head to head
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.

Execution · Pure Mechanics
Twitch tank duels while protecting a base from scripted enemy waves.

Execution · Pure Mechanics
Pioneering wireframe arcade tank combat fought in first-person vector graphics.
Battle City leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Battlezone leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Battle City
Tank aim and dodge timing under pressure decides every stage
Battlezone
Tank aim and dodge timing under pressure
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Battle City
Enemy tanks follow simple scripted routines, nothing adaptive
Battlezone
Enemy tanks follow simple fixed routines
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Battle City
Spawn order and power-ups add mild randomness per stage
Battlezone
Enemy spawn positions vary run to run
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Battle City
Base-defense positioning and brick management have known best answers
Battlezone
Learning enemy behavior and scoring patterns
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.