Now we all know that keeping your blood glucose levels in check can be a dangerous game, but who would have thought they would actually make a type 1 diabetes based video game?!
In 1992, Novo Nordisk created a Super Nintendo game named Captain Novolin, the protagonist of which was a superhero who possessed the unmatched super power of type 1 diabetes.
Credit https://www.gamefabrique.com/screenshots/captain-novolin/
The captain who bears no real assets other than a self-professed title and a blue spandex onesie bounds around the city, leaving behind a path of sugary destruction, trying to protect its residents from the evil alien known as ‘Blubberman’ and rescue the mayor of Pineville.
Between each level there’s a blood sugar mini game followed by trivia questions about diabetes posed to you by a half-melted wax sculpture of Alfonso Ribeiro in a lab coat
In order to gain victory, you were required to jump your way through 8 levels of doughnut and floating cookies to rescue the mayor, who also happens to be diabetic, from the evil Blubberman (a hideously obese man in a floating wheelchair who throws pies at you). Then you had to make the choice to give the Mayor the right food, lest he succumb to hypoglycemia and perish.
The premise of this game was to teach children about type 1 diabetes which it doesn’t actually do too badly. It could definitely have benefited from a bit more thought and planning though. That said, the game is definitely hilarious by today’s standards! The only thing funnier than the game itself though was the $60 USD price tag slapped on for parents to bring home this ‘learning tool’ for their sickly children.
