head to head
vs
Astalon: Tears of the EarthvsMetroid: Zero Mission
Astalon: Tears of the Earth leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Metroid: Zero Mission leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Astalon: Tears of the EarthMetroid: Zero Mission
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 6
Astalon: Tears of the Earth leans harder on execution: Tight retro platforming and boss dodging
Reads1 vs 0
Astalon: Tears of the Earth leans harder on reads: All enemies fully scripted
Variance2 vs 2
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
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.