head to head
vs
Battle CityvsMidnight Fight Express
Battle City leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Midnight Fight Express leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Battle CityMidnight Fight Express
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 8
Midnight Fight Express leans harder on execution: Crowd-control timing, counters and weapon juggling carry levels
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance2 vs 1
Battle City leans harder on variance: Spawn order and power-ups add mild randomness per stage
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.