Several characters are available as downloadable content for The King of Fighters XIII now. The new guys are Iori with the Power of Flames, NESTS Style Kyo, and Mr. Karate. These are more or less alternate versions of Iori, Kyo, and Takuma. They are more than just "skins" actually, which helps with the decision to spend about five bucks a piece on each character. Still, you've got to really be in love with these alternate versions of the characters to want to spend that cash.

Starting off with Iori, the nice thing about this character is that you get Iori's flames back. The ground fireball and the fiery uppercut are back, and Iori's trademark long, white shirt and bondage strap pants are back in this character as well. Also interesting is that new dialogue was written for this Iori as well. So while Kyo normally makes a point of giving Iori flak for not having his flames, the dialogue is changed when Iori with flames shows up.

NESTS Kyo is a version of Kyo from the post 99' King of Fighters games (NESTS refers to the secret organization that clones Kyo after the 97' tournament). Like Iori, his moveset is also from this time period in the King of Fighters games. Although he is missing a fireball in this iteration, he does have some alternate combos and regular moves. I've always felt this Kyo was a little awkward to get the hang of, especially after being used to regular old Kyo from games past (he seemed a little closer to Iori back in the day). It's a personal preference, for sure. Kyo sports his white cross shirt and jacket, as well as his jeans in this look.

Mr. Karate is, ugh, also a character you can pay money for. If you like the barebones basics in a fighter, Mr. Karate will do that for you. He's got a funky mask with a long nose too. This is actually the alter ego of Takuma, a character that showed up back in Art of Fighting. The character has the most basic, generic moveset, and is missing those fancy fireballs Takuma has in his arsenal. It's really all just punches and kicks here. It's so simple, it's funny. It's not Dan (from Street Fighter) funny, but funny nonetheless.

You know if you want these characters. You know if you want them badly enough to drop a fiver on them. After all, King of Fighters fans have played these characters before. One disappointing thing is that you can't pick two versions of the same character on the same team. I don't see why it would be a big deal, but it's apparently not allowed. Personally, I'd like some new characters to KOF XIII as DLC if anything, but these characters are more than simple palette swaps, so they are worth it if you're a fan.