head to head
vs
Battle CityvsEarth Defense Force
Battle City leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Earth Defense Force leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Battle CityEarth Defense Force
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 7
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads0 vs 1
Earth Defense Force leans harder on reads: Enemies are scripted waves, not adaptive
Variance2 vs 3
Earth Defense Force leans harder on variance: Enemy spawn patterns add some unpredictability
Optimization4 vs 4
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.