Ive been curious to see how High Karate would compare to its Midwestern counterpart, and I was pleased and somewhat surprised to discover that each has a distinct personality. As is fitting for its Northeastern location, HK is the more rough and tumble of the two. I dont know the stats on this, but HKs runway (or whatever you call the stretch leading into the top hat) seemed longer to me, and the acceleration at this point in the ride struck me as more forceful and sustained. In any case, it was very powerful and very fun. High Karate also features a surprising amount of shake and rattle to go with its roll, something I wasnt expecting from a less-than-two-year-old Intamin. I kind of liked it, given the short span of the ride. As we were barreling toward the pull-up, I could almost hear Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott saying, "Capn, I giving it all shes got. She canna take much more of this!" Feeling the ride labor a bit paradoxically made it seem more powerful. Since rapid-fire rerides are a virtual impossibility on this ride at this venue, the potential for repeated exposure to brain shake is minimal. Instead, the six seconds worth that you get here is a tolerable price to pay for the overall ride experience. The "speed hill" doesnt add much, especially since the heavy brakes come on right at the apex, but in the seconds before we hit them I could literally feel the distortion in my face from the speed. If that happened on TTD, I sure dont remember it.
Overall, I would characterize HK as more sprawling, forceful, and chaotic, all things I usually like in a ride. So why did I mark it lower than TTD? Its those stupid shoulder restraints. No, theyre not uncomfortable, and in my case, they didnt even make contact with my body. Yet their effect, along with the enormous u-bar to which theyre attached, is to increase the feeling of security and to decrease the feelings of freedom and exposure, none of which is good in these circumstances. Its not a huge difference, but I noticed it distinctively waiting for the launch and plummeting toward the ground. I know Im going to take some lumps for giving this beloved green icon of the Jersey skyline a mere 7. However, it suffers from being derivative in design and overcautious in execution. Nevertheless, High Karate still delivers the goods and is well-worth the wait .... at least once. After that, your time will be spent much more productively in the que for Air Toro.
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