head to head
vs
Castlevania II: Simon's QuestvsMilon's Secret Castle
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Milon's Secret Castle leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).
Castlevania II: Simon's QuestMilon's Secret Castle
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 5
Milon's Secret Castle leans harder on execution: Stiff jumping and bubble combat demand period-typical precision
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance4 vs 5
Milon's Secret Castle leans harder on variance: Progression hides behind unmarked secret blocks you must discover
Optimization7 vs 6
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest leans harder on optimization: Once decoded, it is pure item-and-route knowledge.
Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.