I find the whole thing very difficult to be honest Joey. Certainly, as you broaden your experience then it changes your perception.
There's also two ways of looking at things; enjoyment and quality.
Jerry was shocked I loved Lightning Racer so much (it's still in my top ten). It's not a "better" coaster than Balder say, but the ride is incredibly good fun and immensely re-ridable. Just because it's a family ride not based on "steepness and airtime and everything else enthusiasts crave" doesn't stop it from being a brilliant laugh. Sometimes you just have to put how much you enjoy a ride over how many boxes are being ticked.
One thing I searched and searched for was a ride that could cover Megafobia for me. Megafobia isn't a great overall ride. The first drop is good, but not spectacular. However, the second drop is always superb for me, every single time. I adore that second drop. It's got the right amount of ejector, at the right speed (for me, maybe not everyone) with exactly the right pull up and exactly the right speed over the next hill. It works to set up the rest of the ride for me. While I know the rest of the ride trails off a lot, it doesn't matter because I buzz from that second hill for five minutes. I always sit on the brake run with a big grin on my face on Megafobia.
So it's not a great coaster, but I really enjoy it, it pushes the right buttons in my pleasure centre. El Toro was much more thrilling and the insane ejector hill surpassed Megafobia. It's a much better coaster and ticks all the right boxes and hit most of my buttons, but I didn't "gut" enjoy El Toro more than Megafobia. It's a bit like the difference between watching an episode of Blackadder Goes Fourth and All Quiet on the Western front. One is full of belly laughs, the other is compelling and emotional. Both are superb in their own ways, the latter being the "better" piece of televisual media, but I'd rather watch Blackadder every week. It doesn't detract from the other, it's just about an accessibility.
The Nash for me is very similar. The run I had in 2006 was sheer joy. It combined the fun of Lightning Racer with (almost) the joy of Megafobia. The airtime was sharp, sustained and delicious. The Nash has been like that for me a lot over the 30 years I've been riding it. It's just that when it's running badly, it's a nasty POS. I've criticised Baco for the same thing - inconsistency and The Nash is dead for me now, I no longer travel to Blackpool yearly just to ride it. I may still get a good run, others may still get a good run, but I can't say it's a good ride any more
So yeah, there we are. It's complicated. I think that as my experience has enhanced, I don't do things quite as simple as "Nemesis was a 10/10 coaster, then I went on Talon which was better, so Talon gets 10/10 and Nemesis is now 9/10. Then I went on Alpengeist which was better than Talon, so Talon gets a 9/10, Nemesis an 8/10, etc."
Nemesis is still a 10/10 ride (if that's how you want to rate it). It's just not as good a 10/10 ride as Alpengeist. Oblivion I love, the rush is superb and I can ride it over and over and just adore it. However, it's just a drop into a hole. It's superb, but it's not a 10/10 coaster because it's so short and lacking. It does what it does brilliantly, but... However, it's probably my favourite ride at Alton over Nemesis. Personal gratification outweighs the box ticking and personal gratification is an important thing.
I think I've explained that :lol:
