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Rank your ridden B&M inverted coasters

Matt N

Matt N

TS Member
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Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Hi guys. Following a discussion in the Thorpe Park thread comparing Nemesis to Nemesis Inferno, and a discussion regarding inverted coasters in general, I thought that it might be fun if I made a ranking thread for B&M inverts. I haven’t done a ranking thread in a while, as far as I can remember, and with this being an Alton Towers fansite, B&M inverts are bound to be a very hot topic!

I’ll get the ball rolling with my personal ranking; as you’ll discover, this topic also gives me an opportunity to air one of my most controversial opinions:
  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
So, that’s my personal ranking of B&M’s inverted roller coasters! But how do you rank them?
 
1. Nemesis - really tough picking this ahead of Montu tbh. Gone for Nemesis because that first drop into the corkscrew as the ground disappears is still one of my favourite coaster moments ever. Plus the theming.

2. Montu - the perfect invert, goes on for ages and the Batwing is class.

3. Banshee - a proper marmite coaster but I loved it. It's huge and has a great mix of inversions. Found the vest restraints actually worked quite well.

4. Raptor - very, very intense. Feels like it's gonna rip your feet off. Only rode this once but would possibly be higher with repeat rides.

5. Black Mamba - short but solid. Would be crap as a car park coaster but works well with the rockwork.

6. Nemesis Inferno - it's a superb coaster and the best ride at Thorpe (RIP Slammer x)

7. Great Bear - probably about on par with Inferno, found it quite forceless but good fun.

8. Batman Clones - not as intense as I expected and the layout is dated.
 
I don't know how you begin to rank this stuff!

Nemesis & the Batman clones are my favourites. Talon & Flight Deck good too.

The inversions on Alpengeist and Montu felt a bit large and drawn out - visually impressive, but don't have the same 'snappy' feeling of the smaller rides which I do enjoy.

Also ridden Inferno, Patriot, Banshee, Great Bear, Raptor, Silver Bullet, OzIris but don't have a great deal to say about them. All fun rides, but have ridden some of them only once.
 
Rick said:
I don't know how you begin to rank this stuff!
Click to expand...
It might be easier for me because I haven’t ridden too many coasters (72, to be exact)! I’d imagine that it gets a lot harder once you’ve ridden more coasters; I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to rank when you’re dealing with umpteen different cloned coasters, for example!

I must admit that I am very indecisive, however; my rankings do often change slightly! And besides, the most important thing of all for me is enjoying and appreciating every coaster for what it is!
 
There's no such thing as a bad B&M invert. Every one i have done (it's a lot) has been on the scale of good to excellent. It's the most consistent coaster model on the market for me. You know you're getting quality and re-rideability.

If you pushed me I'd have to say Montu is the best one but love them all. B&M are my favourite manufacturer so I have tried to ride as many B&M's as possible. I have only 2 I still need to ride in Europe.
 
I started trying to rank mine but quickly gave up - I've done 23 to date, many of them only once or twice which is hardly a reliable way to get an accurate feel for a ride.

I can think of a few that stand out above the others (Raptor, Montu and Batman come to mind) and a couple that I think are a bit weaker (Great Bear, Banshee and Inferno) but inverts are pretty consistently great - the bad ones are still good coasters they just suffer from not quite living up to the high expectation that comes with the ride type.
 
I've been on 29 B&M inverts and also struggle to rank them. The standout ones for me are Raptor, Montu, Katun & Flight Deck
 
Haha, I was wondering when you'd turn up and put my tally to shame!

Flight Deck was a real surprise for me. From pictures I thought it looked a bit rubbish but it turns out it's proper old-school B&M: a real high-g beast.
 
Pretty lame tally from me but:
1. Oz'Iris
2. Montu
3. Black Mamba
4. Dragon Challenge (Fireball)
5. Nemesis Inferno
6. Dragon Challenge (Horntail)
7. Nemesis


Nemesis is good but a bit overrated.
 
1. Nemesis
2. Duelling Dragons (one was better but I don't remember which)
3. Montu
4. Black Mamba
6. Nemesis Inferno

I've ridden Batman at Six Flags back in 2012 and cannot remember it at all, but its probably on there somewhere.

Black Mamba for me was too intense, some of the final turns just pulled too much G-force to be pleasant, but Inferno doesn't feel interesting enough to rank higher.

Of non-B&M inverts, the one at Warner MovieWorld in Gold Coast Australia was pretty good.
 
1. Montu
2. Nemesis
3. Black Mamba
4= Ice Dragon, Fire Dragon (I forget which I preferred, it was about 15 years ago...)
6. Nemesis Inferno

It's worth bearing in mind that B&M inverts are still quality rides, so even though I consider Nemesis Inferno to be the weakest one I've ridden it doesn't mean it's a rubbish coaster. There's plenty of other coasters that would sit below it in a full coaster ranking.
 
Best one I've been on is Raptor at Cedar Point.

Probably after that Black Mamba and Nemesis.

The 2 Batman clones I've done (SF Great adventure, Parque Warner) are both good as well.

Nemesis Inferno is good.

I didn't like the restraints on Banshee at Kings Island. Layout was good though.
 
1 - Monster
2 - Nemesis
3 - Montu
4 - Oziris
5 - Batman (Madrid and Magic Mountain)
6 - Silver Bullet
7 - Nemesis Inferno
8 - Black Mamba
9 - Dueling Dragons (both)
 
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1. Montu

2. Nemesis

3. Dueling Dragons (I last rode these over 10 years ago, don't remember which one I preferred)

4. Nemesis Inferno
 
I doubt I’ll ever have one which tops Monster. It’s just so... Wrong. That *ahem* mid-course (or lack of) just sums up how daft the whole setup is!

Montu, Oz’Iris, Nemesis and Black Mamba are all good too though (probably in that order as well). Inferno is the weakest I’ve done, but still fine.

Like others have said, I’m not sure there is such a thing as a “bad” Invert. Just like I’m sure there’s no such thing as a good SLC.
 
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