GuyWithAStick
Captain Basic
New topic plus a poll, yay! Mods, please either merge this topic with the last, or just delete the last altogether. Also, I decided to add Vekoma to the list because everyone else considers it a top manufacturer.
Quite obiously, I consider Vekoma a pretty bad manufacturer one for the loads of clones and crap they make. But like said in the other topic, they can make some decent rides when making custom rides. Especially in recent years.
Premier does make some decent rides, but they all are pretty similar. Almost all the decent ones are launched/cloned, and when they're not launched, they're pretty bad. I haven't heard too many good things on Runaway Mountain at SFOT.
Mack has been pretty good in the last few years, making quite a few really interesting rides like Helix and Blue Fire. But they do clone things quite a bit. Their wild mice, their Water Coasters, their bobsleds, all are very similar. They're good clones(for the most part), don't get me wrong, but they seem to rarely make 100% custom rides.
Gerstlauer has been known for making rough rides, and are really only known for a few models, but they seem to be quite popular with smaller parks. But their Infinities and Hyper coasters look fantastic. They also really like cloning rides.
S&S is an odd one. They don't make as many rides as other companies, and they don't make as many notable ones. Their Asian launch coasters do look phenomenal, as do the New Batman clones. But their El Locos and Arrow 4Ds are reported to be quite rough. If they make more rides, they'll be a lot more well known.
Gravity Group is one of my personal favorites. They make beautiful, long, intense rides with buckets of airtime, have some nice overbanks, and was the second company to make a successful inversion on a woodie, and currently have more inverting wooden coasters than any other company. However, their older rides are known for being terribly rough. They also don't have as many rides as other manufacturers.
GCI is GG's sister. They both came from CCI, which hasn't been known for making the best rides(with a few obvious exceptions, however), yet has made two distinctly different, yet very prestigious manufacturers. GCI is known for their rapidfire banks and transitions with hidden airtime. Their problem, much like their sister, is that their older rides are very rough, and even sometimes considered bad. But come the 2000's, and they've constantly made world-class woodies.
Maurer is another oddball. They make good rides, but few are considered world-class. They do make distinctive rides, that's for sure. Some of their rides are considered rough, others silky smooth. They do clone quite a few rides, and make some decent spinners. But they really don't make much of anything that cuts top 10s.
Rocky Mountain Construction is the newest manufacturer, and has been making rides that are in the top 10s of everyone who's ridden one. They are quite fab. They mastered the wooden inversion, overbank, and pretty soon, launch. Their only problems are that they don't have much diversity, only 2 types of operating rides, with only 2 more in development(as far as we know), they're only in North America(until Wildfire comes along), and they don't have the best restraint system ever. But almost all of these problems will be solved in the next year or two.
B&M has been around for more than 20 years, and are at their 100th coaster. They make very high-quality rides that require little to no maintenance, are universally praised for their creations, and are just good. Their main problem is that they make some pretty tame rides. B&M makes gentle, graceful rides, unlike some competitors. They also don't like to go outside their comfort zone. They only just made a launch last year, and made a giga 4 years ago. Their layouts do tend to get a bit repetitive at times, and they reuse a lot of elements when they can do a lot more than what they currently do.
Intamin is regarded as the best of the best in terms of rides. If you've ridden one, chances are it's in your top 10. But the rides they're most known for are quite recent. For a company that was founded in 1967, and started making coasters in 1979, they've only made coasters that are top 10 material for only 20 years. The 80s was the time when they made things like Z-Force/Flashback, Shockwave(Drayton), their Bobsleds, and making only 1 new ride a year, sometimes only relocations. Also, some of their newer rides are still very rough and sometimes need track replacements. Restraints were never Intamin's strong point, nor was reliability. They also made that disgrace that just barely classifies as an Intamin at PA. Take that info as you wish.
Other manufacturers like Zierer and Chance are still good, but rarely make major creds. But if you do consider them premier, then ok. Good for you.
So, yeah. Better topic, I guess. Like said, mods can merge, lock or delete the other one if needed.
Quite obiously, I consider Vekoma a pretty bad manufacturer one for the loads of clones and crap they make. But like said in the other topic, they can make some decent rides when making custom rides. Especially in recent years.
Premier does make some decent rides, but they all are pretty similar. Almost all the decent ones are launched/cloned, and when they're not launched, they're pretty bad. I haven't heard too many good things on Runaway Mountain at SFOT.
Mack has been pretty good in the last few years, making quite a few really interesting rides like Helix and Blue Fire. But they do clone things quite a bit. Their wild mice, their Water Coasters, their bobsleds, all are very similar. They're good clones(for the most part), don't get me wrong, but they seem to rarely make 100% custom rides.
Gerstlauer has been known for making rough rides, and are really only known for a few models, but they seem to be quite popular with smaller parks. But their Infinities and Hyper coasters look fantastic. They also really like cloning rides.
S&S is an odd one. They don't make as many rides as other companies, and they don't make as many notable ones. Their Asian launch coasters do look phenomenal, as do the New Batman clones. But their El Locos and Arrow 4Ds are reported to be quite rough. If they make more rides, they'll be a lot more well known.
Gravity Group is one of my personal favorites. They make beautiful, long, intense rides with buckets of airtime, have some nice overbanks, and was the second company to make a successful inversion on a woodie, and currently have more inverting wooden coasters than any other company. However, their older rides are known for being terribly rough. They also don't have as many rides as other manufacturers.
GCI is GG's sister. They both came from CCI, which hasn't been known for making the best rides(with a few obvious exceptions, however), yet has made two distinctly different, yet very prestigious manufacturers. GCI is known for their rapidfire banks and transitions with hidden airtime. Their problem, much like their sister, is that their older rides are very rough, and even sometimes considered bad. But come the 2000's, and they've constantly made world-class woodies.
Maurer is another oddball. They make good rides, but few are considered world-class. They do make distinctive rides, that's for sure. Some of their rides are considered rough, others silky smooth. They do clone quite a few rides, and make some decent spinners. But they really don't make much of anything that cuts top 10s.
Rocky Mountain Construction is the newest manufacturer, and has been making rides that are in the top 10s of everyone who's ridden one. They are quite fab. They mastered the wooden inversion, overbank, and pretty soon, launch. Their only problems are that they don't have much diversity, only 2 types of operating rides, with only 2 more in development(as far as we know), they're only in North America(until Wildfire comes along), and they don't have the best restraint system ever. But almost all of these problems will be solved in the next year or two.
B&M has been around for more than 20 years, and are at their 100th coaster. They make very high-quality rides that require little to no maintenance, are universally praised for their creations, and are just good. Their main problem is that they make some pretty tame rides. B&M makes gentle, graceful rides, unlike some competitors. They also don't like to go outside their comfort zone. They only just made a launch last year, and made a giga 4 years ago. Their layouts do tend to get a bit repetitive at times, and they reuse a lot of elements when they can do a lot more than what they currently do.
Intamin is regarded as the best of the best in terms of rides. If you've ridden one, chances are it's in your top 10. But the rides they're most known for are quite recent. For a company that was founded in 1967, and started making coasters in 1979, they've only made coasters that are top 10 material for only 20 years. The 80s was the time when they made things like Z-Force/Flashback, Shockwave(Drayton), their Bobsleds, and making only 1 new ride a year, sometimes only relocations. Also, some of their newer rides are still very rough and sometimes need track replacements. Restraints were never Intamin's strong point, nor was reliability. They also made that disgrace that just barely classifies as an Intamin at PA. Take that info as you wish.
Other manufacturers like Zierer and Chance are still good, but rarely make major creds. But if you do consider them premier, then ok. Good for you.
So, yeah. Better topic, I guess. Like said, mods can merge, lock or delete the other one if needed.
