Joining the rattle of chains and wooden slats as the American Eagle climbs to the top of its lift hill and the shriek that accompanies the launch of Vertical Velocity, a new conspicuous sound has joined the landscape at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee: A thumping boom that announces Maxx Force has left the building.

And park officials said that burst of noise isn’t for theatrical purposes — it is the release of compressed air that propels a train filled with 16 riders forward from a standing start to 78 mph in 2 seconds.

“I didn’t expect it to be that fast when it launched,” said 14-year-old Jacob Block, of Gurnee, after being among the first to ride the steel roller coaster on Tuesday morning. “That was surprising. (It) was like a rocket launch.”

“When it went off, you couldn’t even move (your head) forward,” said Grant Davis, also 14 and from Gurnee, about the physical effect of the launch. “It was just too fast.”

Speed was the common thread as regional media and other invited guests spent the sunny and humid morning testing out Great America’s latest entry in the coaster wars.

Designed by Utah-based S&S — Sansei Technology, which also brought The Joker free-spin coaster to Great America in 2017, Maxx Force is touted as delivering three records: fastest inversion in the world, with a zero-G roll at 60 mph shortly after leaving the starting chute; highest double inversion in the world, with what feels like a barrel roll at 175 feet above the ground; and fastest launch coaster in North America with the aforementioned 78 mph.

Whether or not those benchmarks stand the test of time in an industry built on one-upmanship, Great America officials were not shy about promoting Maxx Force as the “most anticipated roller coaster” in the park’s 43-year history — a boast that might raise the eyebrows of those who remember the fanfare greeting, for one example, Batman: The Ride, which was the world’s first inverted coaster when it opened in 1992.

But park President Hank Salemi certainly seemed pleased with the attention being paid to the newest kid on the block, and especially how its construction calendar led to a scheduled grand opening to the public on the Fourth of July.

Technically, following Tuesday’s preview, season pass holders will be the first members of the general public to ride Maxx Force starting at 11 a.m. Wednesday, closing a development process that began with last summer’s abrupt demolition of the Pictorium IMAX theater.

“The only complications were Mother Nature. It was a tough, cold winter, as everybody knows, and winter kind of went on for quite a while,” Salemi said, adding that “this is a very, very innovative coaster, so there was a lot of testing to make sure its exactly right,” which also kicked the opener into midsummer.

“So it was a good construction (season), and if the weather had been a little more cooperative, we may have beat this date by a couple of weeks,” he said, “but overall, we’re extremely happy — to open this thing right in the middle of Fourth of July weekend is just perfect timing.”

The race to meet that date began when construction ended in late May, according to Salemi, which began weeks of testing that reached a high point around June 15 with the ride’s first complete circuit. S&S — Sansei handed the keys to Great America about 10 days ago, when Gary Pohlman, the park’s director of maintenance, became the first rider outside of the design team.

Among those lining up for a test drive on Tuesday was Maureen Riedy, president of the Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau, who said the arrival of a new ride at Great America always helps to “elevate the profile of Lake County as such an awesome tourism destination. It generates a buzz.”

Those who choose to spend the holiday kicking the tires on Maxx Force should be prepared to wait in lines that will wind through queues that were still being set into place and painted on Tuesday. And no matter how long that wait is, Maxx Force is not intended to provide a lengthy experience.

Riders are fitted with seat belts and a brace that fits across the lap. Attendants ask that everyone make use of bicycle-style handlebars atop the lap bar during the launch, which hits suddenly after a slow roll beyond the platform.

The rise up with initial lift hill is remarkably quick, and the high-altitude inversions somehow seem both gradual and fast at the same time. Then, as mentioned, the track tumbles quickly back down to Earth before the brakes are applied. It can be fairly said that, while elements are similar to Vertical Velocity and X Flight, Maxx Force succeeds in making its own mark.