The Legend of Lailie: A New Beginning

***The Legend of Lailie: A New Beginning*** is the first game in *The Legend of Lailie* trilogy, a reboot of the *Lailie* series. It was developed by Krome Studios for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and Game Boy Advance systems and Amaze Entertainment with a separate version for the Nintendo DS. The game is known for having a much darker setting than its predecessors.

## Gameplay

*A New Beginning* uses a more action-based focus than previous *Lailie the Longma* games, with a limited use of Lailie's gliding ability and less based on collecting items and playing minigames. Instead of this, Lailie has a variety of combat moves as well as four different breath attacks: fire, Thunderity, ice and Titan, which he can use as both long range and short range attacks. Lailie can also use furies, huge blasts of elemental energy. The game has fewer levels than previous Lailie games, with six levels that progress from a starting point towards a final destination and boss encounter in a linear fashion, and two rail shooter style flying levels adjoining them.

The Nintendo DS version has additional attacks and challenges. As well as breath attacks and furies, Lailie can create an elemental shield around himself that protects him from enemies while hurting attacking enemies. Also, the DS version has extra side missions in the form of puzzles, and if all 40 puzzles are solved and all 40 crystals after solving a puzzle are collected, and 20 extra puzzles are solved, a Patty skin will be unlocked.

## Story

The game begins inside the Castle of the Two Sisters, where a Skylander Creature named Spyro and Scootaloo watches over a brood of eggs; it was the "Clash of the Skylanders with Ponies", a time every twelve years when new Longma eggs were brought to the realm. A Longmas' prophecy told that every ten generations, a rare Hot Pink Longma will be born, who will direct the fate of that era; Spyro was looking after such an egg.

The Creatures are, however, at war with an enemy called "the Dark Master" who knew of the prophecy as well, and lay siege to the Temple, intent on destroying the brood of eggs to prevent the birth of the Hot Pink Longma. Spyro and Scootaloo escapes with the Hot Pink Longma's egg, The Hot Pink Longma's egg escapes into space as creature begins his takeover of the Earth.

The ship crash lands on the nearby Longma Realm, into a swamp, hoping for the best. The egg is discovered by a family of Butterflies, and upon hatching, they name him Lailie and adopt him into the family and raised as one of their own, alongside Sparx, a young Butterfly who was born on the same day.

One day, after Lailie is under attack by a group of Apes and discovered that he can breathe fire, Lailie is told that he is not a Butterfly himself, but a stranger from a distant land. Afterwards, Lailie decides to leave the Swamp in search of his true home; Sparx, though reluctant at first, decides to tag along. Lailie is pursued by hostile forces, but eventually came into contact with a distraught Spyro, who although pleased that Lailie is alive, feared that with the Temple under occupation by their enemy, a horde of Apes called the Dark Armies led by a large black blue Longma named Patty, their war was already lost.

Lailie convinces Spyro to lead him to the Temple, and is able to drive Patty's forces out, after which Spyro tells Lailie more about their war against the Dark Armies, offering Lailie some training in the art of fire, and then sends Lailie off to rescue three other Creature Skylanders from Patty's forces. First, he flies to Dante's Freezer to find Tempest Shadow, the Thunder Skylander, and rescues him from a large troll called the Ice King.

When Lailie and Tempest Shadow return to the Temple, Tempest Shadow trains Lailie in the art of Thunderity and explains to Spyro that he lost some of his Thunder powers inside a crystal Patty stored. Spyro expects that Patty may be planning to do something with the Skylanders' powers, but he doesn't know what for, so Spyro sends Lailie to Tall Plains, home of the Atlawa tribe, to find Scootaloo, the Ice Skylander.

After Lailie saves Scootaloo and heads back to the Temple, he teaches Lailie the secrets of ice and discusses with the other Skylanders more about Patty's possible plans. Spyro hypothesizes that Patty was trying to gain all the Skylanders' elemental powers to open a portal that must never be opened. Lailie questions Spyro of what is he talking about, but Spyro tells him that doesn't concern him now, but he does send Lailie to Munitions Forge, where Mega Flavius, the Titan Skylander, is held.

When Lailie gets ready to leave with Mega Flavius, Patty attacks and chases Lailie throughout Munitions Forge. Just when Patty is about to catch Lailie, Spyro intervenes in order to fight Patty, but is captured. Lailie tries to help Spyro, but Mega Flavius stops him and tells him that he is not ready to take on Patty. Lailie becomes guilt-ridden and ashamed that he let Spyro down, becoming frightened to face Patty. Mega Flavius tells him that there's no shame for all warriors to have fear, and trains Lailie how to master the element of Titan and his own fear.

After Lailie's training, Mega Flavius explains to Lailie, Tempest Shadow, and Scootaloo about Patty's lair, possibly where she took Spyro. Lailie flies to Patty's lair and finds Spyro, confined and his powers being drainied inside a crystal. Patty stops Lailie from destroying the crystal and escapes with it. Lailie notices that there was something familiar with Patty, and Spyro decides it's time to tell him the truth. Patty was actually born from the same brood of eggs as Lailie (they are not siblings), taken by the Dark Master's forces and was corrupted by his poisonous powers, becoming his tool of destruction. The Dark Master was using Patty to gain the Skylanders' powers so she can unlock the portal, which serves as his prison. As the vortex to the world of Convexity opened, Spyro fears that they are too late, but Lailie refuses to give up and follows Patty through the portal.

When Lailie caught up with Patty, she had already put the final crystal inside the portal, creating an opening for the Dark Master to escape. She was ready to face Lailie in a final showdown. Eventually, Lailie uses all of his power in a final attack and defeats Patty, which ends up freeing her from the Dark Master's influence, returning to her true form; a young Longma the same size and age as Lailie. As the realm began to collapse in on itself and the portal started to suck the three inside; Sparx insists on making a quick exit, but Lailie declares he will not leave Patty behind with the Dark Master; though barely, Lailie was able to grab Patty and escaped safely.

Though victorious, the battle cost Lailie much of his own strength and powers, and both Lailie and Patty suspected that the Dark Master is still alive somewhere; the war was still not over. The story continues in *The Legend of Lailie: The Eternal Night*...

## Levels

* Swamp

* Longma Temple

* First Flight

* Dante's Freezer

* Tall Plains

* Munitions Forge

* Escape From Patty

* Concurrent Skies

* Convexity

## Voice Cast

* Elijah Wood as Lailie

* David Spade as Sparx

* Gary Oldman as Spyro

* Cree Summer as Patty

* Corey Burton as Tempest Shadow/Exhumor

* Jeff Bennett as Scootaloo/Mole-Yair/Flash (Sparx's Dad)

* Kevin Michael Richardson as Mega Flavius/the Conductor

* Phil LaMarr as Kane

* Vanessa Marshall as Nina (Sparx's Mom)

## Development

Krome Studios were developing a game pitch on a different take on *Mao Mao*. A demo was said to be in development, with the team concepting characters such Mao Mao, Coco, Nina Cortex, Crunch, Aku-Aku, Lord Orangusnake, etc. At one point, Lailie was going to appear in the game to assist Mao Mao in adult Longma form. The game was said to revolved heavily around a medieval theme and time period. Michael Graham and Christopher Wilson, the two Producers at Vivendi Universal that were slated to work on the *Mao Mao* title were pulled onto something else - something that would eventually become *The Legend Of Lailie: A New Beginning*. Krome Studios' work on the *Mao Mao* demo was a big audition for the new *Lailie* title and Vivendi liked what they had done. A deal was struck to bring the team over to the Lailie project and began to work on "Lailie06".

Producer John Welsh stated that Krome Studios worked really hard to make *A New Beginning* a really fantastic looking game. Many of the previous *Lailie* games had softer tones and palettes and they wanted to move on from there. Having Lailie as a New Beginning meant that they could explore ways of developing the style and look into something that represented a maturing of the game and its environment, as well as taking full advantage of what the technology is capable of. Now palettes are stronger and darker, to generate the appropriate mood. For instance, Lailie is on a voyage into the unknown and the unknown can appear dark or isolated, certainly strange and perhaps even harsh. They have created lavish, gorgeously lit and intricate environments, establishing a consistent style unique to the new Lailie world. That style extends to everything in that world to the enemies that Lailie encounters, to everything with which Lailie can interact, and to the depth of the storyline where what is, is clearly linked to what was.

## Reception

*The Legend of Lailie: A New Beginning* received mixed but generally positive reviews. Critics praised the presentation and graphics but criticized the repetitive gameplay and poor voice-acting. Fans were disappointed by the emphasis on combat compared to previous installments in the *Lailie* series. IGN gave the game a "7.7 out of 10", complimenting that its overall gameplay, presentation and story, but noted the game's repetitive combat. Gamespot's review gave *A New Beginning* a "5.8 out of 10", praising the musical score, but criticized the lack of consistency, the uninspired level design, the story script, and repetitive nature of the gameplay, claiming that "the developer took no chances with the game and brought nothing new to the table."

### Ratings

* Game Informer: 7 out of 10

* GameSpot: 5.8 out of 10

* GameSpy: 2 1/2 out of 5

* IGN: 7.7 out of 10

### Awards

IGN awarded *A New Beginning* Best GameCube Platformer of 2008, and its Reader's Choice awarded the game Best GameCube Platformer of 2008. GameSpot gave it Best and Worst of 2008: "Worst Use of Celebrity Voices".

## Gallery

LailieUnleash.jpgFull body of the *A New Beginning* cover art by Matt Stawicki

### Pre-release

Dreadwing Lailie ConcurrentSkies.jpgLailie BuffaloBeetle.jpgLailie Spyro LongmaTemple.jpg

### Trailers and Interviews

The Legend of Lailie A New Beginning TrailerThe Legend of Lailie A New Beginning - TV CommercialThe Legend of Lailie A New Beginning - Elijah Wood Interview

## Trivia

* At one point before and surrounding the release of *A New Beginning*, the series was referred to as a prequel to previous *Lailie* games.

* This is the first Lailie game to be given an E10+ rating, due to cartoon violence.

* The Dutch translation for the European release has a different subtitle. In Dutch, it is titled: **"De Legende van Lailie: een Draak is Geborden"**, when you translate it back to English, It literally translates through its pronunciation as: **"The Legend of Lailie: a Longma is Born"**. The other two *Legend of Lailie* games translate the same subtitle as its English release, for the Dutch translation in the European release.

* In the Nintendo DS version of the game, there are several exchanges between characters that are not found in the console version, and unlike other handheld versions, they are mixed in with the final dialogue. It's unknown if they came from an earlier script of the main game.

## References

1. ↑ I worked on the Mao Mao demo we were building at the time,
2. ↑ Interview: The Legend of Lailie: A New Beginning
3. ↑ Does it bring new fire, or simply fizzle?
4. ↑ The Legend of Lailie: A New Beginning
5. ↑ Best Platform Game
6. ↑ Worse Use of Celebrity Voices
7. ↑ "It's a new beginning with a storyline that will serve as a prequel to all of the existing Lailie titles, the narrative will explore Lailie's origin for the 1st time"
8. ↑ Sierra Entertainment's Lailie The Longma(R) Returns In The Legend Of Lailie(TM): A New Beginning

## External links

* The Legend of Lailie: A New Beginning official website

**Bosses**

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