Bigger is, in fact, better — at least when it comes to dive coasters.

This model, popularized by Swiss coaster firm Bolliger & Mabillard, has stayed within the same formula from the 2005 opening of SheiKra at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay all the way up to the recent, more compact models like Emperor at SeaWorld San Diego and Wrath of Rakshasa at Six Flags Great America.  

Tormenta as seen from outside the park (Theme Park Tribune)

Tormenta: Rampaging Run doesn’t exactly break that mold. Instead, the ride just beefs it up by being the longest (4,199 feet), tallest (309 feet) and fastest (87 mph) coaster of its class. 

That’s more than enough to make it a powerful, if imperfect, new headliner for Six Flags Over Texas. 

The ride experience

Tormenta actually comes with a backstory, as the ride takes its name from a “legendary bull that grew to be the most feared and respected animal in the land” in a fictional, secluded Spanish village that surrounds the coaster.

Bull statue outside Tormenta: Rampaging Run (Theme Park Tribune)

The plaza in front of the ride entrance is flanked by fountains surrounding a statue of Tormenta — nothing immersive, yet adding pleasant scenery is always a positive.  

Fountains in the Tormenta plaza (Theme Park Tribune)

The queue itself is about as unthemed as it gets, but the story picks up again on the ride’s lift hill. Chants of “Tor-ment-a!” are played as you ascend — though the chain lift may drown much of the sound out until you come to the turnaround and are dangled 309 feet above the ground. No other coaster this tall lets you soak in the view from that high up for this long!

The lift hill on Tormenta as seen on the steps up to the station (Theme Park Tribune)

Then you’re released into the 285-foot first drop, with the 95-degree angle making for especially great airtime in the back row.

The thrill is perhaps somewhat constrained by the newer B&M vest restraints, but I’ll take them over the older, bulkier restraints on SheiKra that can cause headbanging. The bigger drop really gives the ride time to build up extreme positive G-forces for the first two inversions, the 218-foot-tall Immelmann loop, another upscaled dive coaster staple, and then the world’s tallest vertical loop at 179 feet.

World’s tallest vertical loop on any coaster (Theme Park Tribune)

For the real coaster sickos out there, you’ll repeatedly get that “greying out” feeling — meaning your vision narrows and grows darker as those high positive Gs temporarily affect your brain — at the bottom of each of these first three elements. 

An Immelmann following the mid-course brakes on Tormenta (Theme Park Tribune)

The third inversion, a smaller Immelmann you’ll barely recognize because of the train’s speed, leads you into the brake run — though I hesitate to call it a “mid-course” brake run because the ride feels mostly over by this point.  The smaller drop off the brakes didn’t seem to carry much airtime, and the second half can’t hope to live up to the earlier portions of the ride. You’ll go through another Immelmann and then a cutback before hitting the final brakes.    

Is there a rattle?

Every new B&M coasters over the past few years has seemingly been accused of having the so-called “B&M rattle,” meaning the ride is so noticeably shaky or rough that it actually detracts from the ride experience. 

The first Immelmann inversion on Tormenta (Theme Park Tribune)

I mentioned in my Wrath of Rakshasa review in 2025 that I’m not a big believer in this trend. Yes, some newer B&Ms have felt rougher than they should for being brand new — looking at you, Penguin Trek at SeaWorld Orlando — but in my experience, the “rattle” is more an example of YouTuber confirmation bias than anything real. (And I’m not one to excuse ride roughness. I think I’m much harder on Rocky Mountain Construction coasters’ roughness than other reviewers.)

Tormenta: Rampaging Run did not have much of a noticeable “rattle” on my rides, including when I sat on the very last seat of the train. When I was towards the center of the track, I didn’t feel it at all. The cutback element had some wobbliness to it that I felt because the ride was slowed down by that point, but it’s nothing I would consider uncomfortable. 

The verdict

Tormenta: Rampaging Run shows the dive coaster at its best: a big drop, huge, hangtime-filled inversions and intense positive Gs. The formula still works when you beef it up to gigacoaster proportions!

Tormenta at night (Theme Park Tribune)

The ride loses some points for the sort of plain layout after the brake run, but everything before that point keeps this in the A grade territory. 

Grade: A-

Editor’s Note: This review is based on my own opinion and perspective. I used my own annual pass to enter Six Flags Over Texas and did not receive any special access or privileges from the park in order to conduct this review.