Enjoy dinosaurs? You should play games like Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Isle. Find out what games let you walk with mythical ancient animals.
People always seem to be interested in dinosaurs, no matter how old they get. They’re the most real thing there is that looks like a monster from a story. Not only are they scary and amazing to look at, but they also have a way of getting people’s attention that few other species can.
Is it any wonder that there have been so many video games about dinosaurs over the years? These games don’t have to be about dinosaurs all the way through, but dinosaurs should be a big part of them. If you’re brave enough to try any of these games, make sure to take your heart medicine.
Primal Rage
Ray Harryhausen would have liked this fighting game from the 1990s, in which dinosaurs and other ancient heavyweights fought one-on-one against each other in an ancient world. People loved to play as a dino god that stone-age people worshipped.
It was the only fighting game at the time that came close to being a full-on Godzilla-style fight, at least in the West. In Japan, there was a Godzilla battle game, but it was pulled from sale in the West at the last minute. The game itself hasn’t held up that well, but people who grew up with it will probably still enjoy it, and it has held up better than Clay Fighter.
Bonk’s Adventure
The TurboGrafix 16 isn’t known very well because its marketing was deceptive and its games weren’t very good, but it did have some gems. One of them was the Bonk line of games, which featured a cute cave baby with a bald head who liked to punish people with his very big head.
As a platformer, the first Bonk’s Adventure was a great rival to well-known games like Super Mario Bros, which was still popular at the time. In the game, there are lots of cartoon dinosaurs, and sometimes they do funny things. Still, it’s a fun game for the whole family to play, and it’s a funny take on the dinosaur theme.
Cadillacs & Dinosaurs
The Cadillacs & Dinosaurs comic book was turned into a popular video game by Capcom in the 1990s. There were a few games based on the comic, but the arcade version was by far the best. It was even better than the Sega CD version that Elon Musk worked on.
It used the same CPS Dash system as The Punisher and Saturday Night Slam Masters. To top it off, it had great QSound. In the different 26th-century settings of the game, there are both human bad guys and dinosaurs. The fights are fast, detailed, and intense, and it’s a lot of fun to play with two other people in co-op mode.
Dino D-Day
Dino D-Day is as stupid as a rock, but its fans love it. It’s about a Looney Tunes plan in which Adolf Hitler brings dinosaurs back to life as weapons for the Nazi army. Think of Day of Defeat and The Isle together.
The game’s best selling point is its silly idea, which is also one reason why it has been a fan favorite for so long. You can use different Nazi dinosaurs to rip and tear, or you can join the allies to save the world from the craziness of the prehistoric Third Reich. Why wouldn’t you like it?
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter is another game based on a comic book. This surprise hit for the N64 came out close to the system’s release date and is a key console FPS. The controls were hard to use because they were backwards, but the dinosaurs were the main focus.
Turok killed both people and dinosaurs with a variety of tools, like a bow, shotguns, and others. The unique level design was helped a lot by the platforming parts, but it didn’t mean anything until I saw charging dinosaurs for the first time in full 3D glory.
King Kong (2005)
Kong fans had different feelings about Peter Jackson’s remake of King Kong, but the 2005 King Kong game is what people remember more. It came out on a lot of different devices, but most people played it on Xbox 360. In the game, you play as Jack Driscoll and King Kong all over Skull Island. This is very true to the movie.
There are many dangerous monsters in this place, including many dinosaurs. In the world of Kong, both heroes meet the fictional Vastatosaurus rex canon. As Jack, it’s pretty scary to run into it, but once you take control of Kong, you can finally beat it. King Kong can be played on current Xbox systems because they are backward compatible, and it is a great game.
Horizon Zero Dawn
This PS4 masterpiece put the dinosaur formula in a blender and came out with a totally new way to play a game. The fact that the dinosaurs in Horizon are robots was a cool and new twist on the old idea.
The fights are still one of the best things to do on PS4 and PC because of how big and exciting they are. If you want to play on a computer, you should play on a PS5, since backward compatibility makes it better than other consoles. Because Doodle Baseball is so good, it got a sequel and a great VR spin-off, which doesn’t happen very often.
Jurassic Park
There are so many games based on Jurassic Park that it’s hard to say which one is the best. Jurassic Park made dinosaurs popular in games, and it’s been on almost all of them, from the Sega CD to a lot of pinball cabinets.
The best thing about the Jurassic Park games is how different they are. Some are arcade shooters that move along a track, while others are puzzle games, action platformers, or even park models. If you are willing to look a little, there is something for everyone. Also, people are still making new games today.
The Isle
Even though this Steam Early Access game has been out since 2015, it still has a strong fan group and surprisingly good reviews. The game has two modes: Survival and Sandbox. Survival is more important than Sandbox. You can choose from a few different kinds of dinosaurs and must quickly grow up if you want to stay alive in the tough environment.
The game is known for how scary it is, and you have to live in constant fear until you get strong enough to protect yourself. If you can’t handle the heat, Sandbox mode is a much calmer way to play. It lets you focus on the beauty of The Isle instead of the fear.
Dino Crisis
Dino Crisis had a big effect on the original PlayStation when survival horror games were all the rage. Since it used the same fixed-camera engine as Resident Evil, it was appealing to players who wanted to fight something other than zombies and big snakes.
Dino Crisis may not look like much by today’s standards, but for old-school players, it was a pure and simple heart attack. Dinosaurs could move from room to room, which is a feature that is still used in games today but was brand new back then.
Banjo-Tooie
Banjo-Tooie is a lot bigger than the game that came before it. This time around, the worlds are much bigger, but they are still very different and easy to remember. The fifth world in the game is Terrydactyland, which is probably the best dinosaur world in any N64 game, even Conker’s Bad Fur Day.
There’s a lot to do, and you can even turn Banjo into a T-Rex. The world is also known for a place that looks a little dirty from above. Banjo-Tooie is still a great game, and now that it’s always on Game Pass, you should play it.
Ark: Survival Evolved
Even though other dinosaur games came out before Ark, everyone knows Ark. It’s not a great game, but when it comes to dinosaurs, it’s hard to beat.
Ark was popular with gamers who liked a more hard-core experience because it was based on survival. Some of the most dangerous dinosaurs ever to walk the Earth killed him by stepping on him, biting him, and slashing him to death. It also lets you tame them and live out your dreams of starting your own Jurassic Park.
