Building comparison
head to head
198XvsGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Neither is simply harder - they are hard in different places. 198X demands more execution; Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas demands more optimization.
198X
Execution · Practiced Mastery
A coming-of-age story told through five playable homages to classic arcade genres.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Optimization · Practiced Mastery
A sprawling open-world crime epic with RPG-style character stats across a whole state.
198X leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
198XGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Axis by axis
Execution6 vs 4
198X leans clearly harder on execution.
198X
Each arcade vignette tests reflexes in a different genre
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Flying school and drive-bys need decent hands
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
198X
All segments are scripted
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Gang AI is scripted, never adaptive
Variance1 vs 2
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas leans a little harder on variance, though the gap is small.
198X
Fixed sequences once seen
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Territory wars and traffic add light randomness
Optimization4 vs 6
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas leans clearly harder on optimization.
198X
Learning each minigame's patterns
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Stats, gym, weapon skill, and routes reward systematic play
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.