Rank your Ridden B&M Inverts

[HeartlineCoaster]

Sad face.

1. Pyrenees
2. Nemesis
3. Black Mamba (elevated by fireworks)
4. Batman la Fuga
5. Monster
6. Afterburn
7. Flight Deck
8. Nemesis Inferno
9. Great Bear
10. Alpengeist
11. Katun
12. Phaethon
13. 'Will I bother putting more Batmans here?' SFMM
14. Yes SFoG
15. But it is getting a bit samey now SFGAdv
16. Silver Bullet
17. Diavlo
18. Ozlris

 

[MakoMania]

1) Montu
2) Nemesis
3) Dragon Challenge Chinese Fireball
4) Dragon Challenge Hungarian Horntail
5) The Great White
6) Nemesis Inferno

 

[Expedition Coaster]

1. Nemesis - Probably the most intense Coaster I've ridden
2. Nemesis Inferno - Not as intense as its older brother, but is still an intense and fun ride
3. Black Mamba - Bit of a disappointment, not nearly as forceful/whippy as the two above and it feels very shaky.

 

[Alessio]

1. Nemesis: Forceful and Incredible Theming
2. Raptor / Monster: Best inversions on an Invert in my opinion, really whippy and also very intense
3. Montu: Long Ride, good Setting and also solid inversions
4. Afterburn: Some very good inversions as well as intensity
5. Black Mamba: Very intense, incredible setting but the inversions could be better
6. Batman The Ride (GAdv): Didn’t enjoy the inversions as much as expected
7. Great Bear: Solid Coaster, really liked the setting but no great forces or inversions
8. Nemesis Inferno: still a solid Ride but the others are just superior in almost every way, but the setting is nice.

 

[Kw6sTheater]

1. Montu (2019)
2. Alpengeist (2019)
3. Banshee (2017)
4. Talon (2017)
5. Afterburn (2017)
6. Batman: The Ride — Six Flags Over Georgia (2018)
7. Great Bear (2018)
8. Batman: The Ride — Six Flags Over Texas (2018)
9. Raptor (2017)

It's time for an update.
1. Montu (2019)
2. Alpengeist (2019)
3. Banshee (2017)
4. Talon (2017)
5. Afterburn (2017)
6. Batman: The Ride — Six Flags Over Georgia (2018)
7. Goliath — Six Flags Fiesta Texas (2019)
8. Great Bear (2018)
9. Batman: The Ride — Six Flags Over Texas (2018)
10. Raptor (2017)

 

[Zek_Teh_Kek]

Oh hey I need to update this!

1. Raptor
2. Talon: Honestly, Talon can be switched interchangeably with Raptor. Talon was so smooth, while still being quite intense! Zero headbanging, and, believe it or not; Airtime in the back row!!
3. Great Bear: I went in with very few expectations, but in the end, Great Bear ended up being a super unique layout with fantastic inversions! I wasn't too familiar with the layout, so I ended up being very disoriented; but that's not a bad thing! Very smooth too.
4. Banshee
5. Afterburn

 

[Hutch]

I guess I can update this now. Got a nice new one to add to the collection, and Great Bear hopped up a little.

1. Nemesis - It's the best B&M I've ever done with my favorite inversions on any ride, and I can't imagine another B&M can top it. Thought it was perfect at the time, but it's been five years so it's almost due for a revisit, but I don't know when that's happening.

2. Montu - Excellent layout. All the elements are top notch, and there's some decent trench interaction. The zero g roll and batwing combo is amazing.

3. Chinese Fireball - Definitely superior layout to Horntail. Some snappy immelmanns, sweet corkscrews, and a nice floater hill. Was awesome when they dueled, but I still thought they were great on their own. Not really sad to see them go though, I've had plenty of rides on them.

4. Talon - Quality stuff right here. Nice big swooping inversions in the first half followed by more powerful moments in the second half. Great landscaping interaction too, especially given the park it's in.

5. Alpengeist - Great sense of speed and ridiculous foot choppers. Cobra roll, zero g, and corkscrew are all great. MCBR transitioning is a little violent and the helix at the end is a little dull. Been six years so, so due for a revisit

6. Hungarian Horntail - The beginning overbank turn is dull and the cobra roll is okay, but it has an excellent zero g roll and the rest of the layout is still decent.

7. Batman: The Ride (SFOG) - Some great elements tightly packed together.

8. Batman: The Ride (SFGAd) - This one felt a little more powerful than the one at SFOG but it wasn't as enjoyable.

9. Afterburn - Great layout and mix of inversions, and lack of MCBR is nice. Just wish it was a bit smoother and it could've been higher.

10. Great Bear - Was actually quite fun the last time I rode it. It has some weird moments but the inversions are pretty good.

11. Nemesis Inferno - Simple, yet pretty solid layout, with some good landscaping. It doesn't waste any time but it lacks intensity.

12. Raptor - Good ride. The elements aren't as remarkable as others, and the middle portion of the layout isn't really exciting. Not the smoothest one out there but it could be a lot worse.

13. Banshee - Can confirm upon recent rides that this is the worst invert I've done. Sure it's intense, but only in the valleys and it rattles in all of them. Inversions aren't that exciting either.

 

[brokethemorning]

1. Montu - forceful and a great sense of speed. The batwing and use of terrain are awesome.
2. Afterburn - forceful, great batwing, a bit rougher than Montu.
3. Banshee - a good combination of forceful and graceful. Kinda lost its novelty for me marathoning it last year but has grown back a bit.
4. Batman (SFGAm) - OG invert still holds us very well.
4. Batman (SFSL) - fun and enjoyable.
5. Raptor - fun layout but rough.
6. Flight Deck (CGA) - very rough and didn’t do much for me.

 

[Pear]

Well after going to many parks again this year there have been some changes

1. Alpengeist
2. Montu
3. Afterburn
4. Raptor
5. Banshee
6. Black Mamba
7. Batman SFMM
8. Flight Deck
9. OzIris
10. Great Bear
11. Batman SFOG/SFGAdv/SFOT, Goliath SFFT, Great White
12. Silver Bullet

Finally managed to get a ride on Raptor while it was fast and good lord it is incredible.

 

[Slamming Coastercore]

1. Nemesis
(Stands out above the rest. Mental ride.)

2. Montu
3. Black Mamba
4. Katun
(Basically all contenders for no. 2)

5. Chinese Fireball
6. Batman @ SFMM
7. Hungarian Hortail
8. Nemesis Inferno

None of them are bad rides and Nemesis Inferno only finishes last because it does less than the others, not because it's unenjoyable. Still have a soft spot for it as it's my at my home park.

 

[Antinos]

We have the B&M flyer thread in this forum so why not have this one? I remember this topic existed maybe six years ago...and I can't find it anymore...so why not restart it. B&M's inverted design has been one of the most successful roller coaster designs in history. How many have you ridden and where do you rank each?

1. Banshee - What's not to love? It's a massive, long ride with fantastically strong forces and perfect weightlessness where there's supposed to be weightlessness.
2. Alpengeist - It's quite a lot like Banshee, but less refined. The mid-course brakes and second half water down the ride a bit.
3. Flight Deck (California's Great America) - It's a small and hardly talked about invert but holy **** it packs a serious punch. Even the s-bend above the station is intense.
4. Montu - Another unrefined B&M legend that has aged tremendously well with a layout that's second to none.
5. Afterburn - Very similar to Montu. It's ultra intense and has a wonderful layout.
6. Vampire/Batman: The Ride (La Ronde, SFMM, SFOG, SFSTl, SFGAm, SFGAdv) - It was cloned multiple times for good reason. Although it's on the shorter side, it has a quality layout.
7. Patriot - It has four excellent inversions, especially it's amazing 0-g roll. It does wane a bit in intensity when compared to those above it.
8. Dueling Dragons - Fire - It was really sad to see both Dragons get scrapped. Fire was the more intense of the two and featured a more interesting layout. I loved that wrap around immelmann.
9. Raptor - It certainly is not a bad ride but I am a bit jaded.
10. Silver Bullet - I don't get the hatred thrown at it. It isn't Banshee but it'll still hit you in the mouth.
11. Dueling Dragons - Ice - While not as intense as Fire, the quick turns, cobra roll, and 0-g roll provided a fast paced ride.
12. Talon - It's been 14 years...and it was not very memorable
13. Great Bear - It's just too short. Give it another 1,000 feet and it'll be higher on the list.

1. Banshee
2. Flight Deck (California's Great America)
3. Alpengeist
4. Afterburn
5. Montu
6. Vampire
7. Great White
8. Goliath (SFFT)
9. Batman: The Ride (SFGAm)
10. Batman: The Ride (SFMM)
11. Batman: The Ride (SFGAdv)
12. Batman: The Ride (SFOT)
13. Batman: The Ride (SFStL)
14. Batman: The Ride (SFOG)
15. Patriot
16. Dueling Dragons - Fire
17. Raptor
18. Silver Bullet
19. Dueling Dragons - Ice
20. Talon
21. Great Bear

After adding three more Batman clones to my list last week, I decided to break them out in the list. The seven-car variants have been the more intense rides in my experience. Great White is up above Goliath though, but that is because it is extremely smooth and well maintained. SFOT Batman was a bit rattly, but it was still one of the more intense of the clones. I'm splitting hairs though - SFOG Batman is really the only one that feels a little flat for whatever reason.

 

[CookieCoasters]

I love B&M Inverts and there’s just so many of them <3.

1. Black Mamba, Phantasialand - It’s perfect! I even love the “snaking” ending.
2. Katun, Mirabilandia - The forces are insane, and that first drop is way too good for an invert.
3. Monster, Parc Walygator - Very intense again, lots of “whip-action”
4. Nemesis, Alton Towers - A truly customised terrain layout and some very raw intensity.
5. Talon, Dorney Park - Beautiful flow of elements and perfectly paced.
6. Montu, Busch Gardens Tampa - A long layout with a fab batwing and other significant moments of force.
7. Raptor, Cedar Point - Not as powerful as Monster, but still a strong old-school invert.
8. Afterburn, Carowinds - Expectations a tad too high, but very solid force-wise and has a batwing! Night rides were sublime
9. Great Bear, Hersheypark - Short layout, but every element is taken very well. Probably has the most forceful immenlmen.
10. Batman the Ride, Six Flags Great America - The original and the best batman! Superior theming, setting and station music.
11. Batman the Ride, Six Flags Over Georgia - Just as forceful, just lacks the ambiance of the above.
12. Batman the Ride, Six Flags Over Texas - See above.
13. Batman the Ride, Six Flags Magic Mountain - Mayde a smidge less intense than 10-12? Barely any difference.
14. Batman: Arkham Asylum, Parque Warner Madrid - Very intense and fluent, but slightly less “raw” if that makes sense.
15. Oz'Iris, Parc Asterix - It’s got a great layout; some of the elements come to play more than others.
16. Vampire (backwards), La Ronde - Probably the best backwards coaster I’ve done.
17. Dragon Challenge: Chinese Fireball, Islands of Adventure - RIP. Similar to Oz’Iris but slightly less remarkable.
18. Silver Bullet, Knott's Berry Farm - It’s definitely gotten more forceful over the years. It’s pretty good now!
19. Dragon Challenge: Hungarian Horntail, Islands of Adventure - RIP. The first few elements are great but then it feels a bit short-lived overall.
20. Alpengeist, Busch Gardens Williamsburg - Trims make or break the second half. First half has good solid forces, but it all should be better.
21. Goliath, Six Flags Fiesta Texas - The mirror layout threw me. Wasn’t as impressed as above Batmans but it was good.
22. Batman the Ride, Six Flags Great Adventure - Lower because I found it a bit rougher and slightly uncomfortable. May have been random.
23. Flight Deck, California's Great America - It’s all forces, but the layout is uninspired and lacking in a certain grace.
24. Banshee, Kings Island - Feels too big. Personally didn’t find it very forceful; a bit of a let-down.
25. Nemesis Inferno, Thorpe Park - It’s fine, but it just doesn’t stand out enough to be any higher.
26. Great White, SeaWorld San Antonio - Very slow Batman clone. An overall mediocre experience.

It freaks me out to think I’ve done so many now. As far as custom layouts, I’ve still got to do Patriot, Pyrenees and Phaethon (plus the 2020 Gröna Invert); nice to still have some to look forward to.

Some new additions this year and also some shuffling around of old ones based on re-rides

1. Katun, Mirabilandia (new #1 by default but still very deserving)
2. Monster, Parc Walygator
3. Black Mamba, Phantasialand - I’m always shuffling this one around; sometimes it just seems SO perfect and other times I think I overrate it slightly. Hard to decide where it belongs exactly.
4. Nemesis, Alton Towers
5. Talon, Dorney Park
6. Montu, Busch Gardens Tampa
7. Raptor, Cedar Point
8. Afterburn, Carowinds
9. Great Bear, Hersheypark
10. Batman: The Ride, Six Flags Great America
11. Batman: The Ride, Six Flags Over Georgia
12. Batman: The Ride, Six Flags Over Texas
13. Batman: The Ride, Six Flags Magic Mountain
14. Phaethon, Gyeongju World - It’s not a snappy invert, which I will always favour, but it was still pretty forceful through the inversions and the layout is very nice, especially in terms of flow and pacing. It‘s kinda like if Raptor and Silver Bullet had a baby, with some theming / interaction thrown in Oz’Iris style.
15. Batman: Arkham Asylum, Parque Warner Madrid
16. Oz’Iris, Parc Asterix
17. Silver Bullet - I remember this used to be so lame for an invert, but now I move it up my rankings after each visit. It’s nice to see it get more forceful while still retaining its fun, floaty style.
18. Flight Deck - I criticised this one before for being all-force and no grace; the latter seems harsh now I’ve gone back to ride it since. Still a bit of a basic and short layout, but it’s certainly thrilling.
19. Vampire (backwards), La Ronde
20. Dragon Challenge: Chinese Fireball, Islands of Adventure
21. Dragon Challenge: Hungarian Horntail, Islands of Adventure
22. Alpengeist, Busch Gardens Williamsburg
23. Goliath, Six Flags Fiesta Texas
24. Batman: The Ride, Six Flags St. Louis - Again, like Goliath, I found the mirrored layout a bit unnatural hah. It was forceful, but these need to be really forceful to stand out especially when you’ve ridden SFGAm’s on the same trip.
25. Batman: The Ride, Six Flags Great Adventure
26. Patriot, Worlds of Fun - It’s not forceless, it just didn’t feel particularly special. I was a bit surprised as Talon is my favourite US invert and this has a similar layout, but it just didn’t ride with the same spark.
27. Banshee, Kings Island
28. Nemesis Inferno, Thorpe Park
29. Great White, SeaWorld San Antonio

 

[Matt N]

Now, since I last posted in this thread, the number of B&M inverted coasters I’ve ridden still remains at 5, but some recent rerides on things have made my rankings change somewhat, including the emergence of a very controversial opinion of mine:

1. Montu - I took one ride on this back in 2016, and I have only positive memories of it! The ride was really long, had a nice, thrilling level of g-force without being excessively intense, packed really good pace and was also surprisingly very smooth compared to some of the other B&Ms of its age! Overall, I absolutely loved Montu, and from my memories of it, it’s definitely my favourite B&M invert! 9/10, #5 in overall rankings
2. Nemesis Inferno - For all the flack Inferno gets, I personally think it’s a fantastic coaster! It’s paced really well, and as with Montu above, it packs a nice level of g-force throughout without being excessively intense! I also think it’s nice and smooth, and on the whole, I just think it’s a really good, fun coaster! 9/10, #10 in overall rankings
3. Nemesis - Ah yes, time for me to address the elephant in the room. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely enjoy Nemesis. It’s a really special coaster to me, and there are definitely many things that I like about it. It’s utterly mind blowing that John Wardley and B&M managed to cram this coaster into the location in spite of everything working against them. However, I definitely do not rank this coaster anywhere near as highly as the status quo, and there are various reasons as to why I think this is. Firstly, while Nemesis has many great moments, and has sections where it feels fast, I don’t think it’s paced quite as consistently as the two coasters above it. I admit that the helix is fast and very forceful, for example, but I have had some rides on it where it really lags through sections, such as the turnarounds; the second one in particular does feel like a bit of a dead spot at times, and I do think that the limitations of the location do perhaps show themselves at 1 or 2 points in the layout. Another issue I have with Nemesis is that in comparison to the coasters above, it’s not especially smooth. I wouldn’t call it unbearably rough by any means, but on some of my more recent rides, there are a couple of quite jolty inversions that really make me bash my head, and on my last ride, I did find that there was a bit of a rattle I could notice. The rattle didn’t really bother me as much, but I do find those jolty inversions (the zero-g roll and the second corkscrew are the main offenders for me) take away from the ride for me somewhat, and I would rate the ride a bit higher if they were smoother; out of the B&Ms I’ve ridden, I’d actually say it’s probably one of the rougher ones. Don’t get me wrong, Nemesis is a very good ride that I enjoy, and it’s an incredibly unique coaster that I admire. However, I definitely don’t rate it anywhere near as highly as most; after a bit of thought, I’d probably say it’s my 4th favourite at Alton Towers and my 9th favourite in the UK. 7/10, #20 in overall rankings
4. Dragon Challenge (Hungarian Horntail) - I am in a real minority in preferring Hungarian Horntail to Chinese Fireball out of the two Dragon Challenge coasters, but in all honesty, they were both fairly similar to me. Neither of them were necessarily coasters I disliked, but they weren’t particularly memorable, either; if there’s any word I’d use to describe the two Dragon Challenge coasters, it’s “average”. I seem to remember this one being the smoother of the two, but both were probably two of the roughest B&Ms I’ve ever been on (although that’s probably more a testament to how smooth B&Ms typically are than a criticism of these coasters; I don’t remember either being unbearably rough by any means) Admittedly, I rode Hungarian Horntail in 2014, while I did not ride Chinese Fireball until 2016, but I can only base this off of my personal experiences. 6/10, #36 in overall rankings
5. Dragon Challenge (Chinese Fireball) - Very similar to above, but this one gave me a bit of a headache, despite not being unbearably rough from memory. As I say, however, neither of these coasters were particularly memorable for me other than that they were two of the roughest B&Ms I’ve done, with this one being the marginally rougher of the two. Don’t get me wrong, I admire what these two coasters did for the industry, and they were probably mind blowing back in 1999, but I suspect that I will likely enjoy Hagrid’s far more than I ever enjoyed either of the Dragon Challenge coasters if I ever go back to IOA. 6/10, #37 in overall rankings

 

[Trax]

1. Monster: What a beast. I've done it at 8°C and it was insane. I mean, it's an untrimmed B&M, and the whip in some of those elements was crazy. The helix at the end was quite intense, I am thinking of returning to Walygator for a summer ride on this machine. Also wins the price for the least themed coaster I have ever seen.

2. Oziris: A very suprising invert. Not that intense, but still good elements and a hangtime which is unusual for B&M inverts. It felt quite different, which made the experience for me. Really enjoyed it, great ride.

3. Katun: It does everything I expect from a good invert, but a little bit better. The whip on the Cobra Roll is great, but not as insane as on Monster.

4. Black Mamba: Pretty intense and it keeps it's intensity until the end. Themingwise it is the best invert I have ever done, but the ride itself is just lacking the "wow-factor" I had on the ones higher on the list. It neither has hangtime, nor some really intense transitions, but its overall intensity still makes it a very good ride. The fact that Phantasialand is my home park might cause it to rank quite low on this list, having ridden it hundreds of times by now.

5. Nemesis Inferno: This one feels like Black Mamba, but with a lower overall intensity. It keeps its intensity until the end, but it is weaker than Mamba for sure. The theming was suprisingly good, but a decent intensity is just not enough for me.

6. Nemesis: I went on hyped and got of disappointed. Still a good ride, but it just felt weak. It starts of unusual, but cool, the Helix is very intense and the valley prior to the zero g stall is awesome, but it feels like a family ride afterwards. Average to low intensity, sometimes crawling, but still fast enough to not give you any hangtime. If it could keep the intensity from the helix, it could rival Monster, but with most of the ride being quite weak, I'll have to rank it rock bottom.

 

[Dan Nguyen]

Afterburn & Montu are basically tied. Afterburn has the more forceful ride and is paced better but Montu is smoother and has the better setting. You really can't go wrong with either one really.
Nemesis Inferno is a really solid ride. Pulls good G's and has a good layout. The only thing holding it back is the really short length. Could be my favorite invert if it was a little longer.
Batman: The Ride (SFOG) is the smoother of the two Batman clones I've ridden so far.
Batman: The Ride (SFGAdv) - I really enjoy these Batman clones though. Good layout, really snappy elements, and great positive G's.
Alpengeist has a really strong first half, but it sorta dies in the second half. Ride has been getting rougher and rougher so that detracts from the experience as well.
Great Bear falls in the same boat Alpengeist does, but the layout is worse. The first half is really good but it just meanders in the second half.

 

[BBH]

Not a whole lot to rank here...

1. OzIris: Such a fun ride. Smooth, great variety of elements, fun theme, all around just a good experience.

2. Batman: No pun intended, bat**** crazy. So intense. I wish the layout had more variety, but this ride holds up really well.

3. Dragon Challenge, Chinese Fireball: Unfortunately never got to ride it dueling and only got one side. Without the dueling aspect it's clearly missing something.

 

[SeanC]

Been a while since I’ve read a lot of them but as far as I can remember:

1. Alpengeist
It’s a huge ride that makes good use of terrain and theming. I like that a lot of the layout is hidden from us as the riders until right before an element, so it feels less predictable if that makes sense. I only like to ride inverts in the front, but at least from there, it’s a very smooth ride for me.

2. Montu
i haven’t ridden this since the 90s but I remember loving it. I put Alpengeist ahead because I like the theming and atmosphere better, but I recall Montu being more intense. I need to get back on it.

3. Raptor
Smooth and intense the whole ride through. Great pacing. Love the positive Gs on the helix.

4. Dueling Dragons
i last rode these in 2011 and remember liking both... with a slight prefer for the red one. Too bad this bit the dust.

5. Afterburn
I usually like a ride that’s taller and longer, but this ride is super smooth, intense, and fun. It feels a bit like a Batman clone on steroids.

6. Batman the Ride
the great adventure clone was my first coaster with an inversion, so I have a soft spot for these rides and I dig the theming. Crazy how they still hold up almost 30 years later.

7. Great Bear
haven’t ridden this since the year it opened. I remember liking but not loving it.

8. Silver Bullet
i admire that knotts And b&m made the most of the space they were given but this is the least exciting of these models for me.

9. flight deck
this ride epitomizes ca great America for me. Too short and not worth the drive up honestly.

 

[Hutch]

1. Nemesis - It's the best B&M I've ever done with my favorite inversions on any ride, and I can't imagine another B&M can top it. Thought it was perfect at the time, but it's been five seven years so it's almost due for a revisit, but I don't know when that's happening.

2. Montu - Excellent layout. All the elements are top notch, and there's some decent trench interaction. The zero g roll and batwing combo is amazing.

3. Chinese Fireball - Definitely superior layout to Horntail. Some snappy immelmanns, sweet corkscrews, and a nice floater hill. Was awesome when they dueled, but I still thought they were great on their own. Not really sad to see them go though, I've had plenty of rides on them.

4. Great White

5. Talon - Quality stuff right here. Nice big swooping inversions in the first half followed by more powerful moments in the second half. Great landscaping interaction too, especially given the park it's in.

6. Alpengeist - Great sense of speed and ridiculous foot choppers. Cobra roll, zero g, and corkscrew are all great. MCBR transitioning is a little violent and the helix at the end is a little dull. Been six eight years, so due for a revisit (maybe this year?).

7. Hungarian Horntail - The beginning overbank turn is dull and the cobra roll is okay, but it has an excellent zero g roll and the rest of the layout is still decent.

8. Batman: The Ride (SFOG) - Some great elements tightly packed together.

9. Batman: The Ride (SFGAd) - This one felt a little more powerful than the one at SFOG but it wasn't as enjoyable.

10. Afterburn - Great layout and mix of inversions, and lack of MCBR is nice. Just wish it was a bit smoother and it could've been higher.

11. Great Bear - Was actually quite fun the last time I rode it. It has some weird moments but the inversions are pretty good.

12. Nemesis Inferno - Simple, yet pretty solid layout, with some good landscaping. It doesn't waste any time but it lacks intensity.

13. Raptor - Good ride. The elements aren't as remarkable as others, and the middle portion of the layout isn't really exciting. Not the smoothest one out there but it could be a lot worse.

14. Banshee - Definitely the worst. Sure it's intense, but only in the valleys and it rattles in all of them. Inversions are also too big and drawn out to be any interesting.


I was trying to decide Great White's placement either above or below Talon, and while I think I might be rating Great White a little high, I made some pretty good memories last weekend. Normally I'm okay with riding Batman clones just once as I'm typically in a cred run or I know I'll get the opportunity to ride more later. But this time I made the effort to get plenty more rides in on Great White and it was a great time. It's definitely the best of the three Batmans I've done, and it was running really smooth as well. I think if I only got one or two rides I would've rated it a little lower, but back row in all those inversions are so good. Best coaster in the park for me.

 

[Matt N]

1. Nemesis - It's the best B&M I've ever done with my favorite inversions on any ride, and I can't imagine another B&M can top it. Thought it was perfect at the time, but it's been five seven years so it's almost due for a revisit, but I don't know when that's happening.

2. Montu - Excellent layout. All the elements are top notch, and there's some decent trench interaction. The zero g roll and batwing combo is amazing.

3. Chinese Fireball - Definitely superior layout to Horntail. Some snappy immelmanns, sweet corkscrews, and a nice floater hill. Was awesome when they dueled, but I still thought they were great on their own. Not really sad to see them go though, I've had plenty of rides on them.

4. Great White

5. Talon - Quality stuff right here. Nice big swooping inversions in the first half followed by more powerful moments in the second half. Great landscaping interaction too, especially given the park it's in.

6. Alpengeist - Great sense of speed and ridiculous foot choppers. Cobra roll, zero g, and corkscrew are all great. MCBR transitioning is a little violent and the helix at the end is a little dull. Been six eight years, so due for a revisit (maybe this year?).

7. Hungarian Horntail - The beginning overbank turn is dull and the cobra roll is okay, but it has an excellent zero g roll and the rest of the layout is still decent.

8. Batman: The Ride (SFOG) - Some great elements tightly packed together.

9. Batman: The Ride (SFGAd) - This one felt a little more powerful than the one at SFOG but it wasn't as enjoyable.

10. Afterburn - Great layout and mix of inversions, and lack of MCBR is nice. Just wish it was a bit smoother and it could've been higher.

11. Great Bear - Was actually quite fun the last time I rode it. It has some weird moments but the inversions are pretty good.

12. Nemesis Inferno - Simple, yet pretty solid layout, with some good landscaping. It doesn't waste any time but it lacks intensity.

13. Raptor - Good ride. The elements aren't as remarkable as others, and the middle portion of the layout isn't really exciting. Not the smoothest one out there but it could be a lot worse.

14. Banshee - Definitely the worst. Sure it's intense, but only in the valleys and it rattles in all of them. Inversions are also too big and drawn out to be any interesting.


I was trying to decide Great White's placement either above or below Talon, and while I think I might be rating Great White a little high, I made some pretty good memories last weekend. Normally I'm okay with riding Batman clones just once as I'm typically in a cred run or I know I'll get the opportunity to ride more later. But this time I made the effort to get plenty more rides in on Great White and it was a great time. It's definitely the best of the three Batmans I've done, and it was running really smooth as well. I think if I only got one or two rides I would've rated it a little lower, but back row in all those inversions are so good. Best coaster in the park for me.

While we’re on the subject of SWSA, I’d be intrigued to know, if you were able to ride it; what were your thoughts on Texas Stingray? It’s not a coaster I’ve heard an awful lot about, and I’d be intrigued to know how it stacks up against other GCIs, because I thought it looked really good in some of the initial POVs.

Actually, come to think of it, I think we do have a GCI topic somewhere...

 

[Hutch]

While we’re on the subject of SWSA, I’d be intrigued to know, if you were able to ride it; what were your thoughts on Texas Stingray? It’s not a coaster I’ve heard an awful lot about, and I’d be intrigued to know how it stacks up against other GCIs, because I thought it looked really good in some of the initial POVs.

Actually, come to think of it, I think we do have a GCI topic somewhere...

Yeah, I'll be sure to revive that GCI topic and put more detailed thoughts in there at some point. I did enjoy Stingray though, one of the better GCIs but it still felt a little lacking overall.