3DNes

It’s difficult to completely forget about the 8 and 16-bit classics, even if more than two decades have passed since then. Games like Sonic, Super Mario and a few others are still relevant to this day, in the sense that the developers are still publishing games that are part of the same franchises. On the other hand, it’s just not the same when you are playing them on a current-gen console or a PC.

3DNes is an interesting tool that allows you to take original NES games, emulate them and transform them into three-dimensional versions. Granted, the “3D” term is not exactly accurate in this case, at least not when it comes to gameplay. Even so, the illusion is quite convincing, not to mention the fact that it brings a bit of novelty to three-decade-old video games.

In short, the tool is actually a Unity game capable of emulating and rendering NES ROMs. There are no games to begin with, so you have to provide your own ROMs if you want to play something. On the other hand, this allows you to choose anything you want to play, which means that the 3D effect is generated on the spot for every game you decide to load up.

Obviously, the application is not yet perfect, so you might stumble upon a variety of glitches when it comes to turning certain scenes into 3D. Speaking of which, it’s obviously a fake 3D, because although the platforms gain an extra dimension, the movement remains restricted, so it doesn’t affect the gameplay. Hence, you can configure the render parameters and even add special effects like vignette or analog screen lines.

As for the performance, it’s safe to say that you can run this on almost every relatively modern machine, at least if it has a decent GPU. The 3D effect is rendered in real time, so it might take its toll on your system if you haven’t got enough resources available, but then again the quality level is pretty low. On top of that, you are free to choose the desired resolution.

In the end, 3DNes is not a perfect tool yet, but it’s still early in the development phase. Thus, if you want to play your NES collection and experience it in a different light, this might be exactly what you need.