This began as an alternative project to the original arranged music mod on Steam, but because it had so many issues and the author did not address them at that time, I ended up making my own thing that not just replaced the arranged track but also fixed minor censorship, added a high quality bitrate sound track, and used the original arranged tracks that were used by the characters from their respective games, among much more.

If you're not interested in arranged music and prefer the original feel of arcade music over arranged music tracks, don't worry. I've got you covered with high bit rate arcade music as well, which ultimately fixes a lot of issues and improves in-game sound quality.

WARNING: BACKUP YOUR FILE BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES, IN CASE YOU WISH TO REVERT BACK TO THE VANILLA STATE.



Arranged Music [Medium] [Recommended]
Download [drive.google.com]

Arranged Music [High Bitrate] [Recommended ONLY if you have decent system]
Download [drive.google.com]

or


Arcade Music [High Bitrate]
Download [drive.google.com]

Arcade Music [Medium Bitrate]
Download [drive.google.com]


Download one of the build of your choice (If you're unsure then go with first download link or Medium bitrate), extract the .zip file using 7zip and drop the "Data" folder in your game directory.

Example: F:\Steam\steamapps\common\The King of Fighters'98 Ultimate Match

Override any file if asked and you're done.

Note: This does NOT affect online play at all, and I'd highly recommend setting your in-game BGM sound setting to either a value of 2 or 3, i.e., if you're using "Arranged Music." Arcade OST users can ignore this advice.

[Arcade OST Build]

• Better music quality than the vanilla game. Vanilla games come with really awful mixing and muffled sound. Some files were reaching the borderline 50 kbps
  
  A quick comparison between one of the vanilla file vs. what I've upgraded to.
  
  
  
  Every single file get same treatment and now they're much better quality.
  
  
• Restored uncensored Neo Geo mode 98's intro with "PROPER" audio sync. Vanilla is censored and doesn't sync up with the video playing. Apparently it's 2.5% faster vs what the lyrics being played. I've fixed all this non-sense completely, and now it looks and plays exactly like an arcade intro. 
  
  The footage that was desync is shown below.
  
  
  Iori breaking glass sync with narrator's "1998"
  
  
  Kyo's flame sound sync with music and it matches the beat.
  
  
  Kyo's per-face transition matches with music beat.
  
  
• Uncensored Neo Geo mode ending track restored.

Arranged OST Build

• Like the build name suggests, every single track of music is replaced with a high-quality arranged track with proper looping in the game. Minor sounds are given a lot of attention, and in some cases, I decided to use the original Neo Geo CD-arranged track rather than the PS2 version, which results in far superior sound quality than the PS2 port.
  
  
• Some tracks that were never more than 1-2 min are now at full length with the proper mix and loop.
  
  
• All of the fixes I made in the arcade build are also present in the arranged build..

Some known limitations of mods that can't be done, aka impossible to pull off

• UMFE and Classic Neo Geo mode share the same set of music, so it's pretty much not possible to have AST and OST at the same time.
  
  
• "My Love Be Brave" The Athena Vs. Kensou theme is completely absent from the game, and there is no way to obtain it.
  
  
• "Blue Mary's BLUE (Vocal ver.)" track is supposed to play only during the Ex Terry vs. Ex Blue Mary match, but it doesn't because UMFE is based on the Nesicaxlive/Xbox port. I've added the vocal version as the default for Blue Mary and "Kiss Me?" for EX mode.
  
  
•  If you're using a high-bitrate build (AST/OST) and experiencing stuttering at the start of every match, switch to a medium-bitrate build. This should fix your problem. The main cause of this issue is a slow CPU. (GPU has nothing to do with this). Laptop users can also face this issue if they're playing in battery mode.
  
  

19th July 2020
-Added a string file that reflects the changes made to the OST (Sound menu with correct names).

10th August 2020
-I fixed some "grammar" issues because my English is dumpster fire and also fixed the game's muting itself in neo-geo mode.

16th October 2020
-Restored the uncensored ending credit in neo-geo mode. 

9th Jan 2021
-Abandon base mod by 마이너스원 completely.
-Reworked the whole mod from scratch. Every single track in the game should play seamlessly without any jarring cutoffs.
-The out-of-sync neo-geo intro has been fixed.

10th Jan 2021
-Added a loop point for the second player invasion (or whatever you may want to call it) select screen music. It should be seamless now.
-Restored the missing "Neo Geo" jingle sound.

The next update will be done once we get a rollback patch (hopefully). Hopefully, modifying the music will not be a nightmare like it currently is with KOF 2002 UM.

23rd Oct 2021
-The Rollback beta update dropped in as I expected. Files are also changed to .ogg format. 
-Everything is remade from scratch (Again..) I took my time and upgraded all files with proper quality and even upgraded the arcade build with a high res bitrate. (They're less muffled) 
-Overall, a drastic upgrade in music this time.
-Fixed '96 Athena, Orochi Leona/Iori and Woman's Team '95 looping issue.

24th October 2021
-Added a "Medium Bitrate" build for people that lack the system resources.
-Added "LEGACY BUILD" for people running non beta builds.

28th October 2021
-Replaced '98 ver. "Cool Jam" Iori theme with '97 ver. "Cool Jam". It's the same theme, but '97 had more bass boost and, in some cases, it even had minor lyrics. 
-Intrusion's BGM pitch was a bit too loud, so it has been fixed.

30th November 2021
-Minor adjustment to "Blue Mary Blues" pitch. It was way too low in pitch. 
-Shingo's "Still Green" minor adjustment (original track had some remix issues)

1st December 2021
-I did a hard re-check and fixed any minor issues like the pitch being too harsh or too low in some areas. 
-Embedded all files with a proper name scheme (use foobar or any music player). It should make life a little easier for people who are attempting to replace tracks with something else. However, you can also use this image[cdn.discordapp.com] as a reference point if you don't wish to download anything.

4th December 2021
The N.D.R EX Billy Kane theme has been fixed.

23rd December 2021
-Added "Medium Bitrate" arcade build for user with mid tier system. If you're facing stutter at start of match then use this build instead.
-AST build untouched.

I do not own any of the music. All I did was re-assemble high quality music in one place and add loop points for every single track. In some cases, I even re-created or fixed bad mixes of music. Many hours of work and days went into editing to bring the quality to good standards.

Also, thanks to KoF 98UMFE community discord for providing feedback. Without them, I wouldn't be able to fix many of the issues right away.

If you're interested in joining, then feel free to join the community discord server.

Discord Server Link[discord.gg]

If you're going to re-upload or share a file somewhere else, then please give credit where credit is due.

You can also support SNK by purchasing Arcade OST (NOT ARRANGED TRACK) directly from store page. Files comes in both MP3 and FLAC format.

Thank You and Dog Bless.