The effect is similar to the old Zoetrope devices, which presented a series of illustrations in sequence around a cylinder. Instead of a cylinder, we display a flat series of images inside an element.
.fave {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: url(images/sprite.png) no-repeat;
background-position: 0 0;
}
.fave:hover {
background-position: -5500px 0;
transition: background 1s steps(55);
}