Not sure how vivid your memory is, but I certainly remember Mega Man looking a lot more … two-dimensional.

Of course, he was. And so were Mario, Kid Icarus, and all the other classic NES characters.

They’re popping off the screen now thanks to a new Nintendo PC emulator called 3DNES. The project, through some programmer wizardry, adds a third dimension to playable computer ROM versions of classic Nintendo games.

(This isn’t the first time someone has tried to 3D-ify old Nintendo games, but it is probably the most impressive go at it that I’ve seen.)

I won’t bog you down with the tech details behind how 3DNES works. Just understand that it’s pretty ingenious, though still a buggy work in progress that lives in demo form on a Web page. Thus, I’ve decided to dig in to 3DNES for you and GIF-ify 3D’d versions of a handful of the greatest NES games.

Contra

Tetris

Mega Man 2

Metroid

Ninja Gaiden

Excitebike

Duck Hunt

Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!!

Super Mario Bros. 2

Super Mario Bros. 3

Email me at danbean@yahoo-inc.com. Follow me on Twitter @danielwbean. And for all the hottest tech news and gadget reviews, follow Yahoo Tech on Facebook!