I was all set to give this ride an eight, but when I saw how often it has been damned by faint praise, my reactionary tendencies almost boosted my rating to a nine. Almost. Maybe this relative indifference proves nothing so much as how far steel coasters have come. This ride, for me, is indicative of the SFA roller coaster line-up as a whole: solid, fun, above average, even, but still lacking that last increment of genius or daring that separates the sturdy stand-bys from the great ones. Among the Superman trio, this seems to be the Kate Jackson to New Englands Farrah Fawcett; no one would complain about Kate unless hed seen Farrah.
Still, Kate aint bad, and neither is this. I enjoyed every trip I took on this coaster. Nothing about it was a bummer; from start to finish, good things were always happening, and I had no sense of frustration or letdown. Id go so far as to say it has three great moments. The first drop has that excellent sensation where you seem to freefall and then come back into contack with the track about 2/3 of the way down. And, hey, how about that speed hill between the helices? I had one ride in the back seat where I somehow managed to avoid being stapled and caught so much air on this hill that when we hit bottom I involuntarily flopped over the front of the car as if rendering the classic "I-am-not-worthy" supplication to Chancellor Stengel himself. Whats not to love about that? And I really like that funky little bend that dishes you off into the bunny hops (which sadly are themselves somewhat lackluster).
I guess if I have any complaint, it would be that one helix would have sufficed. Oh yeah, and the ankle-grabbers. Those, too. I will say that they were not as bad as I imagined, just kind of stupid and unnecessary. But between them and the sort of stapling you get on El Toro, Ill take the ankle-grabbers any day.
Finally, although Im not usually one to care much about themeing one way or the other, even I was embarrassed that Superman, the premier superhero in the DC Comics pantheon, gets a station that from the outside looks like a latrine. I mean I wasnt expecting the Fortress of Solitude, but lets give the man his due. Im tempted to end this review by saying something like, "Geez, people, lets lighten up and just enjoy the fun to be had," but I understand. The New England ride, especially before the new restraints, was so insanely studpendous that any coaster with the Superman brand cannot but exist in its considerable shadow. Yet I am very happy with this ride, and bestow upon it that distinguished variety of eight that I have henceforth awarded to other meritorious steel hypers like Nitro, which is perhaps a better design but is slightly less raucous. On that note, you havent ridden this ride until youve ridden it in the back seat. Youll get a little rattle, but nothing unpleasant, and the sensation of speed and intensity of airtime are remarkably enhanced. We all know that only one true Superman can rule the skies, but even if this ride falls short of heroism, it still ably answers the call for those us within blast range of the Nations Capital.
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