head to head
vs
Beijing 2008vsShovel Knight
Beijing 2008 leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Shovel Knight leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Beijing 2008Shovel Knight
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 6
Beijing 2008 leans harder on execution: Button-mash speed and timing windows decide every event
Reads1 vs 1
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance1 vs 1
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization3 vs 4
Shovel Knight leans harder on optimization: Relic and upgrade choices shape runs
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.