Dinosaurs and video games are a match made in heaven. Video games allow fans to interact with and even play as magnificent creatures that once roamed the Earth. The allure of facing up against a robot Tyrannosaurus rex or fighting a dinosaur that shoots lasers out of its eyes is why there is a surprisingly rich history of dinosaur video games, even if the majority of them don't necessarily garner critical acclaim.

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Pretty much any dinosaur is cool, just for the fact of it being a dinosaur. But there are some dinosaurs across video game history who have an edge over others, whether because of their design, their abilities, or their straight-up attitude.

10 Gon Is An Electrifying Breakdancing Boxer (Tekken 3)

Gon is not the average dinosaur. He is an orange, pint-sized, boxing gloves-wearing dinosaur of unknown species who packs a mighty punch. With Tekken 3's cast consisting mainly of human characters, it's fun to switch it up and play as Gon to nibble at Paul's heels.

Gon has some pretty cool moves including a charging headbutt, Dino Breath, and Spin Cycle, which is like a breakdancing move. Any dinosaur that can cause sparks of electricity to come out of its punches is nothing if not cool.

9 Aurorus Can Make Auroras Appear Just By Howling (Pokémon X & Y)

Aurorus is a Gen VI Pokémon that resembles a sauropod. The Pokédex entry for Aurorus in Pokémon Sword states that "when this Pokémon howls, auroras appear in the night sky." This is a major reason, along with its more interesting design, that Aurorus is cooler than its counterpart, Tyrantrum. Aurorus can learn an array of powerful Ice moves including Aurora Beam, Freeze Dry, and Blizzard, which help to make Aurorus literally and figuratively one of the coolest video game dinosaurs.

8 Diablo Is A Hellish Allosaurus Who Breathes Fire (Primal Rage)

Primal Rage is a fighting game released by Atari in 1994. It's a bit rough to go back to nowadays, but at the time there was nothing else quite like it. There are only seven characters to choose from and two of them are monkeys. But even so, each dinosaur in the game has a cool design.

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One of the coolest dinos in Primal Rage is Diablo, a red and black fire-breathing Allosaurus. Diablo is the god of evil and destruction and was trapped in a fiery prison until a meteor struck Earth.

7 Pteranodons Look Cool And Allow Players To Fly (ARK: Survival Evolved)

ARK: Survival Evolved allows players to tame, breed, and craft their own dinosaurs, and one of the coolest creatures that can be found is the Pteranodon. Pteranodons are cool in their own right, but the ones in ARK have some cool designs. Plus, the player can fly on them, which is not something that can be said about many games featuring dinosaurs.

There are several variations of Pteranodons that can be found or crafted in ARK, such as the Tek, which are essentially robot dinosaurs, and those imbued with elements like Fire and Lightning.

6 Indominus Rex Looks Cooler In The Jurassic World Game Than He Does In The Movie (Jurassic World: The Game)

In Jurassic World: The Game, players can create Hybrid dinosaurs for their parks. When the game was first released in 2015, Indominus rex was the strongest Legendary Hybrid available. Since then, other, stronger dinosaurs have been added to the game.

But Indominus rex's max level design is just cooler-looking than comparable dinosaurs, with its skeletal head, red eyes, and the jagged patterning on its hide. It's also the main antagonist of the movie, though that version of the carnivore has a more steamlined design.

5 The Window-Smashing T-Rex Made For A Big Shock (Dino Crisis)

Perhaps the scariest dinosaur game ever made, Dino Crisis, has players navigating a remote facility infested with dinosaurs, Resident Evil-style. In one of the coolest and scariest encounters in the game, the protagonist Regina is quietly going about her business when a T-rex smashes through the window. The creature gobbles up a corpse and begins terrorizing Regina with its piercing roar, sharp teeth, and menacing yellow eyes. It may be hard to imagine how such a low-res dinosaur can be so scary, but at the time it was a jump scare like no other.

4 Yoshi Is The Star Of Numerous Video Games (Super Mario)

The fact that he's a dinosaur who wears sneakers makes Yoshi one of the coolest video game dinosaurs around. He's helped Mario numerous times over the years by letting him ride on his back, providing gamers with lots of fun in the process. There are also several Yoshi color variants, so players can choose their favorite. While he resembles a dinosaur, Yoshi also has the abilities of a dragon. He can fly and breathe fire, which just makes him even cooler.

3 Thunder Is A Cyborg Dinosaur Who Can Shoot Laser Beams (Turok: Dinosaur Hunter)

Turok: Dinosaur Hunter was one of the first great dinosaur games, and one of the best to date. The penultimate boss, Thunder, can breathe fire and has a bionic eye that shoots laser beams. Thunder is a cyborg dinosaur with robotic arms and cybernetic parts covering its head and legs.

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The battle against Thunder takes place in Thunder's pit, where the huge beast rises up to ground level from a platform. It's a really cool and difficult boss fight, a fitting end to a fantastic dinosaur game.

2 Fulgur Anjanath Is A Powerful & Angry Ice Dinosaur (Monster Hunter World: Iceborne)

Fulgur Anjanath can be found in the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne expansion. It has a cooler design than the regular species, with fur on its body to match the colder climate and a gray hide instead of brown. When enraged, the crest on Fulgur Anjanath's snout puffs up, its blue and purple wings spread, and its mouth is lit up with blue light. Capcom hired paleontologists to ensure their dinosaur monsters looked and moved in a way that was close to the real thing. This can easily be seen in the design and behaviors of one of the biggest, angriest dinosaur-like creatures in the Monster Hunter series.

1 The Thunderjaw Is A Colossal Robot Dinosaur (Horizon Zero Dawn)

It would be a stretch to think of anything cooler than robot dinosaurs, which the Horizon games have in abundance. Every fan will have their favorite, but in terms of which one is the coolest, it's hard to look past the Thunderjaw. Based on the Tyrannosaurus rex, it comes complete with Freeze and Blaze Canisters, a Disc Launcher, and a Cannon. It's no surprise that Guerrilla chose the Thunderjaw to star in Horizon Zero Dawn's first showcase back at E3 2015, nor that it's on the cover art.

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