Best / Worst Roller Coasters at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois

Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois is Six Flags' signature location. With 13 roller coasters spread out across 9 park divisions, Hurricane Harbor outdoor waterpark and more shops and restaurants than you can count on two hands, no one would wonder why. Six Flags Great America has some of the best roller coasters on American turf, but not all its rides are top flight. Find out which ones are worth your time and your wait in line.

Superman Roller Coaster

Stroll through the security gates and hang a left for the ride of a lifetime. Plunk down on the roller coaster seat, harness in and place your legs through the leg brackets underneath the seat. Now you'll start gradually facing the ground, Superman-style. The smooth metal coaster then makes its ascent towards to top and shoots around loops, twists and near-straight dives.

Superman receives five out of five stars from me. Although you might not want to ride it twice in a row, the belly-down position gives you a totally different perspective than any other roller coaster you've ridden.

Dark Knight

You'll find Dark Knight right next door to the Superman roller coaster. This sit-down coaster goes careening around sharp, jolting turns through a pitch black tunnel. Although it's supposed to be a thrill ride, it's not. It's one of the worst coasters I've ever ridden, and I've been on a few. I got off feeling quite sick from the sharp jolts, which were nothing more than coaster turns that should've been smoothed out.

This ride gets one star out of five. Ride it only once if you want to say you rode every coaster at Six Flags. But if you're strapped for time, skip it.

Batman

I first rode the Batman coaster at Six Flags St. Louis. It was my absolute favorite of all the rides there, and it remained this way the second time around. Although the Batman ride is a little more jolting than Superman, it still takes riders for the thrill of a lifetime with lots of upside-down loops, near-ground experiences and corkscrew turns.

This one gets four out of five stars from me, simply because it's not as smooth as I think it could be. But it's a great ride - don't miss this for the world!

Vertical Velocity

This coaster takes you from 0 to 70 miles per hour in four seconds - straight up a corkscrew turn and straight back down. Then, just when you think you're going to run out of coaster space, the ride goes 90 degrees upwards - backwards - and sends you careening back towards the ground - straight down and back up the corkscrew. This revolution goes on for three times. You'd think every rider would get sick just by watching it, but looks are deceiving - you don't feel sick at all!

Vertical Velocity is perhaps the smoothest, coolest ride at Six Flags Great America. It's not as scary as it looks, and is definitely a must-ride for anyone over 54 inches tall.

This one gets five out of five stars.

Raging Bull

Raging Bull is one of the longest roller coasters in the world, I imagine. It's not one of those "blink and it's over" rides - you get enough bang for your buck here. Climb up gradual ascent very slowly... and then sail down a nearly 90-degree angle that sends your stomach right into your throat and out your spine.

Raging Bull doesn't turn riders upside-down, but you do go sideways and downwards very fast. Beware of high-pitched screaming riders next to you - this ride elicits many screams. If you like speed, this ride is for you.

This one gets four out of five stars - definitely worth the time in line.