I find Rita really interesting as an example of modern a coaster type in its infancy. Built just when they got the new technology to work, but before they had any idea how to realize its potential. It's not old enough to be considered a classic, or to be plagued with pre-computer element shaping, but just old enough to be considered completely outdated for what it does. It doesn't really do anything that modern, equivalent coasters don't do better. It was built to feature a launch and a layout - any layout, provided it fit the space and didn't go to high, the launch was really the entire point.
Compare Rita to Taron to see how the coaster type grew over the years. The two are practically the same on a conceptual level (Taron just does a little more of it), but while Rita was built to launch fast and then meander back to the station in whatever way the designers cared, the launches are just the way Taron gets up to speed, its layout and forces being the focal point of the ride experience. The two coasters also share roughly the same acreage, Rita's footprint is just a little more P shaped while Taron fills a rectangle. You can really consider the latter an evolution of the former, which is a nicer way to say "superior in every comparable aspect and then some".
So yeah, Rita doesn't really do anything that makes it worth keeping around should it come to the question. I have a feeling Spinball Whizzer will meet its end first, though. And after all, Rita is only 13 years old, and should be designed for a service life twice that or so.
