Six Flags launching virtual reality roller coasters

Six Flags has announced a partnership with Samsung that will see park-goers at nine locations given the chance to experience a roller coaster in virtual reality.

The companies announced that park-goers will ride a traditional roller coaster while wearing a Samsung Gear VR headset. This will let them "feel the heart-pumping adrenaline of steep drops, inverted loops and powerful twists and turns as gyros, accelerometers and proximity sensors synchronize all of the action in an incredibly realistic 360-degree virtual reality world."

On the New Revolution VR coasters, riders will be transported to "a futuristic battle to save planet Earth from an alien invasion," strapped into a fighter jet for air-to-air combat."

There are also a range of Superman-themed VR coasters that promise to fully-immerse riders "in the 360-degree comic-book world of Metropolis." Six Flags and Samsung teased, "Just after departing the station riders encounter Lex Luthor who uses an anti-gravity gun along with his army of Lex Bots to create chaos throughout the city with cars, taxis and buses floating in mid-air around the rider's vehicle."

The New Revolution ride will be located at Six Flags parks in Arlington, Texas; Atlanta; Los Angeles; and St. Louis as well as The Great Escape park in Lake George, N.Y. and La Ronde in Montreal. Meanwhile, the Superman experience is headed to Six Flags parks in San Antonio, Texas; Agawam, Mass.; and Upper Marlboro, Md.

Six Flags isn't alone in experimenting with VR. Alton Towers is set to open a rollercoaster ride in April where riders will don a VR headset.