head to head
vs
Castlevania II: Simon's QuestvsVikings: Wolves of Midgard
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Vikings: Wolves of Midgard leans Optimization (Systems & Chaos).
Castlevania II: Simon's QuestVikings: Wolves of Midgard
Axis by axis
Execution4 vs 3
Castlevania II: Simon's Quest leans harder on execution: Modest whip combat; day-night enemies.
Reads0 vs 0
Even - both lean on reads about the same.
Variance4 vs 4
Even - both lean on variance about the same.
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.