Another summer in New Jersey means hanging out with friends, going to the shore, and going to Six Flags: Great Adventure. This theme park will try to get your money at every corner with overpriced foods, rigged games and rules that make you pay extra money like not being able to bring your belongings on rides. But we're okay with all of that for one reason: Great Adventure has some great rides.

And so, here is a definitive ranking of the six major roller coasters at Six Flags: Great Adventure (all ride descriptions courtesy of the Six Flags website):

Tier I: The Bad

Only go on these rides if you either (a) haven't gone on them before or (b) it's really empty in the park that day.

8. Green Lantern

The Green Lantern is the park's only stand-up roller coaster. Yes, you get to stand up, but it sounds better than it is. Because you could only do so much with a roller coaster like this, the ride itself is entirely underwhelming, only being able to go up 154 feet and reaching a top speed of 64 miles per hour. The standing up part, too, isn't really that fun. It's awkward at several points, and you're more secure than when you're on a ride like El Toro, so your body never really moves. There's a reason why people offering other people a seat on the bus is considered a favor. Any veteran Great Adventure fan will surely tell you that they miss The Great American Scream Machine, which this replaced. Now, the only thing to debate about Green Lantern is which was worse: the ride or the movie.

7. Batman

Speaking of bad movies, Batman seems to be Bizarro's B-side: a worse floorless roller coaster. Batman's attributes are even worse than Green Lantern's, with you only reaching the height of 105 feet and 50 miles per hour ... 50 miles per hour! That's not a roller coaster; that's a drive down Route 206. Even with a slow speed, Batman seems fast in the worst way. With some really ill-advised turns, Batman is sure-fire to give you blackouts. And, not that this is something that happens, but my brother did get stung by a wasp on this ride.

Tier II: The Good

These are rides that are good for starting off the day or as an interlude to the greats, but don't bother waiting more than 40 minutes for these rides.

6. Bizarro

Now that we got that out of the way, the rest of the rides here are actually worth your time. Formerly known as Medusa, this floorless roller coaster was changed to "Bizarro" in 2009, named after the deranged character in the Superman comics, because Six Flags did not have enough DC jammed down your throat. What separates Bizarro from Batman is that Bizarro is actually given space for the ride to breath and for you to enjoy. While Batman only has 2693 feet to its name, Bizarro has 3985, almost 50 percent more track. It would have been better if Bizarro did more with that extra track as the max speed only reaches 61 miles per hour, but Bizarro still comes through as a very smooth ride.

5. Superman

Unlike Green Lantern, Superman has a gimmick that actually works: it lies you on your stomach. And it makes sense, too, since the real Superman flies like that. What's the thing with the Green Lantern and standing? Does he fly standing up or something? If you haven't realized, I really don't like Green Lantern. Anyway, being on your stomach on Superman makes up for being an otherwise mediocre ride. The turns and flips feel really cool, and it's an absolute haven for it your feet have started to get sore, which is why this ride is best suited toward the middle of the day. The worst part, aside from its slow speeds and lack of sharp turns, is that it's an absolute nightmare if you have your phone in your pocket, so make sure you bring shorts with a zipper in your pocket if you want to go on this ride.

4. The Joker

Six Flags: Great Adventure is like Radiohead in that it followed up a disappointing release (The Green Lantern/"The King Of Limbs") with a solid entry that is placed just outside of their top three (The Joker/"A Moon Shaped Pool"). Although it's actual ride time is very short (I wouldn't be surprised if it was shorter than Kingda Ka), The Joker capitalizes on one of the main attractions of roller coasters: the spontaneity. What makes El Toro so legendary is how, in its latter half, you are thrown back at forth in such a quick manner, one where, even if you look ahead, you still feel surprised. The Joker is set up so that you are constantly teetering, meaning that you have absolutely no idea what the next second will entail, even the second time you go on it. Maybe I'm being entranced by the first month hype, but I'm sure that this ride will stick with me. It might even grow on me.

Tier III: The Legendary

These rides are immortal, the best of the best. If you go to the park without going on these rides, you're doing it wrong.

3. Nitro

Nitro is the best straight-up roller coaster in the park and the only reason you should visit the park's east side. A standard, sit-down metal coaster, this ride's first drop of 230 feet sends you 80 miles per hour! It covers so much ground too much, 5280, and I think it's to a fault since the ride starts to lose its excitement in the second half. Nevertheless, Nitro is a solid entry to the Great Adventure pantheon.

2. El Toro

Ole! With the closing down of Rolling Thunder, El Toro is the only wooden roller coaster in the park, and it represents wooden roller coasters so well. El Toro reaches a top speed of 70 miles per hour which does not seem like too much, but, unlike Nitro, El Toro makes the most of its top speed. During nearly the entire two minute and five second running, El Toro is consistently quick and has some sharp turns that you will make you fly all over the car. Speaking of which, this is the best ride to bring a date on.

1. Kingda Ka

I know most purists would rather put Nitro or El Toro at the top, being that Kingda Ka basically only has that one drop, but come on. That drop is 456 feet, the biggest in the world. You leave the station and have to face the very ride you will be at the top of in less time than a microwave dinner, and in just 3.6 seconds you go 128 miles per hour and up and back down. Yes, there's only one real drop, the ride is less than a minute long, but all of that is forgiven because Kingda Ka isn't just a ride; it's an experience. To travel so fast and to such lengths in such a short time is like a drug in that it feels like a different reality. To be able to stare the ride in the face and then still ride (not like you have a choice at that point) feels like you just stood up to the school bully. Kingda Ka is a testament to what roller coasters can do.