head to head
vs
Castlevania: Aria of SorrowvsThe Goonies II
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); The Goonies II leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Castlevania: Aria of SorrowThe Goonies II
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 5
The Goonies II leans harder on execution: Platforming and combat are serviceable NES challenges
Reads1 vs 0
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow leans harder on reads: Scripted enemies
Variance3 vs 3
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
Optimization7 vs 7
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.