4. Yoshi

Sorry Luigi, but how awesome is Mario’s dino-buddy Yoshi? He’s starred alongside the Italian plumber in tons of games as Mario’s trusty steed. The two actually go way back, when a young Yoshi reunited the new-born Mario with his kidnapped brother Luigi. Mario would then later repay his dinosaur buddy when he freed the latter’s homeland from Bowser in Super Mario World.

Yoshi can grab enemies and objects with his long, sticky tongue and spit eggs at his foes. The dude can even breathe fire! Gene Simmons ain’t got nothing on Yoshi.

Given that he got his own successful game series, we can safely say that Yoshi is the most successful video game dinosaur out there. We’ve had tons of awesome memories with the lovable green guy on the NES, N64, and even with current-gen consoles. Sorry, Radical Rex.

3. Devil Dinosaur

When it’s created by comic book genius Jack Kirby, you know it’s going to be good. Marvel Comics’ Devil Dinosaur burst into the scene in 1978 and told the adventures of the titular Devil dino and his partner in crime Moon Boy. The young Devil Dinosaur was almost burned to death by the Killer Folk, a prehistoric bunch of assholes who wouldn’t hesitate to punch your dad in the nuts. Moon Boy then saves Devil Dinosaur, and the latter gains powers from exposure to the Killer Folk’s fire. Since then, we see Moon Boy and his dino-buddy go up against evil cavemen, demons, and aliens.

Oh, and he also tried to kick Godzilla’s ass one time. How cool is that?

Now that’s a Godzilla movie we deserve.

Devil Dinosaur experienced a resurgence with Marvel’s “All-New, All-Different” marketing push. Only this time, we see the red dinosaur team up with Luna Lafayette, aka Moon Girl, a genius in the Marvel Universe with her brains at par with Mr. Fantastic. This has “heart-warming buddy movie” written all over it.

2. Dinosaur Jr.

With prehistoric themes in band names, none were quite as influential as Dinosaur Jr. There’s also T-Rex and Mastodon, but that’s for another time.

The band formed in 1984. Their signature sound was characterized by excessive distortion and feedback and made a huge impact on the 90s rock scene. Along with Nirvana and Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. was one of the harbingers of alternative rock and grunge.

Though disbanding in 1997, the group reformed in 2005 and has released four albums since. They’re still touring and playing music to this day, playing their signature sonically-charged ear-splitting distorted sound that’s as powerful as any dinosaur’s roar.

1. Dino Riders

Simply put: Dino Riders is AWESOME. The team behind this cartoon must be smoking some good weed to come up with something that’s a mix of everything we found amazing as a kid: dinosaurs and lasers. What do you get? A T-Rex with damned lasers mounted on it ready to lay down the hammer and dispense some justice.

The cartoon follows the adventures of the Valorians; the good guys since they have “valor” in their name. At least they didn’t call themselves the morally-upright-ians. Anyway, they are attacked by the evil humanoid Rulons. The Valorians try to escape, but somehow end up 65 million years in the past with the Rulons somehow sucked in by the time warp. The Valorians use their necklaces to telepathically communicate and befriend the dinosaurs, while the Rulons use brain boxes to brainwash said dinosaurs for their own personal gain. The Valorians and Rulons then strap lasers, missiles, catapults, and whatever it is you can think of to their dinosaurs to outkick each other’s asses. Dinosaurs packing hi-tech death and destruction: what’s not to like?

There are rumors that the Dino Riders will be turned into a movie. Hopefully it doesn’t get ruined by Michael Bay.

As a plus, the toys absolutely kicked ass:

Good luck finding one though. These toys are incredibly rare and may fetch prices of up to USD $1,000. Let’s hope that the new movie deal pushes through and gives us some cool merchandise to feed our nostalgia.

What was your favorite dinoasaur when you were growing up? Share them with us below!

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