head to head
vs
Bullet SoulvsContra III: The Alien Wars
Bullet Soul leans Execution (Pure Mechanics); Contra III: The Alien Wars leans Execution (Pure Mechanics).
Bullet SoulContra III: The Alien Wars
Axis by axis
Execution9 vs 9
Even - both lean on execution about the same.
Reads1 vs 0
Bullet Soul leans harder on reads: bullet patterns fixed, not adaptive
Variance1 vs 1
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization5 vs 6
Contra III: The Alien Wars leans harder on optimization: Weapon management and pattern memorization
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.