A new NES emulator has appeared online armed with some fancy technical wizardry that can turn any old 8-bit game for the console into a 3D-diorama style living toy. Well, kind of. The results, which range from 'Pretty Good' (Dr. Mario) to 'Great' (Mega Man) to 'Save Me Jeebus!' (The Legend of Zelda 2), are certainly impressive. If a little all over the place.

The 2D to 3D process seems to be some sort of programming visual algorithm identifier that works out the different image layers and then proceeds to place them in a 3D space using the sprites as both textures and the delineation of box-like grids. Or, something else. After all, we're not programmers and although this paragraph kind of sounds smart, any real coder would see through the phrase "programming visual algorithm" in no time at all. But whatever the method used, the effect is similar to some of the 'classic' releases seen in the early days of the Nintendo 3DS handheld, whereby select NES titles were given a diorama-style 3D look.

Currently only available through the Firefox browser, with a Windows release expected, to play a game via this new NES 3D emulator you'll need to somehow dust off an old 8-bit cartridge, figure out how to connect it to a USB port, upload the data to Dropbox, and then put in the link on the website.

Check out this compilation video of someone who did just that*.



* - With that being the only way we know of to legally use an emulator.