Silver Star is a 2002 B&M Hyper Coaster at Europa Park. Silver Star is a very significant rollercoaster as it was Europa Park's first true thrill coaster and also the first - and still one of a few - not made by Mack Rides themselves. Despite how much Europa Park has grown and how huge the German themepark has become, Silver Star still stands proud as one of the highlights of Europa Park.

Europe's very own Parking lot Coaster

The term parking lot coaster is a somewhat unflattering title given to coasters built on or around a park's parking lot. This usually means that the coaster is lacking in theming and has uninteresting surroundings. However, sometimes there really aren't that many options when you want to build a 240 ft tall coaster, spanning well over 5 thousand ft of track. Therefore, Silver Star is one of the few parking lot coasters in Europe and honestly, this doesn't really hurt the experience at all as not only does it majestically greet many of the park's guests but it's also a very green and nice looking section so it feels like a classic "out-and-back" coaster more than anything else.

A Rare Breed (sort of)

Now, if you're American, this might sound like a weird thing to say about a B&M Hyper, but it's sort of a rare breed, at least in Europe as we only currently have 2 Hyper coasters from the Swiss manufacturer (which is ironic given they are European) so the ride experience of Silver Star is somewhat unique around these parts and this was also our first ever time trying one of these beasts. Silver star is also one of the older ones, the fourth oldest in fact and at the time it was the biggest one they had built and given the coaster's historic impact on Europa Park, this coaster is absolutely a must-ride!

A Classic Airtime Machine

Over time, airtime has become its own artform and manufacturers are constantly challenging themselves and each other in finding new ways to inflict negative G's on the riders. Silver Star - and B&M Hypers in general - represents the original steel-based airtime machines. These enormous coasters are all about large floater-airtime-filled camelbacks and sometimes crushing helixes. They are of somewhat slower pace than many newer thrill coasters but are very forceful in their own right.

Not Like the other Hypers

The layouts for B&M Hypers are often quite similar, a huge first drop, followed by a few large camelbacks, then a turn around, a hill or two, mid-course brake-run, another hill or two, a helix and end. Silver Star does follow this formula for the most part, but after the mid-course brakes, it becomes quite spicy. The drop off the brakerun violently pulls you down, upgrading the usual floater air to a quick burst of ejector and after the Helix (which you also get thrown off of) there is this upwards zig-zag to end the ride, which throws you about. Overall, it's up to you if you prefer this ending or if you would rather have liked one or two more traditional airtime hills but we thought the first drop and the ending were the strongest part of Silver Star.

Conclusion

Silver Star initially disappointed us. The many-seconds-long sustained airtime wasn't present and while it never truly hit that promise, it got better with each ride and we ended up thinking it was great. The huge first drop over an active road, the big airtime hills and the somewhat unconventional ending which upped the intensity, were highlights for us and by the end, it became perfectly clear to us, why the B&M Hyper is one of the most beloved models on the market.

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