head to head

1917: The Alien Invasion DX cover artvsSuper Contra cover art

1917: The Alien Invasion DXvsSuper Contra

1917: The Alien Invasion DX leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Super Contra leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).

EXECUTION8 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE2 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10
1917: The Alien Invasion DXSuper Contra

Axis by axis

Execution8 vs 8

Even - both lean on execution about the same.

Reads0 vs 0

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance2 vs 1

1917: The Alien Invasion DX leans harder on variance: Patterns hidden until memorized across runs

Optimization6 vs 6

Even - both lean on optimization about the same.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

1917: The Alien Invasion DX

full breakdown

Super Contra