You always know a year is going to be good when you start off with a new B&M, 30 miles up the road from where you live. To continue the momentum, a trip to Paris and Parc Asterix was planned quite swiftly to experience OzSiris, a brand new custom made B&M inverter. The first day of the trip was seeing all the Parisian sights. Our first adventure was to the Louvre. We didn't go in due to it being far later (and more expensive then we thought) so we instead walked up the Arc de triumphe. I'll be frank when I say things are big in Paris. The Arc de Triumphe, Notre Dame and the Eifel Tower can be seen from all around and for me personally, I really admire the effort and beauty of the structures. Fairly late in the day, we walked up the Eifel Tower for example and the metal structure is so gorgeous... well as far as metal can be gorgeous anyway. And the view from the third level is incredible. Overlooking the urban sprawl of Paris is something everything should do.
On the same day, we also visited a random park with animals. All the coasters were closed, much to john's annoyance but it was a fun diversion, particularly the Barbara Streisland ducks.
So.. Parc Asterix. A very popular park apparently as on both our days rides such as OzSiris, Tonnre de Zeus, L'Oxygernarium and Goudurix saw full queue lines, at least 60 miutes each. It's a very interesting park to, based around the characters of Asterix and Obelix, and a village which want to fight of the invading Roman empire. To follow the theme, each ride is themed accordingly. Each attraction is tounge in cheek in the fun stakes. So to start off, I'll begin with OzSiris
OzSiris - Four rides (One in the front, two in the back and one on row seven)
It was quite evident through-out the construction and concept art that OzSiris was going to be a very special rollercoaster. Unlike 99% of B&M's which are all themed around fear or some kind of animal, OzSiris is themed around the Egyptian god Siris. Now history doesn't tell of a god that hyptnotizes everyone but the park has gone down this route anyway. As you join the queue, the ride jumps around you, giving impressions of rides such as Nemesis and Black Mamba with the ride interacting very well with its landscape. You then enter the main building, themed around an Egyptian pyramid. I can say safely that we were overwhelmed with how much there is look at as you queue. From plans of OzSiris taking over Ceasers palace, Statues, beautiful wall drawings that depict Sris bending the Egyptian people to his will, there is always something new to spot. The ride building has been designed beautifulyly and it is such a joy when the general public latch onto it as well. People around us were photoing the theming, posing in front of it and even better was the lack of graffitti. Swarm's seconday queue line was full to the brim of tags. Nothing such at OzSiris.
So eventually you walk up into the main crypt (like grave robbers) and the full scale of the ride is shown. The use of lighting and effects is dazzling. One of the main things I thought of Swarms openness is that whilst the station inline is inspired, when its sunny, the ride will lose all atmosphere. It was sunny on our rides of OzSiris, but losing atmosphere wasn't on the agenda. Deep blue lighting is used throughout the station and cleverly, depicted on the wall is a line of people being hyptnotized and going through the rides layout. We think the storyline is that OzSiris uses the ride to put the population under his spell, hence the flashing lights as you leave the station.This attention to detail seperates the ride from other inverters in Europe.
So the ride? There are very few custom made inverters in the world that do something different with its layout. The majority go for the tried and tested curved drop into a vertical loop followed by a zero g roll. The only two that realy attempt something unique are Nemesis and OzSiris so unfortunately, as much as I hate doing it, Nemesis will be referenced a few times. OzSiris's first drop is pure excellence and is on a par with Oblivion, iSpeed and Stealth for pure adrenaline. For those that just assume newer B&M's are smooth and forceless, well just give OzSiris a go. Even the bottom of the first drop has a slight edge to it as the train at full speed tackles a high speed corner with a bit of roughness. Not head banging, but think Nemesis's relentlessness.
You dive into a well composed dive loop, rare on a European B&M, around a tight corner into the vertical loop which is very fast and forceful before diving downwards into an immelman turn. Each part of this part of the ride is done at fast speed, giving it some excellent pacing. Even the dive under the main plaza is done surprisingly fast. I thought it would be slow and cumbersome, but no it's done with great spirit, pulling upwards into a nice corkscrew. The only let down is the turnaround here. It interrupts the pace which is similar to what I thought on Batman La Fuga. There is no worry with the Zero-G though. Rarely done with the train turning to the right, the zero g is absolutely perfect. Some criticism is thrown at similar rides (Nemesis, Nemesis Inferno, Katun) that the inversion is done too fast so you lose the zero g ifeeling. None such criticism here, the ride takes it at such a perfect speed that you feel zero g for what feels like minutes rather then micro seconds. The ride is coming to an end now but not before diving into a helix around one of the queuelines zig-zags and into the break run.
The more of these I go on, the more they get harder to rate. Whilst some come across as over-rated such as the Dragons, some boil under the radar and surprise through their sheer awesomeness. Katun was the first and the second is OzSiris. The park has taken one of the most intense ride types available, twisted it and give it a theme that is pure tounge in cheek, fun and more importantly enjoyable. I applaud the park for their effort.
OzSiris - 10/10
