This and Superman: The Ride are the two world-class, mind-boggling, bucket-list roller coasters at Six Flags New England, and I think Wicked Cyclone may actually be the better of the two (which is high, HIGH praise given what Superman is). Regardless, both are absolute must-rides for real thrill-seekers. Wicked Cyclone is not the biggest or fastest coaster at SFNE, but it is the most hyperkinetically intense.

Rocky Mountain Construction has been making a name for itself with its conversions of deteriorating wooden coasters into wild steel-track hybrids. In this case, RMC transformed a ride that had acquired a reputation for bone-shaking roughness into a glass-smooth but relentlessly intense airtime machine. This coaster does not let up for an instant. From the first drop to the station brakes, it packs in a different disorienting surprise every couple of seconds, including three inversions. My favorite of these is the first inversion, the zero-G stall, a roll that reverses direction midway through. The other two are zero-G rolls embedded within the wooden support structure. Another high point of the ride is the double down, a twin pop of pure ejector airtime.

For a ride this wild and compact, it actually gives a fairly long experience, because the track makes three laps around the ride's footprint. I have seen reviews complaining that the ride slows down too much on the third, lowest lap, but I did not find this at all--maybe it was running unusually well when I rode it. More recently I've seen some consensus that Wicked Cyclone was running generally better in the 2021 season, so maybe SFNE did something to help it maintain speed all the way through.

You ride through all this in cars without over-the-shoulder restraints, held in only by a seat belt and a somewhat bulky lap bar. I did not have problems with these restraints, but some riders might. I did notice that I had to bend my knees far enough that before my recent knee-replacement surgery I might have had some trouble with it. Regardless, the absence of anything holding in your upper body gives a tremendous (and slightly unnerving) sense of freedom, with no danger of banging your head on anything as you whip through the inversions and overbanks.

There is some clever storm-related theming around the queue, which also goes under and through the structure, giving you great views of what you're about to be subjected to.