Sega Republic

Sega Republic was spread across two levels of the Dubai Mall, next door to the towering Burj Khalifa. There were sixteen attractions and rides, plus a large variety of games, all geared around Sega's video game properties. Naturally, Sonic the Hedgehog featured quite heavily.

The park's rollercoaster, Spin Gear, was a Gerstlauer Spinning Coaster. It was based on the upper floor of Sega Republic, and could be seen spinning around near the roof for part of the time, although the majority of the ride took place in darkness out of view of the main theme park.

Other rides included Wild Wings and Wild Jungle (a pair of motion simulator rides), Sonic Hopper (a shot/drop tower), and Giant Slider (the tallest and longest indoor slide in the Middle East).

The most unusual attraction on offer was Halfpipe Canyon, which involved two pairs of players strapped into swinging "snowboards" which traversed up and down a halfpipe. The speed of the snowboards was controlled by the riders rocking their feet backwards and forwards - easier said than done as the boards could get up to 40kmph!

Sadly, Sega Republic closed with almost no notice in May 2017. A message on the park's official website from Emaar Entertainment suggested a new experience was being worked on to replace the previous attraction.

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More on Sega Republic

• Trip: ECC Arabian Adventure: Theme Parks of the UAE (18 Mar to 22 Mar 2017)