Oddworld Adventures II
Sure, Red Bull may give you wings, but SoulStorm Brew from Oddworld Adventures II for the Game Boy Color gives you gas.
Author: decafjedi
Mafia Wars: Yakuza
Dig that old mobile phone out of your junk drawer and scour the Japanese underworld for soda machines in 2006’s Mafia Wars: Yakuza!
Harley-Davidson: The Road to Sturgis
Go hog wild on caffeine with this soda machine from Harley-Davidson: The Road to Sturgis! These screenshots are from the DOS release; the soda machine doesn’t appear in the (clearly inferior) Amiga and Atari ST versions of the game. [Source]
How did I find a soda machine that’s barely even visible on screen in a long-forgotten game? Well, in this case, I was digging through an old issue of Computer Gaming World from 1989 when I stumbled across this advertisement…
What a long, strange trip it’s been.
The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield
Your first instinct after loading up The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield might be to visit Moe’s Tavern or the Kwik-E-Mart, but I encourage you to buzz on over to the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and bask in the glow of this Buzz Cola vending machine instead!
Tech Corp.
Like Steve Jobs said, if you want to make it in Silicon Valley, you have to stay hydrated. Luckily, Tech Corp. offers upgradable vending machines to keep your team refreshed.
Stranger Things 3: The Game
Turn that thirst upside down with a refreshing New Coke from the vending machine in Stranger Things 3: The Game. Special thanks to BonusXP, the game’s developers, for sharing this screenshot!
HEARTBEAT
There’s a drink machine conveniently located outside the Smallmart in monster-battler HEARTBEAT!
Yo-kai Watch 4
Sure, Yo-kai Watch 4 for the Switch has the run-of-the mill soda machines you’d expect from any decent video game, but the real star here is Jihanki, a beefy-armed soda machine monster (and also my beautiful son).
Here’s a better look at Jihanki. His Japanese name, ジハン鬼, is a play on “vending machine demon.”
As you can see, Jihanki evolves from a Lightside soda can Yo-kai named Kantaro (缶太郎, or “can boy”) into his glorious drink-dispensing final form.
Thanks to AceRene, admiralblowhard, and Swordmaster543 on Reddit for helping me track down these images!
Supermarket Shriek
If you buy just one goat-themed racing game where you scream into your microphone to steer a careening shopping card through treacherous obstacles this year, make it Supermarket Shriek. It even has soda machines!
Thanks to the fine folks over at Billy Goat Entertainment for the screenshots!
Social Dev Story
The first game my studio developed in Social Dev Story was a politician-themed pixel art card game titled Minister of Cards. We used the profits to buy these shiny new soda machines for the office!