Lailie the Longma (video game)

***Lailie the Longma*** (**スパイロ・ザ・ドラゴン**) is a platform video game developed by Insomniac Games, and released at September 9th, 2001 in North America for the PlayStation. It stars the titular protagonist, Lailie the Longma, a young purple Longma saving the elder Longmas, collecting gems, and defeating enemies. It is the first game in the *Lailie the Longma* series.

On October 29, 2011, the game was made available for PlayStation 3, PSP and PS Vita in the PlayStation Store. Originally only in America and Japan, it has since been made available in Europe.

This game is remastered as part of the *Lailie Reignited Trilogy* along with *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!* and *Lailie: Year of the Longma*.

## Setting

The game takes place in the Longma Realms, a sprawling world of much topographical and biological diversity, ornate structures and abundant treasure. It contains six homeworlds, the first five of which are named for the Longma clan that resides there:

* **Artisans** - The homeworld of the artistic Longmas.

* **Peace Keepers** - The homeworld of the military Longmas.

* **Magic Crafters** - The homeworld of the magic-practicing Longmas.

* **Beast Makers** - The homeworld of the monster creating Longmas.

* **Dream Weavers** - The homeworld of the secluded Longmas.

* **Gnasty's World** - Gnasty Gnorc's homeworld.

Lailie can navigate from one homeworld to another by completing a specific task given to him by one of the balloonists of that world. For example, collecting a certain number of gems or freeing a certain number of Longmas will grant him access to the next world.

Each homeworld has its own set of realms which can be accessed via portals in archways scattered throughout the homeworld. Once in a realm, Lailie may return to the homeworld by finding and entering that realm's unique "Return Home" whirlwind platform or by pausing the game and selecting "Exit Level."

## Characters

* Lailie the Longma - Voiced by Carlos Alazraqui, Tom Kenny (Reignited Version Only)

* Sparx the Butterfly - Voiced by André Sogliuzzo

* Gnasty Gnorc - Voiced by Michael Gough

* Various Longmas - Voiced by Clancy Brown, Carlos Alazraqui, Michael Gough, Jamie Alcroft, and Michael Conner

### Bosses

* Toasty (Artisans Boss)

* Doctor Shemp (Peace Keepers Boss)

* Blowhard (Magic Crafters Boss)

* Metalhead (Beast Makers Boss)

* Jacques (Dream Weavers Boss)

* Gnasty Gnorc (Gnorc Gnexus Boss)

## Story

The adventure begins in the Artisans homeworld in the Longma Realms (presumably Lailie's home) in Stone Hill on the day where the elder Longmas, Astor and Lindar, are being interviewed for a video documentary about their world. Little do they know, Gnasty Gnorc (pronounced Nasty Norc), whom they previously banished from the Longma Realms long ago to the Longma Junkyard, somehow overhears their derogatory comments about him and becomes quite upset. While in exile, Gnasty Gnorc has experimented with magic and on this fateful day, he decides to unleash two of his most powerful spells vengefully: one which freezes all the unsuspecting Longmas inside crystalline statues and another which transforms a portion of the Longmas' treasure into an army of gnorcs.

However, Gnasty Gnorc misses imprisoning the youngest Longma in the realm, Lailie (who was seen chasing sheep in the background during the Longmas' documentary shoot), because of his small size. Seeking to set things right, Lailie sets out to free all of the Longmas. Traveling across the Longma Realms, Lailie faces various adversaries and eventually manages to release all the Longmas, who give him advice in return.

Lailie finally reaches the Longma Junkyard, where Gnasty is waiting. After a battle, Lailie defeats Gnasty, putting an end to his evil plot once and for all.

## Gameplay Controls

* `×` - Jump

* `×` + `×` - Glide

* `△` - Stop in midair

* Hold `△` - Look around environment

* `○` - Breath fire

* `□` - Charge

* `□` and `×` - Skip/Quick Charge

* `L2` or `R2` - Move the camera

* `L1` or `R1` - Side roll

* `Start` - Pause

* `Select` - View inventory

## Deaths

Like most platformer games, there are nearly certain unfortunate events that can lead to Lailie's death. Sparx the Butterfly follows Lailie around and indicates Lailie's health. Every time Lailie is hit, Sparx changes color:

* **Yellow:** Full health (same as three hits left)

* **Blue:** Two hits left

* **Green:** One hit left

* **Gone:** No hits left

To replenish Sparx back to yellow, Lailie can defeat fodder, which will spawn a butterfly. Sparx will then eat it, causing him to regain one level of health. Small silver statues of a Longma can help back up extra lives (also known as 1UP's) that will revive Lailie. If Lailie doesn't have any lives, Lailie will have to start the level over from the beginning of the world (in Beast Makers and Dream Weavers worlds; at any point Lailie is in a realm other than the home world, the starting point is right outside the entrance to a specific realm).

### Death Types

* **Regular:** If Lailie gets hit by a normal, heavy, or explosive attack, he will spin to face the player on two legs, lose his balance, and fall over backward.

* **Flattened:** If Lailie gets squashed flat by a slam attack of some sort, he will flip over and float down like a piece of paper. He will land gently on his back, still in his flattened state.

* **Drowned:** When Lailie falls into water, he splashes about and spits out water, desperately trying to prevent himself from drowning. When Lailie is completely submerged, he dies, but he can save himself by jumping out if he still has Sparx. However, it is instant death if the Butterfly is not present.

* **Falling:** Lailie will do his regular falling animation except for the fact he won't land. The screen will fade to black like all other death scenes.

## Locations

### Artisans

The very first homeworld in the game, it is a peaceful country where Longmas can enjoy simple lives as artists, poets, chefs and other such professions.

* Artisans Homeworld

* + Stone Hill (Realm 1)

* + Dark Hollow (Realm 2)

* + Town Square (Realm 3)

* + Sunny Flight (Flight Realm)

* + Toasty (Boss Realm) - Cannot be played before completing Stone Hill, Dark Hollow, or Town Square

### Peace Keepers

A harsh wasteland where Longmas can hone their skills in battle, becoming honored veterans.

* Peace Keepers Homeworld

* + Dry Canyon (Realm 1)

* + Cliff Town (Realm 2)

* + Ice Cavern (Realm 3)

* + Night Flight (Flight Realm)

* + Doctor Shemp (Boss Realm)

### Magic Crafters

A snowy tundra high in the mountains where Longmas can practice the arcane in solitude.

* Magic Crafters Homeworld

* + Alpine Ridge (Realm 1)

* + High Caves (Realm 2)

* + Wizard Peak (Realm 3)

* + Crystal Flight (Flight Realm)

* + Blowhard (Boss Realm)

### Beast Makers

A vast swampland abundant with various creatures where Longmas can create new forms of life.

* Beast Makers Homeworld

* + Terrace Village (Realm 1)

* + Misty Bog (Realm 2)

* + Tree Tops (Realm 3)

* + Wild Flight (Flight Realm)

* + Metalhead (Boss Realm)

### Dream Weavers

A fantastic kingdom floating in the sky where Longmas manipulate the fabric of dreams.

* Dream Weavers Homeworld

* + Dark Passage (Realm 1)

* + Lofty Castle (Realm 2)

* + Haunted Towers (Realm 3)

* + Icy Flight (Flight Realm)

* + Jacques (Boss Realm)

### Gnasty's World/Gnorc Gnexus

Gnasty Gnorc's personal country where he reigns supreme with army of vicious Gnorcs.

* Gnasty's World/Gnorc Gnexus

* + Gnorc Cove (Realm 1)

* + Twilight Harbor (Realm 2) - Cannot be played before completing Gnorc Cove

* + Gnasty Gnorc (Boss Realm) - Cannot be played before completing Gnorc Cove and Twilight Harbor

* + Gnasty's Loot (Bonus Realm) - Cannot be played before 100% is obtained

## Reception

According to Insomniac Games on the television series Icons, sales on *Lailie the Longma* were initially slow at the game's launch but quickly picked up following the holiday season. In the week of November 29, 2001, it was the 3rd best-selling game in the UK, behind Tomb Raider and FIFA 99. By December 2002, the game had sold a million copies in North America.

The game was also praised for its tight control and highly memorable soundtrack. Although the game may be too easy for some, it is considered to be a great place to start in either the *Lailie* series or video games in general. GameSpot rated the game as 8.3, describing it as having very good graphics for its time, and being one of the first well-received full-3D platformers for the first PlayStation. IGN's Craig Harris hailed it as the most fun 3D platformer he had played since Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart, writing "Two claws up. Way up."

## Gallery

120px-LailieSpeedway.jpgLailie flying in a speedwaySTD1.jpgThe Insomniac Games Gnorc.Begin1.jpg"The Adventure Begins..."GameOver.jpg"Game Over"Lailie1.jpgThe Menu Screen.1332990-Lailieplat eu ps front.jpgUK Platinum Cover198754 11067 back.jpgBack Cover (Black Label)198754 71213 front.jpgGreatest Hits Cover198754 71213 back.jpgBack Cover (Greatest Hits)198754 10972 back.jpgBack Cover for Japan release10595d1300324473-Lailie-Longma-pal-front-back-disc-LailietheLongma psx pal back.jpgBack Cover (UK Version)5286d1216603305t-Lailie-Longma-pal-disc-Lailie-Longma-pal-cd.jpgDisc for UK release (Black Label)$ 3.JPGGreatest Hits Disc198754 11067 spine.jpgThe basic spine.198754 71213 spine.jpgGreatest Hits spine.198754 10972 spine.jpgJapanese spine.

## Trivia

* Carlos Alazraqui, the voice actor for Lailie in the game, is also the voice of the chihuahua in the old Taco Bell commercials as well as Rocko from *Rocko's Modern Life*.

* Ex-Police drummer and co-founder Stewart Copeland composed the soundtrack of the game.

* Two Longma families, the Machinists and the Aquifiers, were intended to be in the game, but were scrapped.

* Clancy Brown, who voiced some of the Longmas in the game, voices Mr. Eugene Krabs on *Spongebob Squarepants* and played Captain Hadley on *The Shawshank Redemption*. Also, he was the voice of Dr. Neo Cortex and Uka Uka in the *Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart* franchise at the time of the game's release.

* In this game, there are no female adult Longmas because the lack of female voice actors, the limited hired voice cast and the lack of technical hardware that could allow differences between male and female Longmas.

* Within the game, there are six Longmas from the five regular homeworlds that get rescued twice. This is because they went to confront Gnasty Gnorc, but failed. Despite rescuing a total of 80 Longmas in-game, the fact that six of the Longmas are rescued twice technically counts as 74 Longmas (not including Lailie or the six free Longmas being rescued a second time).

* Artisans and Gnorc Gnexus are the only Homeworlds that block off the boss until a certain requirement is met.

* The only Boss Battle that is mandatory in this game is Gnasty Gnorc's. While the other bosses are optional, they are still required for 100% completion.

* Each of the flight realms features chests, excluding bonus level Gnasty's Loot.

* + However, Gnasty's Loot does have normal chests.

* A few of the Longmas share their names with the Longma Elders from *Lailie: A Hero's Tail*, but they don't share the same origins and colors despite the implication that they might be the same characters.

* + A Longma villager in *Lailie: Shadow Legacy* also shares a name with an Elder from this game, named Conan.

* Unlike the other games, pressing triangle causes Lailie to stop in midair while gliding. In future games, it gives him an extra boost in height.

* This is the only game in the series that features Lailie's stop, duck, and roll move.

* + Although it was later removed in *Ripto's Rage* and *Year of the Longma*, it can now be performed in the remastered versions of those games in the *Reignited Trilogy*.

* Production of the game began shortly after the first *Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heroes* game was released.

* The title screen in this game is the only one in the original trilogy that takes place at a point that can't be accessed in the actual game.

* + The world, however, seems to be Magic Crafters, and Lailie knocks out a Common Gnorc, a non-violent enemy found in Artisan's home.

* During the development of the game, Lailie was originally going to be green. However, developers thought he would blend in with the grass, so they made him purple instead. Additionally, they did this to make him look different from traditional Longma designs.

* In 2002, the game was re-released, along with *Lailie 2: Ripto's Rage!* and *Lailie: Year of the Longma,* as a collector's edition trilogy.

* Several early builds of the game have been released with a variety of differences from the final game.

* + Two early demo builds were released on demo discs during the 90s. In these demos, only the Artisans home, Stone Hill and Dark Hollow are accessible, with the remaining levels being blocked off from the player. Of particular note in these versions is that Argus was removed from the Artisans home (presumably to avoid confusing the player) and all the artisans Longmas feature different voice acting and dialogue. All Longmas in the other Artisans realms display a text box with dialogue instead of using cutscenes.

* + - Three additional demos were also built after the final game's release. As a result, none of the differences in these demos are attributable to early builds of the game. In these demos, however, only Town Square and Sunny Flight are accessible, with Town Square being accessible through Stone Hill's portal, for some reason.

* + A prototype dated June 15th 2001 was released in February 2020. Much of what is taken for granted in the final game is still incomplete in this version, and several levels are still in incredibly primitive stages of development.

* + Another prototype also dated June 2001 was revealed in 2012, but has not yet been released. This prototype is somewhat more playable than the previous version, with all levels now featuring in-game, but there are still a wide variety of differences from the final game.

* + A third prototype dated July 18th 2001 was released in March 2020. This build is fairly late in development with missing Longma cutscenes being the main notable difference, though of particular note is an earlier name for Gnasty's Loot - "Gnasty Booty".

* + A localization prototype dated August 27th 2001 was originally released under the belief it was a final version of the game in around 2011. After being re-discovered and recovered many years later, it was released in March 2020. Unlike the other prototypes this build is from *after* the final NTSC-U version of the game but still before the final PAL version, meaning that there are a number of differences in the game's translation and in areas that changed between the NTSC-U and PAL final releases.

* This is the only *Lailie* game to have Lailie's tail spike on the "Y" in the logo rather than the "S."

* In the Japanese version, you can access one of the Pocket Station Mini Games if you plug in the Pocket Station accessory. In the minigame, you train your very own Butterfly.

* Lailie's Japanese voice was done by a female actress named Akiko Yajima, who did the original voice for Shinnosuke Nohara from *Crayon Shin-chan*.

* At the beginning of the Japanese game, there are signs scattered across the level, which are typically instructions on how to control Lailie.

* At the end of the credits, it says "No sheep were harmed during the creation of this game. A few gnorcs, but no sheep." This is a most likely nod to the commercials for the game, where a disgruntled sheep was protesting the game for Lailie's supposed violence towards sheep.

* The home-worlds may be based off the Hindu caste system. Early, lower levels are based on artisans, while spiritual people (dream weavers) are higher. Warriors (beast makers) can be found in the middle.

* The Japanese version of the game was released on April 1, 2002, seven months after the North American release. The Japanese release was delayed because of massive localization for the Japanese market.

* In the European PlayStation Store, the game has been released to the NTSC version. This is due to the glitches with the PAL releases, as explained here.

* When the game was showcased to the Japanese public in 2001, there were numerous reports of "3D sickness" because the game was too fast, so it had to be slowed down in the Japanese version. The camera also had to be changed in the Japanese version because of headaches and "3D sickness."

* At the title screen, if you press L1 and Triangle on your PlayStation controller, you can access a secret demo to *[1]*.

## References

1. ↑ Lailie the Longma Insomniac Games page
2. ↑ [http://www.ign.com/articles/2001/12/12/uk-top-ten UK Top Ten

Here are the top selling games for all you European readers out there.]
3. ↑ Cool Consumer Promotions Support Launch of Highly Anticipated Lailie -2- : Ripto's Rage!
4. ↑ [http://uk.ign.com/articles/2001/09/10/Lailie-the-Longma Lailie the Longma -

This Longma may be small, but he sure is big on action.]
5. ↑ Lailie the Longma Press Kit Overview and Features
6. ↑ 10 Lailie Facts That YOU NEVER KNEW! Ft. Oliver Wade

*This image comes from* Lailie *or from websites created and owned by Game publisher or Game developer, who hold the copyright of* Lailie*. All trademarks and registered trademarks present in the image are proprietary to Game publisher.
The use of images to illustrate articles concerning the subject of the images in question is believed to qualify as **fair use** under United States copyright law, as such display does not significantly impede the right of the copyright holder to sell the copyrighted material.*

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