Modder uses AR glasses to transform kitchen into playable Mario level

A cunning modder has come up with a way to bring classic NES titles like Super Mario Bros into the real world using AR and 3DSen.

It is impossible to deny that classic NES games like Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda have long-lasting appeal, as demonstrated by the number of times they have been re-released. One Redditor has come up with a novel way of playing this retro classic by turning their countertop into a level from Super Mario Bros.

A video posted on Reddit by user VR_Newbie showed an ordinary marble effect countertop that had been transformed into the classic landscape familiar from early Mario games, complete with a green pipe that Goombas spilled out of. The unseen player then moves Mario around, makes everyone’s favorite plumber stomp some of those pesky goombas, and shows off some more of the level before the video ends.

There was little information on the original post about how this had been accomplished. The level and sprite design appears to be drawing on Super Mario Bros 3, and commenters on the Reddit thread believe that software called 3DSen has been used to convert the NES sprites into 3D before then being converted into AR.

3DSen is a free application available on Steam or via its own official website. Though 3DSen is able to work to convert NES titles into VR, there does not currently appear to be any official support for AR or mixed reality. As such, it is unknown what software tools VR_Newbie used to create this Mario AR demonstration.

Though at present it seems to be a proof-of-concept or tech demo, it will be interesting to see how this project could be developed further. Duck Hunt on the Driveway? Legend of Zelda in the Living Room? Perhaps we will see in future.