Zap Ruder NES
No download required — runs in your browser via the self-hosted EmulatorJS engine.
About Zap Ruder
Zap Ruder is a technical demo and test suite for the NES Zapper light gun, built by Damian Yerrick and first released in 2012 with an update in 2019. The Zapper — best known from Duck Hunt — works by reading light directly from a CRT television, and Zap Ruder exists to document and test how well that detection can be pulled off, since Zapper support is rare in NES homebrew and poorly emulated in most emulators.
Inside the technical menus is a playable two-player game called ZapPing: an air-hockey match where each player aims a Zapper (or a standard controller) at their side of the table to move a paddle, playing to 11 points. There’s also a toy called Axe that turns Zapper aim into a simple step sequencer, echoing back an eight-measure performance.
Because the Zapper’s photosensor only reads the flicker of a CRT display, Zap Ruder is most accurate on real CRT hardware or RGB-modded consoles; expect mistracking on modern displays and in most emulators, including the browser-based one on this page. Released under the GNU All-Permissive License.
