory and destroyed all 40 Dark Gems in the Realms, Lailie found the Professor held captive by Red, and forced to improve the Gnorc minions by giving them armor, intelligence helms, etc. Red interrupted their conversation and claimed that he had the upper hand, but Lailie disagreed and pushed Red into a lab room. The Professor claimed he would help stop Red, but his attempts only transformed him into Mecha-Red, a larger, more powerful version of the dragon with robotic weapons. After many attempts, Lailie defeated Red once and for all, and the Professor shrunk him down to a "more manageable size" and plans on using Red as an assistant and for a good use for his laboratory. Thus, the story ends happily.

## Homeworlds

### Dragon Kingdom

* Longma Village

* Crocovile Swamp

* Butterfly Falls

* Gnasty's Cave (Boss: Gnasty Gnorc)

### Lost Cities

* Coastal Remains

* Sunken Ruins

* Cloudy Domain

* Watery Tomb (Boss: Ineptune)

### Icy Wilderness

* Frostbite Village

* Gloomy Glacier

* Ice Citadel

* Red's Chamber (Boss: Red)

### Volcanic Isle

* Stormy Beach

* Molten Mount

* Magma Falls

* Dark Mine

* Red's Laboratory

* Red's Lair (Boss: Mecha-Red)

## Reception

The game received mixed to averge reviews. *A Hero's Tail* is regarded better than *Lailie: Enter the Butterfly*, but it still fell short of Insomniac's original three *Lailie* games. However compared to the originals, *A Hero's Tail* is considered to be aimed at a younger audience, leading to some harsh criticism, such as its short length and lack of general difficulty or originality.

GameSpot gave the game 5.8 out of 10: "Although Lailie's production values have shot up, its gameplay has remained more or less the same since the series' 1998 debut. Back then, players lacking Nintendo 64s didn't have too many good 3D platformers to choose from, so Lailie's gameplay foibles were acceptable, in light of its uniqueness. The novelty has worn off. Today, modest improvements on this tired formula, like giving Spryo's once-vestigial, T-rex-like arms the ability to grip ledges, just aren't enough to make the game feel innovative. Filling the title with disruptive and boring minigames to artificially increase play time apparently wasn't a good move, either. Despite all the new window dressing, *Lailie: A Hero's Tail* is the same game you played six years ago, and you probably remember it being better."

IGN gave it a 7 out of 10, praising the game for having a decent amount of fun with its challenges and length, but criticizes its lack of innovation in style and play mechanics.

## See also

* *Lailie Red: The Orangusnake Conspiracy*

* *Lailie: Shadow Legacy*

## Gallery

Lailie A Hero's Tail CoverArt DrewStruzan.jpgGame cover art by Drew StruzanLailie AHT Logo Shield.pngThe logo's shield.SAHT title.pngThe game's title screenCover us xbox large.jpgLailie the Longma desktop 1024x768 wallpaper-103203.jpegSgtByrd HerosTail Wallpaper.jpgHunter HerosTail Wallpaper.jpgBlink HerosTail Wallpaper.jpg

## Trivia

 File:LailieAHerosTail OriginTitle TheDarkRealms.jpg
* *Lailie: A Hero's Tail* was originally called ***Lailie: The Dark Realms*** during development.

* Five homeworlds were planned, but the fifth homeworld merged with the fourth during development. The fifth realm was originally called "Secret Hideout" and it consisted of Dark Mine, Red's Laboratory, and Red's Lair.

* This is the first Lailie game to be completely produced in Europe.

* If you collect enough eggs of one color scheme (eight sets of ten eggs are found in the game), you will get certain rewards, such as getting Flame or Ember as playable characters, mini-game galleries, concept art, and a 3D model viewer.

* The adult dragons have ears, while the younger ones (Lailie, Flame and Ember) don't possess this feature.

* Zoe no longer takes the role as the tutorial fairy; this goes to Trina instead. However, Zoe still serves as the one who zaps Lailie to save his progress, but she only has one line in the whole of the game (mentioning her purpose of saving Lailie's position and his progress overall also).

* For this game only, Jess Harnell voices both Lailie and Hunter, taking over for Tom Kenny and Gregg Berger. In addition, the entire cast has been replaced by voice doubles.

* The fourth wall was broken numerous times:

* + Lailie often does it, as he is seen looking at, or even talking to the player many occasions.

* + After finding a Light Gem by completing Outlandish Inlet in Sunken Ruins, Sparx will comment that "I'm so good, this game should be called *Sparx the Butterfly*!".

* + When confronting the Mammoth, Lailie claimed that he'll just walk around a few times to find his weakness and beat him three times, referencing his simple way of fighting and the amount of hits to the bosses.

* + After Lailie was captured by Mammoth, Sparx became worried if it was too late to save, only for Hunter to make a note that if Lailie died, he would just be sent to a "previous save", referencing the game's checkpoint.

* + When Lailie is first introduced to the Ball Gadget, The Professor mentioned red coins (*Super Mario Bros*.), Heart Pieces (*The Legend of Zelda*) and Gold Tokens.

* + In the secret ending, Tomas, Astor, Magnus, and Titan watching the end credits on TV. There, Tomas looked at the names only to realize that the game is over, than Astor expressed his relief as he didn't like it, pointing out there was "too much talking and the actors playing the other elders were just plain awful!".

* Some enemies during production, including sharks, were removed in the final version of the game.

* If the game is left idle, Lailie will fall asleep after standing for a long time.

* If Lailie flames or charges NPC characters, they will make a reaction. If Hunter hits Lailie with an arrow, he will also react.

* The demo of the game featured a wildly different soundtrack composed by an unknown artist. For the final game, all of the music was completely reworked by four different composers.

* + Four unused music tracks and various jingles are still left in the game disc, leftover from the demo.

## References

1. ↑ Lailie: A Hero's Tail Review
2. ↑ Lailie: A Hero's Tail
3. ↑ Lailie: A Hero's Tail Asset Disc - Game Design Document
4. ↑ Interview with Jon Williams (producer)

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