Completing all 40 missions in Time Attack Mode is the key to unlocking fan-favorites like King .

The entire soundtrack was redone to move away from the "bad music" of the original Eolith-produced version.

KOF 2002 UM sticks to the series' traditional 3-on-3 round-by-round elimination format, distinguishing it from the tag-team mechanics of later entries like KOF 2003 .