It is a hybrid coaster, using RMC's steel I-Box track and a significant portion of Mean Streak's former support structure.

Upon completion, Steel Vengeance set 10 world records, including those for the tallest, fastest, and longest hybrid roller coaster.

After more than 25 years of operation, Cedar Point closed Mean Streak on September 16, 2016, casting doubt and uncertainty regarding the ride's future.

[9] Mean Streak was one of eleven roller coasters designed and manufactured by Ohio-based Dinn Corporation before the company went out of business in 1992.

[17] Cedar Point began teasing the public on the ride's future with the release of an 18-second teaser video entitled "They're Coming" on April 1, 2017.

[28] The park temporarily removed the ride from its Fast Lane Plus lineup and considered timed boarding passes as a result of its limited capacity.

[11] In 1994, a trim brake was installed on the first drop reducing its overall speed in an attempt to prevent abnormal track wear and increase ride comfort.

The minimum height required to ride was 48 inches (120 cm), and guests were secured by an individual ratcheting lap bar and seat belt.

Its three new trains are each based on a character from the themed backstory of the ride: Jackson "Blackjack" Chamberlain, Chess "Wild One" Watkins, and Wyatt "Digger" Dempsey.

"[41] After leaving the station, the Mean Streak train passed through the storage tracks and made a 180-degree turn to the right, before ascending the 161-foot-tall (49 m) lift hill.

[42] One cycle of the ride lasted 3 minutes and 13 seconds, making it the former longest duration of any roller coaster at Cedar Point.

After cresting the top of the lift hill, the train drops 200 feet (61 m) at a 90-degree angle, reaching its maximum speed of 74 mph (119 km/h).

Next, the train climbs up a left-turning, 116-foot (35 m) outward-banked hill,[48] dips slightly right, and passes over a double up element, which leads to the first inversion, a zero-g roll variant.

The train passes through the lift hill structure for a second time and dips down, entering another double up element into the mid-course brake run.

Next, the train enters a small drop into a high-speed overbanked left turn, which leads into the third inversion, another zero-g roll.

Amusement Today magazine's Golden Ticket Awards ranked Mean Streak as one of the world's 50 best wooden roller coasters nine times from 1998 to 2012.