Building comparison
head to head
Buster Bros.vsEarthworm Jim 2
Neither is harder. They score identically on all four axes, so the difference between them is in kind, not degree.
Buster Bros.
Execution · Practiced Mastery
Arcade positioning and pop-order planning against deterministic bouncing balloons.
Earthworm Jim 2
Execution · Practiced Mastery
Sequel platformer that swaps genres per level but always tests the hands.
Buster Bros. leans Execution (Practiced Mastery); Earthworm Jim 2 leans Execution (Practiced Mastery).
Buster Bros.Earthworm Jim 2
Axis by axis
Execution7 vs 7
Same score on execution - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Buster Bros.
Dodging splitting balloons while firing demands precise positioning
Earthworm Jim 2
Varied set-piece levels demand precise control
Reads0 vs 0
Same score on reads - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Buster Bros.
Balloons bounce on pure deterministic physics
Earthworm Jim 2
No adaptive opposition
Variance1 vs 1
Same score on variance - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Buster Bros.
Weapon drops vary slightly per clear
Earthworm Jim 2
Deterministic levels and gimmicks
Optimization5 vs 5
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Buster Bros.
Optimal pop order per fixed stage layout is learnable
Earthworm Jim 2
Learning each surreal level's fixed solution
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.