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The Adventuredome 2880 Las Vegas Blvd. South (inside Circus Circus), 702/794-3939. Despite its freakish shape, Circus Circus’ Adventuredome gets our nod of approval—how can you go wrong with a roller coaster as cool and smooth as the Canyon Blaster? While not quite as terrifying as the Desperado at Buffalo Bill’s, the Blaster does the job with a few crazy loops and enough low clearances to put the fear of decapitation in you. The rest of the thrills inside this big purple teat aren’t half-bad, either, if a bit overpriced. Back in the old days, this park wouldn’t have cost a dime, completely subsidized by gambling revenue—then again, in the old days, nobody needed a roller coaster to get that nauseous feeling.

The Desperado at Buffalo Bill’s Stateline in Primm, 702/386-7867. No life is truly complete without a stop at Buffalo Bill’s and the Desperado, the second-tallest (the Japanese built one taller) and fastest roller coaster in the world. After ascending a 225-foot hill (taller than the hotel itself), you are hurtled downward at speeds in excess of 85 mph, and through a series of tunnels, twists and turns so precarious you may embrace religion if you haven’t already done so. It’s well worth doing twice. A new compressed-air catapult ride, the Turbo Drop, fires anyone crazy enough to ride straight down at 45 mph, going hellbound with a negative-four-Gs of bladder-defying oomph. The hotel also boasts a sizable arcade, a few “motion” theaters, and an “interactive” log flume ride, complete with robotic cowpokes and critters.

The 4th Dimension 2231 S. Rainbow, (702) 243-7626. Billed as a “Virtual Game Center,” 4th Dimension is a very pleasant surprise. Warm, bright and spacious 4D combines an arcade, game pod warehouse and LAN gaming center - and makes all the elements work. The virtual pods - purchased from the now-defunct Virtual World franchise - are basically big MechWarrior games linked for team play, with an advanced point-tracking system and lots of add-on options. For $8 per ten-minute game, it’s a costly habit, but the value is equitable. Their LAN setup is on par with the best. Game choices are broken into two categories, Strategy and Action, and there are plenty of both. Venerable standards sit side-by-side with the latest and greatest, and the $7-per-hour fee is well worth the gaming. 4D stays until 1:00 a.m. every night, but the staff is flexible- if someone remains in the thick of battle, they won’t close up shop.

GameWorks 3769 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702/432-4263. With nearly 50,000 square feet of the latest video and midway games, GameWorks shamelessly promotes skull-splitting, color-saturated brain damage—and it’s never looked or sounded better. A fun “Area 51″ motif surrounds the latest innovations and there’s no coins to manage; everything, from the food to “House of the Dead”, can be purchased with a renewable SmartCard. The world’s tallest freestanding rock climbing structure, “Surge Rock,” rises 75 feet from the middle of the game floor, and everyone who climbs to the top gets their sweaty, desperate-looking mug uploaded to the World Wide Web. And in a sop to those of us who once cut class in favor of local arcades, the Loft lounge offers classic Atari games—Missile Command, Centipede, etcetera—in polished wood cabinets, right next to the pool tables. A full-service bar, Internet lounge, pool tables, chill-out rooms, state-of-the-art digital sound and lighting effects and live bands round out the party.

Laser Quest 6330 S. Pecos Rd., (702) 450-6633. Suburban laser tag rises from the grave. Laser Quest uses the same basic premise as most other laser-tag venues; you wear a vest with laser-sensing targets attached and shoot at other laser-wielding players with your laser pistol. The layout in the competition maze is pretty impressive, with a multilevel gaming area, plenty of twists, turns and corners, and judicious use of netting and slats across walls and walkways. However, LQ adds a novel touch; mirrored reflecting paper stuck to the walls at key points throughout the labyrinth. Since lasers are light beams, you can “ricochet” shots off the reflective spots and tag someone around a corner - pretty durned cool, if you ask us. For 15 minutes of gameplay, nonmembers pay $6.50; for twenty bucks a year, you can become a member of LQ, and then the per-game rate drops to $5.00.

Luxor Attractions Floor 3900 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702/262-4555. Something for everyone. The “Secrets of the Luxor Pyramid” motion simulator ride is blessed by counterculture poet S. A. Griffin’s deliciously camp performance as the turtlenecked Dr. Osiris. The two-story arcade rolls out cool new prototypes regularly. The IMAX theater boasts seven stories of deafening movie mayhem, with three-dimensional images projected bigger than Ra. And the King Tut’s Tomb mock-up attraction that is better than it has any right to be. Lots of fun for everyone, especially for those of us who just like to stare upward into the Luxor’s interior airspace. It makes us dizzier than any roller coaster could, and we like that.

Mary K’s Arcade 953 E. Sahara Ave., 702/735-3170. Feed your aggression gene at this Commercial Center arcade - the best in town. While not as large as its casino counterparts, Mary K’s does run around the clock (even the casino arcades close), and few games cost more than a quarter.

The Manhattan Express at New York-New York 3790 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702/740-6969. There’s a sprawling midway on the upper levels with bumper cars, laser tag and the like, but who are we kidding? You wanna ride the coaster. Most roller coasters are like rockets on rails (see the Desperado) or just plain loopy (see Grand Slam Canyon), but rare is the ride that can combine both. The Manhattan Express gives it a whirl with a mile-long track that wraps around the NY-NY’s faux skyscrapers at 67 mph. Just wait until you clear the little perch next to Lady Liberty’s torch. That’s when the somersaults begin, first with a 360-degree loop, then a heartline twist-and-dive, a maneuver that feels like someone swinging us around by the ears. There are a few more nice spins and a tight double-helix at the end. Hint: Try to ride at night: it approximates the last reel of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

MGM Grand Adventures Theme Park 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702/891-7979. A number of anticlimactic, all-too-brief rides wait at the end of long, long lines. The Skyscreamer looks like it might be worth a go - riders are hoisted up a 220-foot launch tower, pull their own ripcord free-fall 100 feet - but a $25 per person ride fee kills your enthusiasm. Their rollercoaster, the ironically-dubbed Lightning Bolt, is a bad joke. Try the monorail to Bally’s; while not really part of the park, it does go twice as fast as anything in it, for the low, low price of nothing. Best times to visit are in early spring - the “Temporary Insanity” event affords views of college students wearing silly hats and carrying on - and at Halloween, when it becomes the quaintly gothic “Scream Park.”

Mountasia Family Fun Center 2050 Olympic Ave., 702/898-7777. While few things prompt one’s flight response like the words “family,” “fun” and “center” used together, Mountasia is more than a token kiddie park. Yes, Mountasia—in the heart of Henderson’s Green Valley neighborhood—has the de rigeur arcade, with all the gory vid-games and virtual-reality whatevers you expect. But add miniature golf (two 18-hole courses), a rocking roller rink, bumper boats and go-cart rides that actually seem to last a while and you have an afternoon for the kids that’s not too hard on parents. Said a 10-year-old of our acquaintance, “Dad, can we come back again tomorrow?”

Race for Atlantis Forum Shops Caesars Palace, 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702/733-9000. This state-of-the-art IMAX motion simulator attraction has all the goods: 3D images, booming sound and one truly wild ride. The going rate is fairly high ($9.50 for adults, $6.75 for children), but bring your Nevada I.D. and you can qualify for the local rate of only eight bucks. Oh, and don’t miss the special effects-laden “Fall of Atlantis” show right outside the entrance to the attraction. It’s loud, kinda sexy, technically dazzling and free, free, free.

Scandia Family Fun Center 2900 Sirius Ave., 702/364-0070. There comes a time in every parent’s life when the offspring, sad-eyed and hangdog in demeanor, shuffle up and sigh that you never take them anywhere. Scandia is a handy remedy. The three miniature golf courses are challenging and oddly equipped enough to keep young minds happily diverted. Budding athletes can test their chops in the batting cages or would-be drivers their heel-toe technique on the go-cart track. Mini golf? Go-carts? Beneath a hepcat like you, sure, but kids dig it. The arcade is so-so, but good enough for the young ’uns to while away a few minutes before you stuff them back into the car, congratulating yourself for another cheery family outing.

Star Trek: The Experience Las Vegas Hilton, 3000 Paradise Rd. South, 702/732-5111. While the encompassing universe of Star Trek: The Experience will thrill the fake ears off of genre fans, there’s a solid hour of entertainment here for all kinds of thrill seekers. Beginning with a “museum of the future” tour through assorted Trek knickknacks from the eight feature films and four television shows, the Experience goes the extra yard and places you in that alternate universe. From the bridge of the Enterprise-D … to an out-of-control shuttlecraft … to the bustling floor of Deep Space Nine’s promenade, this is quite a bit of entertainment for ten bucks (that’s the local rate; forget your I.D. or your Star Trek VISA card and you’ll pay $14.95).

Stratosphere Tower 2000 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 702/380-7777. Yet another cool thing about Sin City: it only takes six bucks to get high. As far as we’re concerned, the Stratosphere’s 1149-foot observation tower (taller than Seattle’s Space Needle, shorter than Toronto’s CN Tower) exists only to support the “Big Shot,” the best ride we’ve ever considered our mortality on. Punctually speaking, you are strapped to the side of the tower’s 188-foot needle and shot 155 feet into the heavens at four Gs on a blast of compressed air. It’s the zero gravity at the top that gets you, though—that and the realization you can see your house from this vantage point, even if you live in Prague.