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What makes your #1 better than your #2?

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
#1 Steel Vengeance vs #2 Voyage

Voyage in many ways is the best wooden coaster out there thanks to its massive length, airtime, and aggression. And in turn, SV packs even more length, airtime and aggression. There really is nothing more powerful than SV’s jam-packed layout. Except an Apache helicopter. An Apache helicopter has machine guns AND missiles. It is an unbelievably impressive complement of weaponry, an absolute death machine.
 

FistedColossus

Hyper Poster
1. Steel Vengeance
2. Skyrush

I simply refuse to believe Steel Vengeance will ever be topped. Purely because of its length. It goes on forever and there are no dead spots.

I find the smaller RMC's are usually a bit more intense/aggressive. Steel Vengeance is absolutely huge but still tries to kill you.
 

Snoo

The Legend
1a. Steel Vengeance to 1b. Velocicoaster

You can't get much closer between these two. I think the AMOUNT of airtime helps Steve win.. but that upside down ejector is TOUGH to top.
 

Howie

Donkey in a hat
Length. Plain and simples. Whether comparing it directly to my number 2, or anything else in my Top 10, Steel Vengeance has that mammoth, Voyage-esque ride time that keeps it way out in front. It has everything that makes RMC's great... but has about 50% more of it. In particular, airtime. My god, all that airtime. Many of the world's elite coasters have 5, 6, maybe 7 moments of solid ejector. SteVe has, what? About 26?
Nah man, ain't nothin coming close to that anytime soon.
 
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Sandman

Giga Poster
Helix is my number 2
Taron is my number 1

It's a pretty hotly contested question, the whole Helix vs Taron thing.

For me, it probably starts at the entrance.

I love the view as you approach Liseberg. Seeing Helix perched atop the big old hill is a wonderful thing.

However, how often can you say that your number 1, a beast of a coaster, is impossible to see as you approach the park and enter? Not often at all as far as I'm concerned. It's elusive and mystical, and that makes me more excited to get straight to it.

And then there's the fact you can hear the brilliantly powerful farty launches before you even lay eyes on it.

...Annndddd then you enter Klugheim and there she is. In all her glory. A tangled mess of a coaster, spurting out at various angles and junctures. Flying over cobbled pathways and narrow nooks. Pathways that take you into this glorious fantasy world, guided by fab lanterns and other-worldly music.

Helix at night is really bloody brilliant with the lights of Gothenburg twinkling in the near distance. But for me, Taron just takes it to that next level. You're in another world. The beautifully lit launch track, the mist, the ambience of people skirting around Klugheim with their food and hot drinks, taking it all in from different vantage points.

I don't think I need to do a play-by-play comparison of the ride experience, but I think the difference in the launches kind of summarises it for me.

Helix has an almost passive elegance whereas Taron grabs you by the bollocks and throws you into a fierce whirlwind of thrill and fantasy.
 

Lori Marie Loud

Giga Poster
My #1 is Mako at SeaWorld Orlando and my #2 is Silver Star at Europa Park, so my top 2 are both the same ride type (B&M Hypers). That naturally encourages a comparison between the two!

To be honest, there’s not a huge amount between Silver Star and Mako, but Mako currently sits higher because from memory, no individual airtime moment on Silver Star quite matches the raw impact of some of Mako’s best (in my view) airtime moments, such as the first drop, the first big hill and the speed hill. Mako also has (or at least had in 2016) a sublime feeling of 100% glass smoothness that Silver Star lacks; while perfectly smooth enough in its own right, Silver Star doesn’t have quite the same 100% refined feeling of “gliding on air” that Mako does, and the 100% glass smoothness is one of the many things that I loved about Mako in 2016.

With that being said, I would say that Mako does not quite win in every category. In my opinion, Silver Star has a stronger ending than Mako, with those sudden ejector airtime pops after the MCBR being phenomenal and that very nicely executed s-bend ending the ride on a real high! Mako’s ending with the overbanks is still really nice, but I do prefer Silver Star’s more airtime-focused ending.

Overall, there really isn’t a whole lot in it. My reasons for putting Mako higher are really quite picky in the grand scheme of things; they’re both sublime rides!
I'm honestly confused as to why you didn't just cut the knot and have them tie for #1.
 

redheadedRobin

Mega Poster
#1 Taron & #2 FLY

Honestly? The difference is minimal. I actually think of swapping these in my ranking all the time, because they're both amazing. The theming, the pace, the elements, the areas they're in, the rides I've experienced by day & by night... everything feels 10/10 to me.

I'm a huge inversion lover though. Hypers and gigas? Not my thing, turn me upside down and I'll be a happy person.

So, if a coaster that doesn't have any inversion is that good and I have so much fun riding it, it definitely gets bonus points.
 

Callum

Roller Poster
I rank Kondaa over Nemesis due to the airtime and the first drop. It's the first coaster since riding Nemesis that completely blew me away like Nemesis did the first time riding, couldn't stop smiling on the break run.

Its a complete package, I love the station, the train design, the soundtrack + dispatch music, its rerideable. Whats not to love.
 

caffeine_demon

Strata Poster
My #2 is Zadra - It';s just about everything I look for, great pacing, great feeling through the elements (sorta thing only RMC get) - a lovely stall, when I rode it last year, it was hard to see anything topping it,

My new number 1 is Velocicoaster - combines the best of zadra, with a couple of launches, and less faffy loading, and non shin squishing restraints.

win-win!
 

James F

Hyper Poster
#1 is Hyperion and #2 is Helix

-Helix is the more varied ride for sure which is what I usually go for, but Hyperion wins for me just for it's insane airtime and the unfiltered madness of it's first half.

Both are completely different experiences in my view so it's hard to compare.
 

Strathven

Roller Poster
My #1 is Wildfire (Silver Dollar City), and the next one down is Titan @ SFOT

Titan is easily the more forceful of the two, the more intimidating, and the more thrilling (it's also the only hypercoaster I've ridden so far), but Wildfire just flows better. It has kind of a novel layout for a looping coaster, where the first inversion is an Immelmann instead of a vertical loop, and there's no MCBR. It's also in a gorgeous location on a mountainside overlooking a lake, where Titan sits over the park's junkyard and parking lot and overlooks...Arlington.

My #2 spot is kind of tied with Superman: Krypton Coaster as well, which just barely loses out to Wildfire because of Wildfire's straight drop, lack of an MCBR, and the fact it only has one corkscrew instead of Superman's 2 (I'm not really big on those).
 

The_bullgod

Mega Poster
My #1 is Wildfire at Kolmarden and my #2 is Zadra at Energylandia.

Zadra is the slightly better ride, but it has a bad location compared to Wildfire.
And that is why overall Wildfire is the better ride over Zadra,
 

Sticky_T_Wicky

Roller Poster
1. Steel Vengeance
2. Voyage

Steel Vengeance is just so stupidly long with so many elements and every element hits. And honestly for me, there is a pretty big gap between Steel Vengeance and the Voyage whereas there is basically no gap between Voyage, Maverick, Outlaw Run and Iron Rattler.
 

Nicky Borrill

Strata Poster
I mean... my #1 is Zadra... What makes it better than anybody else's #1?

The fact I've ridden it, and I haven't ridden most other people's #1. 🤷‍♂️

Fully expecting to be blown away by SteVe when I eventually get around to it... Even the bits people complain about sound like a dream to me, lots of random little thigh crushing ejector hills? Yes please!!!!
 

Howie

Donkey in a hat
Length.

Size matters.

I know you don't 'do' ranking per se, but I  am curious, what coasters were in your head when you answered this? You must have some idea. I think I could take a pretty good guess at what the number 1 might be, not least because it's clearly something loooong (and also because I was there 😉) but beyond that it's all a bit mysterious.
Tell me to f*** off if you think I'm being nosey - it's good to maintain a certain mystique about one's self - but I am interested to know what a well travelled gent such as yourself would consider a worthy contender?
 
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