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Tech

This In-Browser Emulator Makes 2D NES Games Feel 3D

Past, meet present: a Vietnamese developer has successfully built an emulator that gives 2D NES games a new, 3D visual effect.
Rachel Pick
New York, US

Past, meet present: a Vietnamese developer has successfully built an emulator that gives 2D NES games a new, 3D visual effect.

As IGN reports, it's hard to gauge exactly how the emulator works, because it does more than just extend the sprites (visual components of a game) backwards. Accurate shadowing has been added, and some elements have been rearranged.

All we know is that the emulator analyses ROMs that have been uploaded to the cloud, magically transforming previously flat gameplay into three-dimensional environments. It's imperfect, but it works, albeit better with some games than others. Megaman and Dr. Mario are pretty convincing, but Zelda 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 get a little wonky, with characters becoming partially obscured by transparent 3D elements.

Developer Trần Vũ Trúc explains why on YouTube:

"The new sprite [is] calculated, built and positioned only one time at its first appearance then cached for later usage. [The] Mega Man part is recorded at the second life so there is no new sprite. Everything is clean/clear. Other games are recorded at the first try [so] there are glitches, blinks every time one new sprite appears."

For now, the emulator only works in-browser with Firefox, but Trúc says a downloadable Windows version is coming.