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Nemesis Reborn: General Discussion

Josh555 said:
Can you still get these posters from the shop?
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I'm sure I saw a post on X or Facebook today where someone said they are still giving them out.
Matt N said:
For anyone interested, I managed to see Nemesis Reborn for the first time last weekend (23rd & 24th March). I promised a longer written review of the project in my trip report from the weekend, so here it is!

Let me start with the theming and overall Forbidden Valley area. The change in vibe from Nemesis to Nemesis Reborn has certainly been divisive throughout the construction process, but I have to say that overall, I'm a big fan of the final product. The area looks absolutely fantastic, and in my view, the new changes have added a real energy to Forbidden Valley that it arguably lacked before. I heard a review describing the new-look Forbidden Valley as "dynamic", and I have to say that that is an excellent descriptor, in my view! Pretty much every new theming element in the area has some degree of audio, movement, or both, and it does give off a sense that things are happening around you and really elevates the atmosphere beyond that of the previous area. In terms of some particular positives for me, these include:
  • I have to say that the eye is an absolutely stunning piece of theming; it's just huge, and while I did not personally see the teeth move, I think it still really delivers on visual impact alone! The screen is very convincing, and overall, I do think that it serves as a very cool focal point of the new area!
  • I was originally unsure on the loss of the original queue layout, which involved you going under the ride, but I have to say that the new queue was a pleasant surprise! It's littered with bits of theming, and they've woven some very nice bits of storytelling into it, in my opinion. As I said about the wider area above, most of these new theming pieces have some degree of audio or movement. I particularly like the helicopter near the stall turn, which has some nice audio, smoke and movement, and the Phalanx lab, which has some nice bits of storytelling audio associated with it. Overall, I do think that the back portions of the queue are overall far more interesting than they were before, and while the lack of queueing under the ride is a loss compared to the previous iteration, I think the new theming and storytelling makes up for it!
  • On that subject, I do really like the new views of the ride the queue provides. It is very cool to be able to look over the whole ride area, and you do still get a couple of the close encounters that the old queue was good for. The stall turn comes pretty close at one point, and you are also close to the first drop!
  • The new station is awesome, and a huge improvement on what came before! I always said that I liked the idea of turning the station into the inside of the monster, and I have to say that I think they've executed this brilliantly! The new dispatch sequence is brilliant, the new audio in there is brilliant, the lighting is brilliant, the theming is brilliant... it's just brilliant all round, really!
  • I have to say that I think the Nemesis monster itself looks better than it did before. I think the darker grey/black paint job really suits it, the new tentacles look brilliant, the tail at the back looks better, and overall, I think they've done a really good job of refurbishing it! It's faithful to what was already there while also being enhanced and looking wonderfully shiny and new!
  • Perhaps controversially, I think that the new soundtrack is awesome, and much improved on what was there before! I'm not too much of a music nerd, so I can't go into too many specific nerdy details, but I personally think that the new soundtrack sounds a lot more exciting, dramatic, and just overall more catchy and pleasing to my ear! It sounds like the soundtrack to a really awesome Hollywood monster movie, and I personally much prefer it to the old one, as good as the old one was.
  • I really like some of the new triggered effects. For instance, I think that even something as simple as the smoke spraying the train going through the zero-g roll is really cool and really adds something to the overall theming!
  • I've heard people say that the overall area gives off quite a "Swarm" vibe, and I do agree with this somewhat. However, I've always loved Swarm Island at Thorpe Park as an area, so that's certainly no bad thing, in my view!
There are probably more, but those are just some of the ones I could think of! However, I don't think the new theming is perfect. Some minor areas for improvement from me are:
  • As much as I do really like the new black aesthetic of the area and fences (it's definitely grown on me a lot since the initial reveal!), I think that if I'm being really pedantic, they could have gone for some slightly more interesting ride area fencing. For instance, maybe even just having some red lights on top and slightly more beefed up fencing, to give off the impression of it being in an enclosure similar to something like the raptor paddock on VelociCoaster, would have been really cool!
  • Again, I'm being really pedantic here, but I do think that the helicopter near the stall turn is perhaps slightly too small. The one at the entrance to the area looks absolutely brilliant and is really impactful, but I think this one is perhaps a bit too small to have that sort of impact.
  • If we're thinking wishfully, I would have loved to have seen the budget stretch to a retheme of Galactica to make it fit with the rest of the area, as that ride does stick out like a sore thumb when the rest of the area is so wonderfully themed and cohesive. However, I fully appreciate that that's wishful thinking, and I'm happy that they put more into the rest of the area as opposed to spreading themselves too thinly and trying to include Galactica if the budget didn't allow for it.
Let's now discuss the ride itself. Now, you might think that there isn't loads to discuss because, well, it's the same Nemesis it's always been. And to an extent, that is true. However, I still feel like I want to talk about it a little, as the retrack has given me some thoughts.

Overall, it's great to have Nemesis back in the lineup. It's an excellent, excellent coaster, and getting back on it over the weekend definitely reinforced how much it adds to Alton Towers' lineup. I have long held the view that I don't rate Nemesis as highly as many enthusiasts, and while I stand by that view to an extent and would say that the retrack hasn't drastically changed my opinion of it, I think that I have a newfound appreciation for it in some ways and that I would perhaps rank it a few spots higher than I did before visiting Alton last weekend. I had 2 rides; a row 7 inner seat and a row 4 outer seat. To me, the ride felt a little bit faster in spots (particularly the two turnarounds), definitely smoother (it certainly didn't have any of the headbanging that the original was prone to in its latter years!), and definitely just as thrilling and exciting as it ever was! This isn't anything new, but I have to say that riding Nemesis again gave me a new appreciation for some of the more unique aspects of its layout design. That opening salvo, where the speed just builds and builds out of nowhere, is particularly awesome and so exciting, and I have to say that I think that the way the ride keeps its pace right to the end, closing with that snappy final corkscrew, is just brilliant! And overall, I think there's something intangibly... pleasing about the way it rides. Is Nemesis my favourite coaster at Alton Towers? Definitely not. I definitely enjoy Wicker Man discernibly more than the rest of the coasters in the park, and I think that Oblivion may also usurp Nemesis for me too. However, Nemesis is a very solid 3rd place coaster within Alton Towers for me, and while not a top 10 coaster, I'd definitely say it's a top 20, possibly a top 15 if I'm feeling generous (I haven't quite decided on its exact placement post-retrack yet; it was at #18 out of 111 before, but I could definitely see a touch of upwards movement if I took another look...).

One thing I've often heard discussed is a notable rattle on the retracked version. I don't know if I just rode on the "good" train both times I did it, but if people hadn't mentioned it, I honestly wouldn't have thought anything of this rattle despite having a relatively low roughness tolerance. The ride felt perfectly smooth to me; I hardly felt a thing on the row 7 inner seat ride, and while the rattle was slightly more noticeable on the row 4 outer seat ride, it was certainly nothing that even vaguely impacted enjoyment for me. I'd liken it more to the relatively benign "Mack rattle" on Icon than the rather distracting bounce on something like Mandrill Mayhem.

So overall, then, my view of Nemesis Reborn is profoundly positive. I think the project deserves all of the plaudits it is getting, and while I can quibble all I like about not rating it quite as highly as many, it's simply great to have Nemesis back at Alton Towers. She really is back with a vengeance!

Here are some photos I took of the ride and area:
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Agree with everything you've said Matt.

And for all the fuss made about the soundtrack when the snippets were released on the trailers over the last few months, I've heard very little feedback about it since. I for one - like you - absolutely love it. It fits in perfectly with atmosphere, environment and story they are telling. The old soundtrack just wouldn't work - it's sound is not "strong" enough, if you get what I mean (even if others don't understand what I'm trying to say there, I do!) It was fantastic for Nemesis 1, but not Nemesis Reborn. There are elements of the new soundtrack that wouldn't sound out of place in a Marvel or DC film. A superb, and very worthy successor to the original soundtrack. Just like Nemesis Reborn is to Nemesis.
 
Steve74 said:
I'm sure I saw a post on X or Facebook today where someone said they are still giving them out.

Agree with everything you've said Matt.

And for all the fuss made about the soundtrack when the snippets were released on the trailers over the last few months, I've heard very little feedback about it since. I for one - like you - absolutely love it. It fits in perfectly with atmosphere, environment and story they are telling. The old soundtrack just wouldn't work - it's sound is not "strong" enough, if you get what I mean (even if others don't understand what I'm trying to say there, I do!) It was fantastic for Nemesis 1, but not Nemesis Reborn. There are elements of the new soundtrack that wouldn't sound out of place in a Marvel or DC film. A superb, and very worthy successor to the original soundtrack. Just like Nemesis Reborn is to Nemesis.
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Got to agree regarding the soundtrack. Even mentioned it once or twice whilst in the queue - some of the new elements are so strong and thematic, they fit in perfectly with the theme.

Love the old one and always will, but the new one has a total different feel about it. It's as if the old soundtrack was perfect in that the Nemesis monster was dormant, and you can feel that in the slower parts of the theme - now the monster is alive, you can feel that in the way it's a lot more thematic and punchy.
 
Steve74 said:
I'm sure I saw a post on X or Facebook today where someone said they are still giving them out.

Agree with everything you've said Matt.

And for all the fuss made about the soundtrack when the snippets were released on the trailers over the last few months, I've heard very little feedback about it since. I for one - like you - absolutely love it. It fits in perfectly with atmosphere, environment and story they are telling. The old soundtrack just wouldn't work - it's sound is not "strong" enough, if you get what I mean (even if others don't understand what I'm trying to say there, I do!) It was fantastic for Nemesis 1, but not Nemesis Reborn. There are elements of the new soundtrack that wouldn't sound out of place in a Marvel or DC film. A superb, and very worthy successor to the original soundtrack. Just like Nemesis Reborn is to Nemesis.
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JayTricky said:
Got to agree regarding the soundtrack. Even mentioned it once or twice whilst in the queue - some of the new elements are so strong and thematic, they fit in perfectly with the theme.

Love the old one and always will, but the new one has a total different feel about it. It's as if the old soundtrack was perfect in that the Nemesis monster was dormant, and you can feel that in the slower parts of the theme - now the monster is alive, you can feel that in the way it's a lot more thematic and punchy.
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I completely get what you mean, and I think both of you have hit the nail on the head in terms of what I was trying to say about in in my review, but struggling for the words to express. The new soundtrack to me is a lot "stronger" in terms of its sound, and illicits a greater feeling of drama and excitement, in my opinion. The old one was good, but definitely now sounds a bit flatter and less exciting by comparison.

I think this leads me on to another point. One of the things that I think has been a huge success of this whole project is just how cohesive everything is. Everything works very well together, and it all comes together really nicely, even if some of the individual parts may have garnered less than positive reception in isolation. For instance, I'll be very honest and say that I wasn't initially keen on the black track with the veins painted on it. When it was being built within the old Nemesis theming, with things like the rusty fences and the cream paint on the monster, I thought it looked really weird and was rather sceptical about whether it would look any good. But within the context of the new area and altered theming, I've come around to it massively, and I think it looks brilliant!
Mykeprime said:
I'm sure Hyperia will be a great experience for riders, but I find it hard to be excited by something that seems to be themed as a pile of cigarettes.
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To be fair, coasters of that size are rarely heavily themed. On Hyperia, I think the ride itself will do most of the heavy lifting, and that's quite commonplace for a hyper coaster.
 
Just experienced two quite close together temporary stoppages- seems that op senses a problem - decides to send it empty and then ride auto stops and refuses to run. It got stuck empty on lift (has to be manually restarted) and then stuck in station. I’m guessing it might be to do with some over-sensitive sensors? Also it’s currently running on two trains and they seem to be reluctant to send second until first is on brake run.

Also loving the new layout of the queue- didn’t even mind queuing in torrential train when you can see it roaring (or rattling!) round!
 
VerticalLoop123 said:
It got stuck empty on lift (has to be manually restarted) and then stuck in station
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Last Saturday something similar happened. The train stopped on the lift, except this time it was with guests. I assumed it was somebody with a phone out but the host just restarted the lift without going to the train. The ride then went down as soon as the other train had been advanced into the station. Not a clue what the issue was.
 
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