head to head
vs
Battletoads / Double DragonvsCastlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Battletoads / Double Dragon leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Battletoads / Double DragonCastlevania III: Dracula's Curse
Axis by axis
Execution8 vs 9
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse leans harder on execution: Brutal platforming and tight whip timing throughout
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 1
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization5 vs 6
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse leans harder on optimization: Partner choice, route branching, pattern memory
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.