Modders are in the process of overhauling the online component of Capcom's legendary fighter Street Fighter IV - or, more specifically, its final iteration, Ultra Street Fighter IV, which launched back in 2014. The mods are looking to bring rollback netcode to the Steam edition of the one-on-one fighter, along with overhauled lobbies and additional updates in efforts to bring new life to a retired classic.

Currently, two mods are nearing completion: "SF4Enhanced" from coder Faabi, (built on the "SFE" mod by Anthony Danducci), and "SFEmbers", from coder Kabiefox. Both projects are looking at the same goal: delivering fast, modernised, and consistent rollback netcode, without the need for port forwarding and replacing the native delay-based system.

Additionally, the mods are looking to create an overhauled lobby/search system, allowing players to quickly and easily find each other for a nostalgic throwdown at Drive-In At Night.

A small cabal of World Warriors has spent time experimenting with the two mods, and results have been generally positive. Pro-player Chris Tatarian said he was "blown away" by the experience, while former TO OmegaTomHanks referred to the mods as "incredible". Other players suggested their own experience was less than stellar, with some saying that they had laggy netplay worse than native USFIV.

Understandably, given that both SFEnhanced and SFEmbers surfaced around the same time, there is some confusion in the community as to which mod people are playing and reviewing. OmegaTomHanks explained that while SFEnhanced is the first mod to gain traction, SFEmbers is typically the more stable mod currently being tested by players.

Of course, it would make sense for some form of consolidation between Faabi and Kabiefox - bringing the two ideas together to create one singular product. Fortunately, it seems that the two coders have been speaking with one another. Hopefully their combined talents can deliver a focused update that will have Ryu, Hugo, Hakan, and even Rufus FADC'ing their way to glory soon.

Capcom's Street Fighter IV, first released in 2009, is credited by many with reigniting the fighting game scene, both competitively and in the genre itself. It's a fair statement to make. The original home release of SFIV sold over 3.6 million copies, while scooping up numerous awards and putting the franchise back on the map after some lean years.

The success of SFIV would lead to various other fighting franchises such as Mortal Kombat, Soulcalibur, and Tekken receiving a new wave of popularity. There has been some revisionism in recent years, with some suggesting fighting games never had a "rebirth", and some suggesting that SFIV simply wasn't a good fighter and its role in fighting game history is overrated.

And it's not true.

Yes, competitive fighting games have always been popular with genre aficionados and have always had their own respective scenes - but SFIV reignited the entire genre on a global basis, activating a whole new wave of competitive players (coined "09'ers") and encouraging publishers to put their dollars not only into the games themselves, but also into competition - leading to the sponsored Capcom Pro Tour, Tekken World Tour, and so forth.

In a post-online world, SFIV birthed a whole new generation of fighting games - regarding online competition, offline tournament play, streamers and video makers, big cash prizes, resurrected local scenes, and even a new lease of life for some fighting franchises that were alive, but had long fallen into the category of "niche": Dead or Alive, Killer Instinct, Soulcalibur, MvC, and King of Fighters.

A rising tide lifts all ships; Street Fighter IV was that rising tide.

And, perhaps most importantly, it gave us Juri.