As an example, here's Notcurses as a backend for NEStopia, allowing you to play NES in the terminal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHOHxqGkTUA&t=77s (this video was very early and raw, apologies for the production quality or lack thereof).

I've experimentally rigged Notcurses as a backend for both Mesa and Cairo. Works fine, so long as you've got sufficient cells to back your canvas.