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B&M Inverts, Best to Worst

roomraider

Best Topic Starter
For me something like this

Nemesis
Montu
Batman la Fuga
Batman The Ride (SFMM)
Dueling Dragons Fire
Silver Bullet
Black Mamba
Dueling Dragons Ice
Nemesis Inferno

All are good rides though and they all feature fairly highly on my list.

For clarity i just felt Batman la Fuga had a better setting (and for me felt quicker even with one less car) which is why i set it slightly higher than the one at SFMM

I get to add 3 more Batman clones in the next month :)
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
^ I can agree with that. I have ridden ridden four Batmans (and stood in the queue for Goliath at SFFT!), and have noticed a difference in setting can differentiate between the coasters. SFMM's is too high from the ground, while SFStLouis have some extra trashy aura that adds to the theme.
 

therick311

Mega Poster
Re: B&M Inverts, Best to Worst

Hyde244 said:
SFStLouis have some extra trashy aura that adds to the theme.

Yeah, I have always wondered if that was actual theming, or just Six Flags being Six Flags.
 

shawnoc

Mega Poster
I know it's not the first time I have posted on a simelar topic but here it goes.

Nemisis It was my first B&M invert, but one thing that puts this at the top of my list is the setting.
At the top of the lift hill you are only 40ft or so above ground level, I love the first wing over as the train seems too slow down the first drop until you flipped into the inversion. Followed by the best helix on a coaster I have experienced yet. The fact the ride does not hit top speed until the base of the loop half way through the ride is genius. Not to mention the last wing over after the tunnel. Relentless.
MontuI love this coaster, the drop is massive and the leg chopper on the immelman is great. The batwing makes this ride for me, forces are superb. I just wish the zero g does not whip so much on the back row.
Busch have a great amount of coasters which means that I have never had to queue too long to ride. Unlike uk parks tend too be.
Duelling Dragons (fire) The air time hill, genius I love this moment (when it duelled) still fun as is without duelling. Just a good paced ride.
Nemisis Inferno For a sister ride to Nemesis it is inferior but it is still a great solid ride. I love the pre lift section as it give the ride seething else. The planting around the ride now it is grown makes the ride look so much better. My favourite bit is the final helix as it give some good forces (not quite nemesis). The theme tune for inferno is class as well. Shame they don't ramp up the base tubes in the station.
Duelling Dragons (ice) Good ride just lacked intensity for me. Don't get me wrong there are some great elements on the ride, I.e the cobra roll and the old duelling loop :( . The zero g is smooth aswell.

I really need to ride more of these as the are my favourite coaster type. I based Dragons Challenge on its previous incarnation as it gave me the best ride experience.
 

rtotheizzo17

Hyper Poster
rtotheizzo17 said:
I'll be honest, this is like picking between getting a hundred dollar bill or two fifties. Every B&M invert I have been on has been a fantastic ride.

Montu - You always remember your first. :)
Afterburn - IMO the most intense of the American inverts (having not been on Patriot or Manbats).
Talon - Just a funky layout, I remember the airtime hill with the station as a foot chopper being great.
Alpenghiest - It's big and bad and forceful.
Batman Clones (x3) - There is a reason why it was cloned 100 times or something (including 3 in Texas).
Dragons Fire - Better when dueling, Fire always seemed better .
Dragons Ice - Awesome inline twist, again better when dueling .
Silver Bullet - Weird but fun layout. The whole park seemed to under impress except this.
Raptor - I always heard the helix was great, rode early and didnt impress. Still a very good ride.
Great Bear - Someone had to come in last? Unique drop, unique layout, really meanders at the end.

Update!

Montu - You always remember your first. :)
Banshee - Great mix of speed, force, and elements. Rattle on certain trains keeps it here instead of #1.
Afterburn - IMO the most intense of the American inverts (having not been on Patriot or Manbats).
Talon - Just a funky layout, I remember the airtime hill with the station as a foot chopper being great.
Alpenghiest - It's big and bad and forceful.
Batman Clones (x3) - There is a reason why it was cloned 100 times or something (including 3 in Texas).
Dragons Fire - Better when dueling, Fire always seemed better .
Dragons Ice - Awesome inline twist, again better when dueling .
Silver Bullet - Weird but fun layout. The whole park seemed to under impress except this.
Raptor - I always heard the helix was great, rode early and didnt impress. Still a very good ride.
Great Bear - Someone had to come in last? Unique drop, unique layout, really meanders at the end.
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
Just to update the count:

Banshee
Raptor
Great Bear
Patriot
Talon
Dragon Challenge Chinese Fireball
Dragon Challenge Hungarian Horntail
Batman
Silver Bullet

Banshee really is quite a remarkable B&M.
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
From the ones I've ridden:

Nemesis
Katun
Black Mamba
Alpengeist
Great Bear
Montu
Batman la Fuga
Batman The Ride (SFGAdv)
OzIris
Dragon Challenge (Chinese Fireball)
Dragon Challenge (Hungarian Horntail)
Talon
Nemesis Inferno
 

Hobbes

Mega Poster
Re: B&M Inverts, Best to Worst

After going to BGW, my rankings now look like this:

Batman
Montu
Alpengeist
Afterburn
Raptor
Dueling Dragons Fire
Dueling Dragons Ice

Alpengeist was an all-round solid ride. The first half was very fun ride, and had a decent amount of force. It suffers from a rough entry to the cobra roll and an anticlimactic ending after the corkscrew, but it was overall an enjoyable ride.




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Mark9

Roller Poster
1. Katun. Only by a tiny smidgen does this come first. Great ride.
2. Nemesis. The classic and one of the greatest rides ever built.
3. Oz'Iris. I'm a big fan of this even though I know others aren't. I love its theming which really helps.
4. Black Mamba. My memories are a little hazy as I last rode in its opening year. I just remember loving it.
5. Batman: The Ride (backwards at Magic Mountain). Great ride and even backwards, it was superior to a lot of rides out there.
6. Chinese Fireball. I've ridden duelling and un-duelling. It's a great ride with a very unconventional layout.
7. Nemesis Inferno. Maybe slightly controversial but I think its a great little coaster.
8. Hungarian Hungtail. I don't think this is that bad, it just lacks that certain push
9. Montu. I really wanted to love it and after a promising start, the two trim areas killed it dead. Wish I'd ridden with them not activating.
10. Silver Bullet. Whilst this isn't bad, it definitely feels like a treading water kind of coaster. Too friendly like it wants to please everyone but lacks aggression.
11. Batman La Fuga. The promising queue line descends into concrete trenches. Was majorly disappointed with my first Batman.
 

Maverix

Mega Poster
Banshee - My favorite B&M actually, airtime on the drop, a perfect zero-g, super fun barrel roll and the rest of the ride is intense while still being massive. Amazing ride.
Afterburn - Fast and furious. Awesome old school B&M invert. That batwing <3
Montu - Second half is a bit trimmed to death but the front half makes up for that nicely. Again, batwing <3
Raptor - Classic ride, super fun kick-out on the first drop right side. Decently intense ride.
Alpengeist - Awesome massive maneuvers, good theming helps too.
Batman: The Ride - The classic, such a great ride, always enjoy this ride, even though I've ridden a ton of them.
Chinese Fireball - Surprisingly more intense than I remembered it being when it was Dueling Dragons. Lack of dueling makes the layout seem strange and it petters out at the end. Still a decent ride.
Silver Bullet - Mild forces, but that floater bank is bliss. Wish the rest of the ride was just as good.
Great Bear - Interesting layout and supports, but a bit short and lacked punch.
Hungarian Horntail - Again, lack of dueling kills the ride. Also, not as intense as it's counterpart and rather dull.

Do love these rides though, have yet to find a truly bad one.
 

Jarrett

Most Obnoxious Member 2016
2012Jarrett said:
1. Afterburn- Such a good coaster! Sick drop, sik wingover, sick helix, excellent trains, beautiful to look at, I love this thing! I get off feeling amazing and ready to ride Intimidator and go home every time!
2. Alpengeist- Why does everybody rag on this one? It isn't as forceful as Afterburn is but it's still pretty great. I find it pretty disorienting and smooth.
3. Raptor- Love the drop, wingover, and OMG that helix! <3
4. Batman- Found it forgettable. Nothing special about it.

Adding Montu in November & Banshee next April.

Just thought I'd join the club and update mine. New ones are in bold text.

1. Banshee- Easily the best invert I've ridden. Good mix of elements, good theming, and it really combines the smoothness of new B&M with the intensity and snap of old B&M. Only bad thing I have to say about it is that the green train rattles a bit and the purple train rattles like crazy. But if you ride it in the blue train it'll be the best B&M invert experience of your life.
2. Montu- Again, great theming, good intense layout, and that entrenched wingover is amazing. I feel like it doesn't have as much good terrain action as Banshee (probably because Florida :p ) and it farts around at the end except for that wingover.
3. Afterburn- Such a good coaster! Sick drop, sik wingover, sick helix, excellent trains, beautiful to look at, I love this thing! I get off feeling amazing and ready to ride Intimidator and go home every time!
4. Batman (SFMM, backwards)- Turning this invert around was a wise choice! I rode its clone forward in Atlanta in 2006 and it felt pretty soulless and unoriginal as opposed to Afterburn (my favorite at the time) and every one I rode after just seemed better. But backwards it's just insane. I recreated this clone in RCT3 and even after having done that I couldn't tell what was next after the second loop and the whole ride was taking me by surprise.
5. Alpengeist- Why does everybody rag on this one? It isn't as forceful as Afterburn is but it's still pretty great. I find it pretty disorienting and smooth.
6. Raptor- Love the drop, wingover, and OMG that helix! <3 Only thing that kills it for me is that I don't find it that unique and there's a tad bit of headbanging.
7. Silver Bullet- Definitely the least intense one I rode but by golly it's fun! Nice interaction with the water and I liked the cobra roll. I feel like if it's possible that this one should be fitted with the new B&M trains more than any other invert. It shouldn't provide enough forces to cause issue with the wider seats and I can see them looking awesome going through the cobra roll.
8. Batman (SFOG, forwards)- Found it forgettable. Nothing special about it.
 

Intamin to Win

Mega Poster
Talon- finishing section is quite forceful, and made the ride for me. It also has a relatively flowy layout and isn't just "inversion inversion inversion"
Great Bear- the sweeping in and around the other rides and area are a unique experience, especially on an invert. Corkscrew under S.D. Looper is awesome.
Batman, SFGA- the standard for B&M inverts, the zero-g is the best part here.



Raptor- It probably didn't help that I rode it in some middle row (2hr wait, impatient friends), but this ride is a dump.
 

Montubelle89

Roller Poster
My name says it all!
Haven't been on many, but Montu wins for me :--D
I like Chinease Fireball at IOA , but neither Dragon Challenge come even close. I really want to try Banshee at KI!
 

Sythe

Mega Poster
Great Bear
Raptor (I found this boring but probably because it was one of the last rides I rode at Cedar point when I went)
Batman: The Ride (SFOG)
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
Sanchezmran said:
Of the four I've been on:

1. Alpengeist, BGW - Great speeds, intensity, and theming.
2. DC: Chinese Fireball, IoA
3. DC: Hungarian Horntail, IoA
- I had ridden Dragon Challenge when it used to duel, which was why I really enjoyed it. Haven't ridden it since then.
4. Raptor, CP - Only ridden this once and I remember it being the roughest of these four, but still enjoyed it.
1. Nemesis
2. Alpengeist
3. Nemesis Inferno
4.Chinese Fireball
5. Hungarian Horntail
6. Raptor

Nemesis does everything best in an inverted coaster.

Nemesis Inferno was a smooth, intense ride. But I think Alpengeist's length and height give it the edge over Inferno.

I'll give out more details later when I do a trip report. I'm still thinking things through on where to place things on my favorites list.
 

CookieCoasters

Giga Poster
1. Black Mamba: Consistently intense. Beautiful theming and I'd probably say a perfect considering its size. A little bit of airtime towards the back on the first drop is just a bonus. Currently the only coaster that i can deem completely floorless.

2. Montu: A brilliant contrast between large swooping elements at the beginning and increasingly tight and intense elements towards the end. The batwing is particularly incredible.

3. Nemesis: Probably more intense then the above at times and still a very unique and interesting layout that always delivers. Only falls to third due to the fact i sometimes feel it is a little on the short side.

4. Batman Clones (PWM, SFMM): Very quick and intense coasters that never let up during their whole circuit and all the inversion are masterpieces in terms of the forces they provide. Places fourth again due to it being a bit on the short side and the layout being quite standard.

5. Katun: With its massive and almost stomach churning-ly intense inversions coupled with its insane first drop, this monster of an invert should easily hit the number one spot. Although it falters on something that i've never noticed on any of the above; roughness.

A bit of a gap...

6. OzIris: The new-style first drop and pretty much the whole of the first half of the ride (pre underwater dive) is fantastic. However, a rather forceless and dull second half lets it down a bit. Still a very good coaster though.

A bit of a gap...

7. Nemesis Inferno: I'd say its all-round a pretty good invert with a decent level of consistent intensity. However, nothing stands out as being that memorable and never leaves me with as much of a buzz as some.

8. DC: Hungarian Horntail: I think that zero-g roll and cobra roll are pretty good on this invert, but nothing else stands out to me as that incredible about it. It can also sometimes be a bit rough.

9. DC: Chinese Fireball: In some ways I love the layout of this invert because it is very unique, but in other ways I also find it a bit dull and not particularly successful. Again, like its twin it sometimes suffers from roughness (although not as much).

10. Flight Deck: I wouldn't have classed myself as an enthusiast when I rode this coaster, so I can't give a very good analysis of it, but I remember it being pretty good. If I was to ride it again, I'd probably place it higher.

A bit of a gap...

11. Silver Bullet: The only invert that has left me feeling disappointed. I found it to be pretty forceless and dull despite its quite unique layout. Tbh I blame it all on that **** first drop.


I love B&M Inverts and they're probably one of my top 5 favourite models of coaster. They're is not any i have ridden and actually disliked. But Silver Bullet is definitely the worst.

I hope to ride 4 new ones by the end of this summer:

Predictions
Alpengeist: Probably just underneath Katun (in that same league)
Talon: Either just below or above OzIris
Great Bear: Somewhere around Nemesis Inferno
Monster: Not sure with this one, but has the potential to be somwhere around the current top 5 i guess
 
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