Built by consulting engineers Bolliger & Mabillard, it rises to a height of between 100 and 105 feet (30 and 32 m) and reaches top speeds of 50 mph (80 km/h).

The original roller coaster at Six Flags Great America was partially devised by the park's general manager Jim Wintrode.

The concept of an inverted roller coaster with inversions was developed by Jim Wintrode, the general manager of Six Flags Great America, in the early 1990s.

[9] Following the ride's success, then-parent company Time Warner devised an expansion plan to install clones of the original at the rest of the US parks in the Six Flags chain throughout the 1990s.

[15][16] Six Flags Over Georgia announced the ride in 1996 as part of a new Gotham City section, which became the largest investment in 30 years for the park.

[20] This location features a unique loading station themed as the Wayne Foundation Industrial Park, unlike the others which are labeled Gotham Public Works.

[25] The final installation was constructed at Six Flags New Orleans in 2003,[26] which was formerly located at Japanese amusement park Thrill Valley, where it operated as Gambit from 1995 to 2002.

[38] The ride's original layout was specifically designed to fit in the Yankee Harbor (now DC Universe) themed area at Six Flags Great America, on the space previously occupied by Tidal Wave.

[7] That year, the Six Flags Great Adventure location's original black color scheme was repainted with yellow track.

[42] Modeled after Nigel Phelps' award-winning art direction on the 1989 film Batman, the atmosphere indicates a crime-ridden and dirty environment, with discarded pieces of equipment, crumbling concrete, and in some versions, a Gotham City Police Department car riddled with bullet holes.

At the top of the hill, the train dips down through a Bolliger & Mabillard pre-drop, coasts down a 190-degree swoop to the left and drops into the first vertical loop.

The Dallas Morning News stated the ride "is proof that new thrills on the cutting edge of technology generate excitement".

They describe the ride as a "revolutionary design" which offers "unprecedented intensity, while maintaining remarkable smoothness, comfort, and pacing".

[42] In Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards for Best Steel Roller Coasters, Batman: The Ride ranked in the late 1990s before dropping off the poll and returning once in 2005.